Belarus Free Theatre

Belarus Free Theatre (The Free Theatre Project of Minsk, Belarus) is an underground theatre project that began on March 30 2005, during the second term (2001–2006) of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, as an artistic means of resisting Belarusian government pressure and censorship.Claire Bigg, [http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/02/73133c5e-9854-44c8-a0ff-38a2b758d9a7.html "Belarus: Underground Troupe Brings Cutting-Edge Theater to Moscow"] , Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), February 3,2006, accessed September 4 2007.] * [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5450403 "Belarus' Arts Underground Chips Away at Regime"] , "Weekend Edition Sunday", National Public Radio (NPR), June 4 2007, accessed September 5 2007. (NPR Audio Player clip; 5:33 mins.)] This "voice of dissent" was founded by playwrights Nikolai Khalezin and his wife Natalya Kolyada, a human rights activist, as a "playwright competition," receiving "more than 230 plays from a dozen different countries."

History

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."

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." [http://www.etc-cte.org/about/members.php?memberid=51 "ETC Members: Svobodnyi Teatr/ Le Théâtre libre de Minsk"] , accessed September 4 2007.]

On February 8, 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."Steven Lee Myers, [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/theater/newsandfeatures/08free.html "New Artistic Underground in Belarus Is Theater Group"] , "The New York Times", February 8 2006 (registration required for free access), rpt. in " [http://www.data.minsk.by/belarusnews/022006/25.html Belarus News and Analysis] ", February 8 2006; both accessed September 5 2007.]

The Free Theatre performed its original theatrical work "Being Harold Pinter" at the mid-April 2007 conference ", in Leeds, England, during which British playwright and 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter participated in the after-performance discussion. During the conference, there were scheduled screenings for conferees of the video of "Square" ("Ploshcha"), a documentary film about the situation in Belarus.Further information about the film and its political human rights contexts are described in [http://www.democraticbelarus.eu/node/1427 "Freedom Day in Brussels: Screening of the movie 'Ploshcha' (Square) and the Solidarity Concert"] , "Office for a Democratic Belarus, Brussels", March 25 2007, accessed September 5 2007.] "Being Harold Pinter" received laudatory notices in British newspapers. Afterward, the Free Theatre went on to the European Theatre Convention (ETC) in Thessaloniki, Greece, site of the 11th Europe Theatre Prize conference (April 26-29, 2007), and, the ETC invited the Free Theatre to join it, waiving membership fees: "In April 2007, Belarus Free Theatre became a full member of the European Theatre Convention," according to the ETC website, and in May 2007 "a member of [the] international network Trans European Halls."Michael Batiukov, [http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=35833 "Belarus 'Free Theatre' Is Under Attack by Militia in Minsk, Belarus"] , "American Chronicle", August 22 2007, accessed September 4 2007.]

Fewer than three weeks after meeting with former Czech President Václav Havel on August 4 2007, at his country cottage in the Czech Republic on August 22 2007, during the Free Theatre's première of Edward Bond's theatrical piece "Eleven Vests", "special forces from the Belarusian police stormed the performance by the Belarus 'Free Theatre' in a private apartment in Minsk," and "Actors, directors, and audience members," including its director Khalezin, "were arrested"; though subsequently released, "the theatre's founder Nikolai Khalezin is still pretty shaken up," having stated: "'Police used to burst into our performances with machine guns but they disappeared just as fast. A mass arrest like this is a first.'"Ingo Petz, " [http://www.signandsight.com/features/1511.html Arrests After the Second Act] ", originally published in "Süddeutsche Zeitung", August 30 2007, online posting, "Signandsight.com", September 3 2007, accessed September 4 2007. (Bold font is Petz's own emphasis throughout.)] According to Petz, "Khalezin thinks that this is a concerted effort on the part of the police, the special forces OMON and the secret service KGB 'to exert pressure'." Though Khalezin himself "is used to" such harassment in the past, he stated (as qtd. by Petz), "'But now it's affecting those who have never been arrested before. I'm afraid that some of them won't come back.'"

Aims of the Free Theatre

Khalezin, who is also a dramatist himself, having become "famous with his piece 'Ja prishel' (Here I am) which gleaned many international awards," observes that "'All theatres in Belarus are state-owned ... The directors and creative directors are appointed by the Ministry of Culture. The performances are censored, the programs are old and musty. We want to offer an alternative, a modern theatre that discusses social problems with a degree of creative freedom.'"

