Abi’s February tour in Moscow was very successful, she played to packed halls for three nights. Abi is no newcomer to Moscow, her mother packed her off to study opera in 1988 for a year at the Moscow conservatory, which is something you do if you are a Welsh mum (Abi joked). Before that, Abi read Russian at university and was familiar with Russia as her father was a diplomat who worked here. Arriving back in Moscow, Abi was somewhat surprised by the changes, the brands, the new faces of Moscow.
Abi’s Moscow show was called ‘Anglichanka,’ which means ‘English woman,’ and the show saw the funny side of being an English woman in Moscow, however the main theme was beyond that, and connected to cultural differences between the West and the East. Humour was created not by comparing, rather by telling humorous stories about living in both. Simon Green, and English teacher and writer based in Moscow also joins this radio programme and shares his experiences about being at Abi’s shows.
The fact that Russian audiences appreciated (greatly) her humour does mean that there is still hope in our dark days of political distancing and misunderstandings. How did we get here? If people can still come together, appreciate and even laugh at the world through comedy, and if these people are from different cultures, then we can hopefully still build bridges of understanding between us. Thank you Abi Roberts!
