solidarity action of Romanian theaters with Belarusian artists

15 theaters from Romania and one theater from the Republic of Moldova come together in an unprecedented solidarity action, joining the global reading program – Belarus(sia) Worldwide Reading Project, What is the song based on? INSULT BELARUS(IA) by Andrei Kureicik.

Context: 

The presidential elections of August 9, 2020, rigged by the incumbent president of Belarus (since 1994), Alexander Lukashenko, triggered a wave of protests in support of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the candidate who, according to the parallel count, should have won them. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets, general strikes paralyzed the country for weeks, in what the Russian playwright Ivan Vyripaev calls it the "magical revolution."

In Belarus the protests continue to this day, the action being considered the largest political repression in Europe in the last 40 years, in which there were over 32,000 arrests, 83,000 days of imprisonment, 900 criminal cases, 169 political prisoners, 381 people beaten, 482 people hospitalized, 5 deaths. Among those arrested (or fired) are also numerous actors, playwrights, producers, critics and theater teachers. 

to National Theater "Yanka Kupala" in Minsk, the director Pavel Latuško (former Minister of Culture and Ambassador of Belarus to Poland and France) was dismissed for statements supporting the protesters. In a sign of solidarity, most of the employees resigned, and on August 26, just 20 days before the 100th anniversary of its foundation, the Minsk National Theater ceased to exist. Despite repeated attempts by the Ministry of Culture, a new troupe could not be formed, and the theater remained inactive. Instead, the resigned troupe reunited in a basement, where they continue to work, broadcasting their performances online.

In this context, playwright Andrei Kureicik He wrote, while going to the protests, a play about the reality he himself was living in along with the entire country, using the statements of Aleksandr Lukashenko and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya as a starting point. 

Insult Belarus(ia) is a tough play, full of dignity and humor, in which, in addition to the two presidential candidates, there are five representative characters, whose lives were tragically affected by Lukashenko's decision to suppress the peaceful revolution of the Belarusians through violence and torture. It is a picture of what is happening now in Belarus, but it could happen anywhere, anytime. It is a cry for help and an alarm signal, through which the aim is to make the widest possible audience aware of a concrete situation and at the same time of the danger represented by any form of dictatorship.

On September 12, 2020, a first performance-reading took place in Ukraine, in Kherson, which kicked off a project conceived by John Freedman, the translator of the song into English: Belarus(sia) Worldwide Reading Project, which, in the last 4 months, has been translated into 21 languages and has had about 130 readings in over 80 theaters in 28 countries, from New York and Boston to Hong Kong, London, Edinburgh, The Hague, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Prague, Budapest, Vilnius, Tel Aviv, Tbilisi or Tashkent.

In Romania, the first reading performance took place on October 26, 2020 at the National Theater in Iași, as part of the READINGS³ project. Two readings followed at the "Mihai Eminescu" National Theater in Chișinău and the "Satiricus ILCaragiale" National Theater in Chișinău. 

On February 7, 2021, declared by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the "International Day of Solidarity with Belarus", the largest series of reading performances to date will begin in Romania, as part of the Belarus(sia) Worldwide Reading Project, in solidarity with theater people and citizens of Belarus.

At the initiative Ralucai Radulescu, the Romanian translator of the play, between February 7-22, 2021, a reading show marathon:  16 theaters from Romania and the Republic of Moldova have joined this initiative. The reading performances will be broadcast online or performed with an audience in the hall – free of charge, within the limit of available seats, respecting all restrictions imposed by the sanitary situation in each city.. 

Any gesture of solidarity is useful in the period we are going through and I believe that this joint action of the theaters in Romania in support of the artists from Belarus is also a sign of internal theatrical solidarity, which we also need so much in this era of uncertainties. We symbolically chose the date of February 7 for the first reading and we begin with the resumption of two performances, the first in Romania, performed at the National Theater in Iași, at whose initiative I also translated the text, and the first performed in Chișinău. The new reading performances follow, each of them bringing something specific to this joint action of artistic and human solidarity."- says Raluca Radulescu, the translator of the play into Romanian and the initiator of the reading program in theaters in Romania.