According to its website, "the main aim" of the performances of the Free Theatre is to "break through stereotypes of the Belarusian population that are imposed by the ideological system of Belarusian dictatorial regime." This "Project" states that it "will be ended when the situation in Belarus will be changed from dictatorial regime to democracy."

Members of the Belarus Free Theatre and other Belarusian dissidents cite Václav Havel and the 1989 Velvet Revolution in the former Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Polish theatre, and other Eastern European protest movements of the 1960s and '70s as inspirations and models for their artistic resistance as part of the status quo in Belarus.

Activities of the Free Theatre

*"implementation of educational master-classes by the leading theatrical figures of Europe, USA and Russia for the young Belarusian dramaturges and scenarists";
*"organizing the International Contest of modern dramaturgy 'Free Theatre' and publishing the almanac of laureate plays";
*"underground performances of the Belarusian prohibited playwrights and best European and American plays that reflect modern life in all its aspects";
*"public readings of plays of the Belarusian dramatists in Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic states, as well as at the leading European theatrical festivals";
*"publishing of collection of the Contemporary Belarusian Dramaturgy";
*"translating the plays of the young Belarusian dramatists into the foreign languages"; and
*"participation in theatre festivals in Europe and the USA." (Official website)

Speaking about the Free Theatre's first production, Sarah Kane's "4.48 Psychosis", its founder Nikolai Khalezin observes that Kane's play "'is about a woman's psychological decay, homosexuality and suicide," and that, while "There's no politics in the play," in it "there is something that is threatening to a dictatorship –– open conversation. The dictatorship says: "We have no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug abuse." And we say: we have to talk if we want to solve problems.'"

Claire Bigg asks: "If the Free Theater has no political agenda, then what makes it so subversive in the eyes of the authorities?" In response, founder "Khalezin says [that] Lukashenka's authoritarian regime, which he describes as 'collective farm-like,' has failed, unlike the Soviets and the Nazis, to establish an aesthetic platform to promote its doctrines. ... The Belarusian leadership, he says, therefore feels threatened by any form of individual artistic expression that illustrates present-day dilemmas. ... Despite the pressure and obstacles, the Free Theater manages to deliver cutting-edge, effervescent performances –– and Khalezin says the troupe is determined to fight for its right to do so until Lukashenka’s regime comes to an end."

Although also observing that "The project is often referred to as 'political theatre'," Petz stresses that Khalezin himself "definitely does not consider his art political. He says that would be too boring and adds, 'We don't have a single classically political play in our repertoire.' For him, "uprightness" is more important than the classic political play."

Consequences

Such "uprightness", Petz cautions, "comes at a price in Belarus", as "Almost all the members of the ensemble have served time behind bars." Director Vladimir Scherban was "fired by his state employer for being involved with the 'Free Theatre,' as were other actors."

International support

In the face of such repression, famous playwrights like Tom Stoppard, Harold Pinter, Václav Havel, and Arthur Kopit have supported the Free Theatre, with "Pinter himself ... so enthusiastic about the collage ["Being Harold Pinter"] that [the Free Theatre] ... assembled from his Nobel Prize for Literature , plays and letters from political prisoners in Belarus, that he gave the 'Free Theater' [sic] the rights to his plays for free." Stoppard, who "gave a course in Minsk" two years earlier, stated: "'I wish that all my plays would be performed by a theatre like this,'" becoming "one of the theatre's patrons," along with former Czech President Havel, whom a couple of them visited on August 4 2007, prior to being "under attack" by the authorities again. On July 30 2007, before going to the Czech Republic to meet with former President Havel, "The group ... met Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger in Warsaw," another sponsor. Not only do "such famous sponsors bring glamour" to the Free Theatre, according to Petz, but they also afford "protection against even more drastic repressive measures" from the Belarusian authorities.

