REVIEW: GORGON SYNDROME, part of VOILA FESTIVAL at Etcetera Theatre 6 – 8 November 2026

‘Courageous and uncompromising’ ★★★ ½

Noda Theatre presents a physical theatre production with immense honesty, intelligence and bravery. It’s a highly recommended piece of theatre, which unfortunately had a problem with translation which is easy to fix. 

Best described as in-your-face theatre, four women’s stories unfold both visually and in spoken word; visceral and sometimes alarming but always engaging.   Worlds apart, the stories emerge from a journalist, a stripper, a wife and a witness.  Each story has individual denouements, but along the way it becomes clear that these are stories of sexual assault. According to the programme these are based on real events, from documented testimonies, interviews and the performers’ own experiences. 

‘Everyone knows what happened to Medusa, but what happened before?’ On entering the auditorium audiences can observe the four women on stage, wearing nude-coloured bodysuits encased, like chrysalis, in flexible shrouds. In the centre, the Gorgon is covered in heaps of flexible tubes, presumably representing snakes, heavily weighing her down. The props throughout are very well thought out, even the sound coming from the tubes, they add another dimension to the show.   Thanks to visual designer Maciej Miecznikowski they are extremely well used.   

As each of the women come to centre stage, they dress in clothes representing their characters. The first begins by talking about journalism, that it takes no sides and that it is impersonal.   This thread is tremendously promising but unfortunately the impact of some of this strand was lost for those who don’t understand the language.  Gorgon Syndrome is part of VOILA Paralingual Festival and this company NODOstage, (Belarus, Poland and Ukraine) is speaking in Russian.   Subtitles above their heads are very clear except when a circle appears on the video, unfortunately it obscures the transcription.  So, quite a lot of this story is frustratingly lost. The clearest of the four, is the wife, who wants to get pregnant, a familiar theme but her reasoning is so that she will no longer have to fake an orgasm.   It’s a stunning piece of acting, allowing vulnerability, disgust and shame to rack her body.

There is visual beauty in this piece, but at times it is also brutal and vulgar. It is a deliberate move away from skin deep representations of women, to reveal something with more depth and honesty.   

All of the stories feel authentic, all of the actors allow themselves to show their vulnerability but also determination to give voice and physicality to these lived experiences.   On the other hand, these performances also have  tremendous power and impact, they are totally uncompromising in their grief, rage and hope that their stories will not go unheard.  Gorgon Syndrome isn’t preachy at all, but bringing these stories to public performance is one step towards empowering women and I applaud them for that.

NODA THEATRE presents:

GORGON SYNDROME, part of VOILA FESTIVAL at Etcetera Theatre 6 – 8 November 2026

Devised and directed by:                   Tatsiana Popova-Hatouchyts, Yana Alekseenko, Alana Ivory, Nadzeya Sheibak

Performers:                   Tatsiana Popova-Hatouchyts, Yana Alekseenko, Alana Ivory, Nela Agrenich, Lana Biba

Composers:                   Pavel Sheibak, Raman Sauchuk

Visual designer:            Maciej Miecznikowski

Translator:                      Alisa Kisel

Languages:                   English, Russian