NOT WHAT WE THINK WE OUGHT TO SEE FROM BELARUS

Many foreign audiences assume all Belarusian artists make political work, often inserting political discourses into pieces that aim to explore other subjects with different metaphors. Below is an interview with members of an independent Belarusian theater company that you probably haven´t heard of yet, that hopes to create performances that have nothing to do with politics. If Korniag Theatre is not interested in discussing Lukashenko or «the last dictatorship in Europe», like we expect, then what is their work about?

MEMORY WHICH LACKS SPACE

The performance «Chernobyl» of the independent theatre group «Kryly Halopa» («Slave’s Wings») from Brest is the first part of the project «Stories of Belarus», originally conceived as a theatrical multi-volume project with every part being dedicated to the events of the country’s contemporary history. Finally the Belarusian public was able to watch the performance, too — during the theatre-ecological festival «Pryzba»

THE COUNTRY NEEDED TWO FREE THEATRES

AKSANA HAIKO, the founder of «Kryly Halopa» theatre, actress and director, tells about how to create while «being unfree», about a challenge to «professionals», a fight against art commissions, and about a new stage of her activity

HATKA: TO FIND YOUR INSIDE

In September 2013 Uladzimir Śćerbań (Vladimir Shcherban), director of Belarus Free Theatre, mentioned very briefly in his blog after a long line of reasoning that the premises in which they had lived and worked for almost six years, better known as hatka (Note: «hatka» in the Belarusian language means «a small house»), no longer belonged to them.

VOID: DANCE OF UNBEARABLE BEUTY

On February 13, 2013, within the First Belarusian Forum of Physical and Dance Theaters ‘PlaStforma-Minsk-2013’ Irina Anufrieva (Sweden/Belarus) presented dance performance ‘VOID’ (dance and choreography — Irina Anufrieva, music — Diamanda Galás, costume and light — Joanna Bodzek).

Game Is NOT Over!

‘Afterwards’ (a reality show for the theatre in one act, by Viaćasłau Inaziemcau, InZest Theatre).

The subject of the person and the system is brought up in most of the performances staged by the InZest plastic movement theatre, since it came into being in the early 1980s as a protest against the system. The company have made the game and carnival as a way of reviving dead rituals their guiding principle. Resistance to the system still goes on, but the ‘baby’ now realises that belonging to it is the main rule of the game. Human body is a system, too. It restricts the individual’s freedom, imposing desires and directing one’s will. What am I and why am I, then? Afterwards is woven of infinite political, social, philosophical and religious questions.

Uładzimir Śćerbań: ‘Art without extremes’

After the events of December 2010 Belarus Free Theatre was forced to exist not only outside Belarus culture but outside of Belarus itself. This year Belarusian audiences in need of alternative, inconvenient, provocative art had to go without this form of theatre. As for the theatre company itself, this year also became a landmark for them: they toured Europe and the U.S., and in August won the main Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011 prize for the play ‘A Letter to Kathy Acker: Minsk 2011’. Says founder and director of the theatre, Uładzimir Śćerbań.

About romanticism, gender and democracy

Warsaw Theatre Meetings 2012, took place this spring, has once again confirmed not only the artistic activity of Polish Theatre. But the most important what the audience could see is Polish Theatre is ready to react to events occurring inside of the country and abroad.

Pavel Rudnev about DocTheatre (mp3)

Pavel Rudnev talks about new ideas and practices of Documentary Theatre, IX World Congress of AITU-IUTA, Minsk, July 5, 2012. Lecture (mp3) on Russian

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