Aleksandr Popov: Post-Soviet Upbringing

Only an ambitious and well-organised mind – perhaps a bit mad as well – would bring three entirely different solo shows out at the same time, and yet Aleksandr Popov has done just this during the 2025 Tallinn Fringe Festival. Moving between Kopli Couture and Ratas&Kohv, Popov’s offerings this year include Why I Stayed…?, 50 Shades of Bouncer, and Post-Soviet Upbringing, the latter of which I caught at the bike+coffee shop on 6 September.

With the venue set up with extra tables to support the groups of friends and their many drinks, the audience warmly greeted the opener of the evening, mononymic Rauno, who cheerfully presented personal anecdotes about marriage, drug abuse prevention, and the benefits and pitfalls of embracing diversity in the restaurant scene. His reflections on past and present life in Estonia were the perfect introduction for the star of the show to enter the stage.

Born in the auspicious year 1984, Aleksandr Popov is a Tallinner born and bred – though the Kopli of yesteryear is not what it is today, and far from what it is in the process of becoming. The show is as much a history of neighbourhood as the man who was raised there, whose blended Russian and Estonian heritage shaped his internal and social identities. Self-deprecating and self-aware, Popov regaled us with observations on everything from having police in the family to technological advances of the 90s, the role of babushkas to categories of pornography. Making good use of facial expressions and sound effects, we’re drawn into the struggles and joys of schooling, shopping, and surviving life in the periphery.

Popov’s avuncular charm and love of a good yarn kept the audience laughing and reflecting – whether local or from farther abroad, we’ve all seen the world change in ways we could never have anticipated when we were relatively carefree children running the streets of our hometowns or hanging out with our friends, wherever that managed to happen. Not one to dwell but always happy to circle back around to his point, Popov’s tales are as much a comedy show as a necessary oral history of the lives that were lived on the wrong side of the tracks, once upon a time.

All three of Aleksandr Popov’s shows have remaining performances: you can catch Post-Soviet Upbringing on 8 September at 1900 at Ratas&Kohv; Why I Stayed…? A Gothic Review of Life on 12 September at Kopli Couture at 1900; and 50 Shades of Bouncer on 16 and 18 September at Ratas&Kohv at 1900. The remaining shows of the 2025 Tallinn Fringe Festival program, which runs through 18 September, can be found here. 

Author: Laurie

Laurie likes alliteration, ambiance, and lists with three things.