A recording of a performance of “Numbers”, directed by Vladimir Shcherban, performed in secret by the Belarus Free Theatre, an outlaw theatre group in Europe’s last dictatorship.
On Tuesday, 13 July, Index on Censorship hosted a very special event at the Free Word Centre in London. Index played host to the Belarus Free Theatre, an outlaw company that defies Europe’s last dictatorship to produce challenging, contemporary drama
Award-winning playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, who has long associations with both Index on Censorship and the Belarus Free Theatre, introduced the evening:
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 *****