Natalia Pelevine

In 2004, Pelevine set up a theatre production company, First Act Productions, which is based in London.[3] She wrote In Your Hands, a play based on the events of the Moscow theater hostage crisis.[4][5] It was first staged in October 2006 in North London at the New End Theatre.[6] The Russian version of In Your Hands, directed by Skanderbek Tulparov, had its premiere at the Russian Dramatic Theatre in Makhachkala, Dagestan, in April 2008 and was banned[7] after its opening night performance by the President of Dagestan, Mukhu Aliyev, who attended the performance.[8] Reuters covered the event that was picked up by many major global media outlets.[9][10]

Her play I Plead Guilty had its New York premiere in May 2011 at Gene Frankel theatre.

Pelevine was one of the people behind the independent research into the Moscow theatre siege. A member of NGO Nord Ost, she remains in close contact with Nord Ost and Beslan victims and their families. Pelevine consulted on a number of documentary films about the Moscow theatre siege.[11][12]

Pelevine has appeared as a political commentator on Al Jazeera, RTVi, PressTV, the BBC and other TV and radio channels.[13] She was also involved with the Strategy-31 Abroad organization, which rallied for the article 31 of the Russian Constitution and for freedom and democracy in Russia, and opposes the current government.[14][15] She was the organizer of the New York Strategy 31 pickets, on 31 August and 31 October 2010.[16] She also organized an Oleg Kashin picket in November 2010 and a demonstration in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky on 12 December 2010, during which she mentioned setting up a new movement.[17] In early 2011, the Democratic Russia Committee was founded by Pelevine and supporters.

Formerly the head of the December 5 Party, Pelevine joined RPR-PARNAS in March 2015.[18]

A criminal investigation into Pelevine was opened by the Investigative Committee of Russia.[19]