Belarus-Free-Theatre on freeDimensional

Belarus Free Theatre, Taking up the death penalty in ‘Trash Cuisine’

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Help Belarus Free Theatre tour an important piece of theatre, Trash Cuisine!

Click here to donate a few Pounds Sterling!

Trash Cuisine is a dynamic, affecting and innovative piece of theatre devised and developed from first degree research collected in Asia, Africa, U.S. and Europe by Belarus Free Theatre with the support of Amnesty International.

Hugely well received at its premiere in Stadsshouwberg, Amsterdam on 5 October 2012, supported by the European Cultural Foundation, Trash Cuisine explores issues behind imprisonment and torture with particular focus on the death penalty to create a challenging and nerve shredding performance.

fD @ Artsfex - Copenhagen Summit on Artistic Freedom of Expression, 9-11 December

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

fD joins the Artsfex summit in Copenhagen on 9-11 December 2011 along with several prominent national and international artists’ networks, and freedom of expression organisations. The summit is organised by Freemuse and Danish PEN, and funded by the Danish Ministry of Culture. Participants will present http://www.raybani.com/ recent examples of censorship of the arts, and discuss the effects of censorship and repression of artists. Featured presenters include founding members of the Belarus Free Theatre, currently living in exile.

Belarus Free Theatre in New York

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Belarus Free Theatre is performing at the Under the Radar festival this week in New York. fD joined Trans Europe Halles to launch a solidarity fund for Belarus Free Theatre back after the December 19th elections when their members were either in hiding or in jail. freeDimensional worked with Arts & Democracy to publish a Bridge Conversation with Natalia and Nikolai, co-founders of the Theatre, drawn from our October 2010 Political Salon hosted by the World Policy Institute. Mischief + Mayhem Books continued their readings around the US in support of the Belarus Free Theatre, and on Wednesday, January 19th - the day before they travel back to Belarus - PEN American Center is hosting a celebrity reading on their behalves at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC.

CRF joins Solidarity Fund for Belarus Free Theatre

Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The December 19th elections in Belarus have come and gone. Alexander Lukashenko has, once again, declared himself the winner with nearly 80 percent of the votes. International observers have condemned the outcome. In less than 24 hours after the election, Lukashenkoâ€™s forces rounded up hundreds of unarmed protestors, including several of the opposition candidates. Many family members of the candidates have told international reporters that they still do not know where their loved ones are. Â In the last few days, the total arrests have surpassed one thousand. One of those rounded up was Natalia Koliada of the Belarus Free Theatre. Natalia has been an outspoken critic of Lukashenkoâ€™s regime; she was detained overnight on the 19th and released the next day, forced into hiding. Some details of her detention have been made known, including the fact that she was given no water or food and verbally threatened with death. You can read more about Nataliaâ€™s detention, and the detentions in general,Â here. freeDimensional and the Creative Resistance Fund are following the lead of Trans Europe HalleÂ Â to build a solidarity fund for the Belarus Free Theatre. Â Joining in the effort are Mischief + Mayhem Books and IETM. More information, including how to contribute, can be foundÂ here. Blog text reprinted from DW Gibson, co-founder of Mischief + Mayhem Books.

Freeing Belarus through Theatre {World Policy Blog #4}

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The Iron Curtain may have come down, but what remains is still in Belarus. Under Alexander Lukashenko’s stringent regime, the capacity for individual expression is strictly limited. Creative endeavors like plays—regardless of its politics—are censored by the government. The Belarus Free Theatre, founded in 2005, stages modern performances addressing social issues. While the company sells out internationally, they are still forced underground at home—where plays are government-sanctioned—staging covert performances in private residences. Many involved in the Belarus Free Gafas Ray Ban outlet Theatre, including co-founders Natalia Koliada, a human rights activist, and Nikolai Khalezin, a playwright, have suffered for their involvement. They have had several stints in prison and are under constant harassment by the authorities.

Free Belarus - Literary & Human Rights organizations campaign together in weeks before election

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Founded in 2005 by a husband-wife team, the Belarus Free Theatre is the only unregistered - thus independent and therefore illegal - dramatic troupe in this post-communist country. Effectively banned at home, BFT’s performances have taken on an underground Magliette Calcio A Poco Prezzo existence, with audiences alerted via text message or e-mail. Its covert and uncensored performances have drawn international acclaim. In the buffer-state between the rest of Europe and Russia, ruled by President Alexandr Lukashenko since 1994, the BFT provides a rare voice of dissent in what is being called Europe’s last dictatorship. This November in a show of solidarity, theaters around the US will host readings of co-founder Nikolai Khalesin’s play, Thanksgiving Day organized by Mischief + Mayhem Books in cahoots with freeDimensional, Art & Democracy Bridge Conversations, and the World Policy Institute in order to raise awareness on the situation in Belarus in the weeks before its next election. Read DW Gibson’s ‘Free Belarus’: An Introduction in the Mischief + Mayhem’s online magazine, Wild Rag. See the press release for ‘Free Belarus’ Thanksgiving Day readings all over the US.