Banned in their native Belarus and renowned for staging uncensored performances underground, Belarus Free Theatre is a rare voice of dissent in Europe’s last dictatorship. Co-founder Natalia Koliada explains what life is like for her theatre group
The easiest way for me to describe the situation in Belarus is to ask you to imagine… Just imagine, you sit in the evening, you talk to your friend….the next day that friend is kidnapped and killed. It was my husband and his friend Dmitry Zavadsky. They sat and discussed their lives, their wives and their children but the next day he was dead
Banned in their native Belarus and renowned for staging uncensored performances underground, Belarus Free Theatre is a rare voice of dissent in Europe’s last dictatorship.
On Tuesday 13 July, Sir Tom Stoppard will introduce Natalia Koliada, and Nikolai Khalezin – directors of Belarus Free Theatre – and leading opposition figure Charter 97’s Andrei Sannikov.
The theatre company’s most recent London performances won widespread acclaim, but their fight for freedom and democracy continues as the situation worsens in Belarus. On 1 July, President Lukashenko brought in restrictive new internet laws intended to criminalise human rights and political activists who use the internet to organise opposition to the regime.
At the event, Index on Censorship will launch a campaign to draw attention to the state of free expression in Belarus. During the event we will ask you to give a 60-second message of support to the people of Belarus, which will be filmed and placed online.
7pm – 9pm, Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London, EC1R 3GA
RSVP: bookings[AT]freewordonline.com 0207 324 2570
Reviews for the Belarus Free Theatre company:
“This dazzling production… shows a spiritual resilience that makes dictatorship look even more inflexible and absurd.” The Guardian *****
“As gripping and accomplished a piece of theatre as you’ll find in London this year… this is world class theatre, built on the raw guts of experience” The Telegraph *****
Britain’s theatre community comes out against oppression and censorship in the “last dictatorship of Europe”. Join the protest in London
Sir Tom Stoppard and actor/director Samuel West are leading a protest of high-profile theatre practitioners outside the Belarussian Embassy at 6 Kensington Court, London, W8 5DL on Thursday 1st July at 11.30am.
We are delighted that Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) nominated by Index for the ArtVenture Freedom to Create prize wre runners up in the main prize category of the inaugural awards. Tom Stoppard, a long-time supporter of the theatre company, handed them the cheque for $15,000 to be shared with Charter 97 in recognition of their tenacious and deeply committed work to oppose the last dictatorship in Europe. The winner of the prize was Cont Mhlanga whose work, like BFT’s brings with it great personal danger, but sees the prize as providing a degree of protection against the extremes of censorship, as his works gains in international profile.
Hopefully this is the case, though popularity and recognition both at home and abroad has not protected Zarganar who won the artist in prison award, from being handed the harshest sentences only days after being given 45 years sentence by the Burmese Government, a term that has since been increased to 59 years. Index on Censorship is part of a working party including Equity, International Pen, A19 and ArtVenture, looking at how to support the artist and his family in the face of such an extreme sentence. A group of young rappers from the favellas of Recife, purported to be the most violent city in Brazil, called City of Rhyme won the youth category. The awards have, as anticipated, brought together the most exciting and dynamic range of artists working to support freedom of expression around the world and ArtVenture is already setting its sights on next years prize.
