Belarus Free Theatre
Natalia Koliada at a benefit in New York City, January 2011.
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| Formation | March 2005 |
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| Type | Theatre group |
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| Website | belarusfreetheatre.com |
Belarus Free Theatre is a Belarusian underground theatre group.
Under the current political system the Belarus Free Theatre has no official registration, no premises, nor any other facilities. Rehearsals and performances (always free of charge for the public) are normally held secretly in small private apartments, which, due to security and the risk of persecution, must constantly be changed.
On several occasions, performances were given in street cafes and in the countryside, in the woods. Staffs members have been repeatedly harassed by the authorities for their participation in the Belarus Free Theatre activities and the stage director together with other people were sacked from their jobs at state-run theatres.
The group was established in March 2005 by human rights activists Nikolai Khalezin, playwright and journalist, and Natalia Koliada, a theatre producer and Khalezin's wife. The theatre was meant to be an artistic form of resisting the pressure and censorship of the authoritarian regime of president Alexander Lukashenka in Belarus.
In May 2005 the team was joined by stage director Vladimir Shcherban, who has produced the majority of Free Theatre performances. Currently the theatre’s staff consists of ten professional actors, one professional dramatist, four managers and two technical assistants.
The troupe's first production was 4.48 Psychosis, by the late British playwright Sarah Kane (1971–1999), which deals with "depression and suicide –– two themes that are taboo in state-controlled Belarusian art."
The premiere took place on May 28, 2005 in one of Minsk clubs.
According to the website of the European Theatre Convention, "Since May 2005 the Free Theatre has produced seven performances based on thirteen plays. About 5,000 people attended performances of the Free Theatre in Belarus and more than 4,000 abroad during the first two years of existence. Free Theatre attracts other representatives of Belarusian underground culture in the variety of fields, such as independent music, art, photography, cinematography."
On 8 February 2006, Steven Lee Myers reported in The New York Times that "The theater ... performs in private apartments and in places that are not openly advertised –– and, increasingly, abroad, where it is drawing international attention and support from prominent playwrights, including Tom Stoppard and Václav Havel."
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Wikipedia