Awards

*In mid-July 2007, for the 12th Edition of the Europe Theatre Prize, "a special mention" was "awarded, proposed by Václav Havel, Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard, to Belarus Free Theatre for their opposition against the oppression of Belarusian Government." [http://www.etc-cte.org/news/news.php?newsid=219&category=Miscellaneous "Official Communication] of the Winners of XII Europe Theatre Prize and X Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities", "European Theatre Convention", July 10, 2007, accessed October 10, 2007. ("A special mention has been awarded, proposed by Vaclav Havel harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard, to Belarus Free Theatre for their opposition against the oppression of Belarusian Government."); [http://dramaturg.org/?lang=en&menu=expand_article&article_id=4318244478 "Official Announcement] of the Winners of XII Europe Theatre Prize and X Europe Prize New Theatrical Realities", press release, "Belarus Free Theatre", July 18 2007, accessed September 5 2007.]

ubsequent international interest and support

Mark Russell, the director of the Under the Radar Festival in New York City, spoke of wanting "to include a piece called "Being Harold Pinter" in 2008 but being constrained by budgetary costs of "bringing that piece over" ("11 plane tickets and 11 visas and hotel rooms"); "So we're bring a smaller piece in the hopes that it will build an audience for the time when we want to bring "Being Harold Pinter"."John Del Signore, [http://gothamist.com/2008/01/10/mark_russell_un.php "Mark Russell, Under the Radar Festival"] , interview with Mark Russell, "Gothamist" (blog), January 10, 2008, accessed January 10, 2008.] Russell added: "The piece in Under the Radar is called "Generation Jeans" and it's essentially a solo performance with a DJ. It tells the semi-autobiographical story of this theater of resistance that's grown in Belarus. On August 22nd [2007] they were all arrested with their audience as they tried to perform the piece because the government is so oppressive over there." As a result of Russell's invitation, "Journalist/director" Nikolai Khalezin presented "Generation Jeans", his "semi-autobiographical account of a freedom fighter and the beginning of the 'Jeans Revolution', at Under the Radar Festival on Friday, January 11, 2008, at the Public Theater.John Del Signore, [http://gothamist.com/2008/01/11/pencil_this_in_403.php "Pencil This In: Theater"] , "Gothamist" (blog), January 11, 2008, accessed January 12, 2008.]

On February 20, 2008, there was a benefit performance of "Being Harold Pinter" as part of a Gala Evening at Soho Theatre, in London, staged in Russian with English surtitles, along with "Generation Jeans"; the committee for this Gale Evening was chaired by Sir Tom Stoppard, and the Evening was "To raise vital funds for the UK presentation of The Belarus Free Theatre and associated contextual events including workshops and platform discussions on censorship and freedom of speech." [ [http://sohotheatre.com/p340.html "Belarus Gala Evening"] , accessed January 15, 2008.] The production, which was performed from February 11 through February 23, 2008, received highly-appreciative press reviews, including "5 stars" from Pinter's biographer, Michael Billington.Michael Billington, [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/theatre/drama/reviews/story/0,,2257665,00.html "Being Harold Pinter/Generation Jeans: 5 Stars Soho, London"] , "guardian.co.uk", February 18, 2008, accessed May 20, 2008.] Sam Marlowe, [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article3397714.ece "Being Harold Pinter/Generation Jeans at Soho Theatre"] , "Times Online", February 20, 2008, accessed May 20, 2008.] Sam Marlowe begins his review of the evening by observing that "Drama doesn't come more urgently political than in the work of the Belarus Free Theatre."

ee also

*Jeans Revolution
*Polish theatre
*Velvet Revolution

Notes

References

* [http://www.charter97.org/en/news/2007/11/8/1375/ "Free Theatre's Performance Was Watched by Militia"] . "News from Belarus" at Charter'97 Press Center. Copyright © 1998-2007 Charter'97. Accessed November 8, 2007. (About "The Free Theatre's performance "Being Harold Pinter" ... shown in Minsk 7 November.")

External links

* [http://dramaturg.org/?lang=en&menu=theatre Belarus Free Theatre] Official website. For press releases, see [http://dramaturg.org/?lang=en&menu=press "Press"] . Accessed September 4 2007.
* [http://sohotheatre.com/pl1454.html "Belarus Free Theatre"] : "Soho Theatre in association with English PEN presents Belarus Free Theatre: 11 - 23 February 2008". Accessed May 20, 2008. (Includes excerpts from press reviews of London première of "Being Harold Pinter" and "Generation Jeans".)