This play is my response to the cruel repression that artists and citizens of Belarus have faced for their position. Lukashenko is closing theaters and art galleries, throwing hundreds of actors into the streets, many of them are arrested or paying fines, but this does not make the theater silent. We continue to tell the truth about what is happening in Belarus. For me, the international solidarity project INSULT BELARUS(IA) is proof that for the voice of theater there are no borders. And I believe that this Romanian solidarity, which we see in the impressive number of reading performances, is a result of the fact that Romanians have also gone through what we are going through, they escaped from a tyranny, they have not forgotten and they know the price of freedom, which Belarusians are paying now, day by day – says the playwright Andrei Kureicik, the author of the song Insulted. Belarus(ia). 

Everything about this project was unexpected. I unexpectedly received the piece from Andrei, asking if I could organize “a few readings in the West”. Equally unexpected was that within 10 minutes I received confirmation from the first six theaters I contacted, and I am still surprised that in just a few months the project has grown so much. And with the 15 reading performances scheduled in February, Romania will become the second country in the world, after the USA, in number of readings – says John Freedman, the translator of the song into English and the creator Belarus(sia) Worldwide Reading Project

INSULT BELARUS(IA) / series of performances-readings 

PROGRAM 

1. Sunday, February 7, 2021 – "Vasile Alecsandri" National Theater, Iași
2. Monday, February 8, 2021 – "Mihai Eminescu" National Theater, Chisinau 
3. Tuesday, February 9, 2021 – Northern Theater – “Mihai Raicu” Troupe, Satu Mare, 
4. Wednesday, February 10, 2021 – "Radu Stanca" National Theater, Sibiu
5. Thursday, February 11, 2021 – "Bacovia" Municipal Theater, Bacău
6. Friday, February 12, 2021 – "Ioan Slavici" Classical Theater, Arad
7. Saturday, February 13, 2021 – "Tony Bulandra" Theater, Târgoviște
8. Sunday, February 14, 2021 – Regina Maria Theater, Oradea
9. Monday, February 15, 2021 – "Andrei Mureșanu" Theater, Sfântu Gheorghe 
10. Tuesday, February 16, 2021 – Youth Theater, Piatra Neamț
11. Wednesday, February 17, 2021 – unteatru, Bucharest
12. Thursday, February 18, 2021 – Constanta State Theater
13. Friday, February 19, 2021 – "Fani Tardini" Drama Theater, Galați
14. Saturday, February 20, 2021 – "Matei Vișniec" Municipal Theater, Suceava
15. Sunday, February 21, 2021 – "Colibri" Children and Youth Theater, Craiova
16. Monday, February 22, 2021 – Târgu Mureș National Theater, "Liviu Rebreanu" Company 

"Any gesture of solidarity is useful in the period we are going through and I believe that this solidarity with the artists from Belarus, of the theaters in Romania, is also a sign of internal theatrical solidarity, which we also need so much in this era of uncertainties. I symbolically chose the date of February 7 for the first reading and we start with the resumption of two performances, the first in Romania, performed at the National Theater in Iași, at whose initiative I also translated the text, and the first performed in Chișinău, which at that time was in a situation very similar to that in Belarus. From February 9 (the day on which it is six months since the protests in Belarus began) the new reading performances are scheduled, each of them having something specific in this joint solidarity action carried out exclusively on a volunteer basis, for which I thank everyone for accepting my proposal without reservations. The choice of participating theaters is not accidental, and the entire project works on the principle of "you help people when they need it, not when you like it or feel like it" - says Raluca Rădulescu, the translator of the play into Romanian and the initiator of the reading program in theaters in Romania.

"This play is my response to the cruel repression that artists and citizens of Belarus have faced for their position. Lukashenko closes theaters and art galleries, throws hundreds of actors into the streets, many of them are arrested or pay fines, but this does not make the theater silent. We continue to tell the truth about what is happening in Belarus. For me, the international solidarity project INSULT BELARUS(IA) is proof that for the voice of theater there are no borders. And I believe that this Romanian solidarity, which we see in the impressive number of reading performances, is a result of the fact that Romanians have also gone through what we are going through, they escaped from a tyranny, they have not forgotten and they know the price of freedom, which Belarusians are paying now, day after day.” – says playwright Andrei Kureicik, author of the play Insulted. Belarus(ia)

"Everything about this project was unexpected. I unexpectedly received the piece from Andrei, who asked if I could organize “a few readings in the West”. Equally unexpected was that within 10 minutes I received confirmation from the first six theaters I contacted, and I am still surprised that in just a few months the project has grown so much. And with the 15 reading performances scheduled in February, Romania will become the second country in the world, after the USA, in number of readings and the first in number of professional theaters involved.” – says John Freedman, the English translator of the play and the creator Belarus(sia) Worldwide Reading Project