Boogie on the Bones

Inspired by real events and brought to the stage by Slavic theatre company WITHINTHEATRE, Boogie on the Bones looks at love, music and the price of freedom in a post Stalinist Russia. In 1956 Moscow, a new underground movement - the Stilyagi - bursts into life made up of young rebels who dare to wear bright clothes and dance to American jazz. Amongst them is medical student Bob who smuggles Western music into the country by carving grooves into X-ray films, charismatic Fred who is hiding a devastating secret, the mysterious Polly and Mel, a loyal officer from the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League the Komsomol, who finds his world turned upside down when he falls for Polly during a police raid. Drawn into their orbit, Mel transforms from loyal party member to passionate jazz musician guided by Bob and Fred. But as the authorities tighten their grip and their friends disappear one by one, these young dreamers discover that sometimes the only way to stay human under tyranny is to put on a bright tie, strike up the band and let the music play. From a company with lived experience of authoritarian regimes, Boogie on the Bones is a powerful reminder that in the darkest of times, art becomes rebellion and every song is an act of defiance.