We will never learn the real names of the performers in Spy Girls. Why? Because this production is more than just a story about cyber-activist operations in support of Ukraine’s defence, as it takes part in the actual espionage action against the Russian military. It takes place in the theatre – and it takes place for real. Standing behind this operation is Magda Szpecht: a director who, with the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, put her promising theatrical career on hold and devoted herself to open-source intelligence: grassroots intelligence work. A few months into this activity, Szpecht created Cyber Elf – a performative lecture introducing audiences to the group calling themselves “cyber elves.” To date, she has presented Cyber Elf in Portugal, Czechia, Germany, and Lithuania.

Spy Girls – a continuation of Szpecht’s work using art as a tool of activism – was produced by Estonia’s Vaba Lava theatre with Polish artists (dramaturgy by Olga Drygas, music by Krzysztof Kaliski) and Estonian–Ukrainian performers appearing in masks and under pseudonyms (Mad Matrixx, Cyber Shadow, Void Vigilante). Using fake profiles on dating apps, the creative team involved Russian soldiers in conversations lasting several months, thus extracting information about their positions, condition, and frontline activity. The Estonian production recounts these operations but also an indictment of a murderous regime and a call to mobilisation on all fronts.

You watch Spy Girls with flushed cheeks and profound respect for the courage of everyone involved in creating and performing the piece. In recent years, Szpecht’s artistic and activist work has shown what theatre can become when the going gets tough, when tough courage and solidarity are needed more than ever.

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The production makes use of smoke, strobe lighting, explicit language, and disturbing visual content. Recommended for adult audiences. 

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Photo by Ilja Smirnov