Margin Notes: Those Who Remained

Those Who Remained

Sophia Gutchinov. Photo by Rani O'Brien.

Seen on: Friday, 5/09/25.

Plot and Background

La MaMa presents Sophia Gutchinov's solo piece about how to be a living monument to the history of her ancestors and a staunch advocate for her existence here today. The descendants of both Italians and Mongolians, Sophia's family emigrated first from Asia to Europe, then to New Jersey.

What I Knew Beforehand

That it was a solo piece.

Thoughts:

Sophia Gutchinov ably conjures her grandmother, still with the accent of her native land and trying to teach her descendant what she can of the family story. Her people are of the Kalmyk tribe, a tribe which dates back and back but which has scant records due to multiple attempts to wipe them out. Kalmik means "those who remained" and it speaks of Sophia's grandmother, of her family that fled Germany for America after the second world war. And it speaks of Sophia, who remains here, now, carrying the story of her ancestors in her body, her blood. How does she channel that through her existence?

And beyond that, she must navigate this modern world as a mixed-race woman facing a rise in violent attacks against AAPI people in the wake of COVID-19. Told in a mixed-media performance, Sophia charts her journey across reels of her trying to date a series of red flags across the coast, late-night stand up, interpretive dance, and real footage of her advocacy in front of the courthouse. She drinks ayahuasca tea in Peru and hallucinates a catharsis of her love for her grandmother, her difficult relationship with her mother, and a freedom from a red flag boyfriend. She recites a poem of thank-yous to the boyfriend she is now finally ending things with. "You belong to the earth," her grandmother first tells us. Sophia wants to also remind us that we belong to each other.

I don't know that all the pieces of this cohere together yet. The shift near the end to her activist self feels abrupt--important, but not yet an organic move from the moments we've experienced leading up to it. More united are the balance of her grandmother's stories and her attempts to integrate that self with her modern existence.

***

Running: Now playing at The Club (La MaMa) - Opening: May 8, 2025. Closing: May 18, 2025.
Category: solo play
Length: 1 hour, 30 minutes, no intermission.

Creative Team

Playwright: Sophia Gutchinov
Director: Rani O'Brien
Designers: Rani O'Brien (Scenic), Milan Eldridge (Stage Manager), Boris Nazarov (Sound), Kevin Dunn (Lighting), Luna Yixi Wu (Projection), Brynne Oster-Bainnson (Love On Fire Costume), Sanal Leejean (Recording Drummer), Montana DeBor (Recording Violinist), Wesley Grant (Recording Sound Healer), Miles Mandwelle (Movement Consultant), Paul Siebold (PR), Maddie Heeney, Production Manager & Co-Producer), Matthew Foster (Props Master & Producing Assistant), Allison Aube-Martin (Production Assistant), Catherine Filloux (Dramaturg), Jules Miranda (Event Photographer), Sophia Gutchinov (Executive Producer).
Cast: Sophia Gutchinov

Sophia Gutchinov. Photo by Rani O'Brien.