Coming of age: how the Belarus Free Theatre is still fighting on after 15 years on the edge - 20 April 2020
For 15 years, the Belarus Free Theatre has stood its ground against totalitarianism and censorship, while other art activism groups have faded away. The Calvert Journal traces its tumultuous journey so far — and looks at what could still lie ahead.
The Belarus Free Theatre was blacklisted by the authorities almost as soon as the curtain closed on its inaugural performance in 2005: Sarah Kane’s fragmented and brutally uncompromising 4.48 Psychosis. The punishment was linked to the play’s discussion of homosexuality, identity and suicide, all things that the state hoped to suppress. Since then, the theatre has operated from a secret location, its presence all the more visible thanks to the government’s attempts to quash it. Fifteen years on, the group has become one of the country’s most celebrated cultural exports, producing play after play on themes ranging from trans sex to the death penalty.
Formed by Natalia Kaliada, Nikolai Khalezin and Vladimir Shcherban, it is no surprise that the Belarus Free Theatre captivated audiences. Belarus’ human rights record remains famously checkered. After being elected president in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko muzzled most of the media and clamped down hard on freedom of expression, with many political opponents, outspoken journalists. and artists “disappearing” in questionable circumstances. Lukashenko remains in power today, where his regime represses both opposition and minority voices.