BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
09/01/2009
Belarus Free Theatre adds Pinter's voice to freedom call
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Tonya Turner
EXPERIMENTAL theatre needs friends.
In the case of Belarus Free Theatre, this is particularly true.
Banned in its own country, Belarus Free Theatre is forced to rehearse in private apartments and cafes, the sites often decided at the last minute.
After staging a play where police broke into their apartment with machineguns and arrested everyone in the room, its performances take place in secret locations disguised as birthday parties and weddings.
"If we perform we have to make it under the coverage of something," co-founder Natalya Kolyada says by phone from Minsk. "It's not possible just to find a facility. During summertime we perform in the woods."
Living in Europe's last dictatorship is highly dangerous for an artist, let alone its citizens and political activists.
Voice of resistance
Belarus Free Theatre was formed in 2005 as a form of resistance against Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's government by Kolyada and her husband, Nikolai Khalezin, a playwright, former journalist and human rights activist.
"All the papers he worked for were closed down by the authorities, and before that he had the only gallery of contemporary art in Belarus. This was closed down, too," she says.
"We don't have independent media, we don't have independent radio, TV, newspapers. The only independent information you can get is on the internet."
Belarus Free Theatre arrives in Brisbane this month to present its play, Being Harold Pinter, following performances at the Sydney Festival.
# Keep up to speed with arts events and issues with Tony Turner's Standing Room Only blog
Written in 2007, the play combines transcripts from Belarusian political prisoners with excerpts from the British playwright's plays including The Homecoming, Ashes to Ashes, The New World Order, One For The Road and Mountain Language, as well as his landmark speech to the Nobel Prize Committee. The result is a harrowing account of public and private violence in Belarus.
"When we read his plays we understood that he writes exactly about Belarus. Of course it was not about Belarus, but when you read it you feel the types of violence that he shows in his plays is exactly the violence that happens," she says.
Artistic allies
First performed in London with the help of acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard, the critically acclaimed production homes in on Pinter's preoccupation with power and its abuses, showing humanity at its ugliest. It includes seven actors dressed uniformly in grey suits, except in scenes depicting the preparation and execution of tortures where they are barely clad or naked. It is performed in Russian with English subtitles.
After learning about the play, Pinter, who died on December 24, gave the company the rights to all of his plays for free.
"When we started to travel, we achieved the aim of showing people outside of Belarus what's happening in Belarus. At the same time, people in Belarus are being shown what's happening around the world," Kolyada says.
The first play produced by Belarus Free Theatre, British playwright Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis, was turned down by 27 venues before the company eventually staged it in a private apartment. "It's a play about suicide, sexual minorities, the double consciousness of a woman.
"When we wanted to show this piece in Minsk, we were told there were no such issues as suicide and psychological diseases and sexual minorities in Belarus, that they shouldn't be discussed, and if we showed these performances to Belarusian audiences, they would think this could take place in Belarus. Every topic becomes political here because it's a taboo zone," she says.
Another performance of a Russian play about two young people who die in a hospice was also prohibited.
"The authorities told the owners of the club we were going to perform in that if they showed the play they'd lose their licence. We asked a friend to allow us to perform it in his apartment. The next day he got a call from the KGB and was told that if he allowed us to perform, he would lose his business," she says.
Beyond their fight for artistic expression and freedom, Kolyada and Khalezin continue their human rights activities as members of the organisation, We Remember.
"It unites relatives and friends of people who were kidnapped and killed in Belarus during the wave of kidnappings and killings that started in 1999. Many opponents to the rule of the country were kidnapped and killed. Some of these people were very close friends and we worked with them," she says.
Friends in high places
But there is hope for Belarus Free Theatre. Former Czech president Vaclav Havel is a theatre patron, and last year a benefit evening was held for the company at London's Soho Theatre, attended by Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard. It raised funds for the company and associated events including workshops and discussions on censorship and freedom of speech. Being Harold Pinter was performed along with Generation Jeans, a humorous play looking at symbols of freedom in Belarus and the ironic role that denim has to play.
It helps having friends in high places. After Stoppard got word of their machinegun arrest, he contacted The Guardian which published a story that brought light to the oppressive regime. Before long the International Herald Tribune also ran a piece, and the story appeared in newspapers around the world.
"The Minister of Internal Affairs published a press release saying they didn't arrest anyone. That was done under the pressure of the international media," Kolyada says.
"It's very important for us to show people that it's necessary to put Belarus on the world agenda. It would be the first time the European continent would be free from dictatorship, and we want to show that through high standard theatre.
"Everything we do is at conflict with our political regime here. There is no contemporary theatre in Belarus, because everything contemporary is prohibited. There is a strong wave of young, talented Belarusian playwrights, and we want to show audiences outside of Belarus that there are talented people who live here and want to be part of free societies with democratic values."
Being Harold Pinter, Belarus Free Theatre, January 21-24, Brisbane Powerhouse, Visy Theatre. Tickets: $30-$36. Info: 3358 8600 or brisbanepowerhouse.org
Source:
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24888155-5003423,00.html
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