Generation Jeans of Zmiter Barodka

On the European March’s eve Belarusian Free Theatre came from Sweden Lund where it took part in the campaign on this city getting European Capital of Culture in 2014. The Swedish audience watched with admiration the performances “Generation Jeans” and “Being Harold Pinter”, one of the performances was shown in the conditions maximally close to Belarusian underground.

The Swedish organizers of the Free Theatre performances made a risky step having invited the spectators for a performance “Generation Jeans” in the conditions maximally close to the Belarusian ones: the people having received the information about the performances via sms, were to call back to the number appointed and check in for the performance. After that they were told about the place to come and from there the young people took the spectators to the hall where the performance took place. In the result the Swedish audience appeared to be no less responsive to the actual art than the Belarusian one – there wasn’t enough seats in the hall for all comers.

After the action art director of the theater Mikalai Khalezin enacting in the performance “Generarion Jeans” appealed to the spectators. In his short speech he said: “Some days ago our friend Zmiter Barodka from Barysau became a father of twins. But Zmiter can’t visit his wife in the maternity hospital - he was arrested for the European March organization and he is in prison now. We want to dedicate the today’s performance to these two babies who have no names yet, but have the beautiful future – future in the European Belarus”. The Swedish audience rose in applauses this dedication.

The next performance “Being Harold Pinter” directed by Uladzimer Shcherban was shown in traditional theatrical setting in Lund Lilla-theatre. The critic and journalists noted the highest direction and actor level. On the Lilla-theatre stage actor Aliaksandr Hladkou made his debut.

The activities of the Belarusian theatre in Lund included not only performances. The theatre direction had the first phase of negotiations on cooperation between Malmö Terrier-theatre direction and Stockholm Tribunale theatre. The theatre creative group continued the Lund-2014 projects working out together with the campaign organizing committee.

The people presented on the Lund-2014 campaign draw on Belarusian topic several times. On the question why Belarus has become actual for Swedish Lund, the theatre director Natallia Kaliada answered: “The people who seriously think of the united Europe future understand that it can’t be complete without Belarus. Lund offered Europe an idea of Fifth Freedom, added it to four economic ones accepted by the European community. It sounds like “Dreams and Creativity”. This is a humanitarian component, which is complementary to the economic bloc of pan-European agreements. It is possible that Lund will become cultural capital in 2014, and Belarus will certainly be a united Europe member by the time. We believe in it. "

Exhibition at the Lund-2014 campaign presentation

Mikalai Khalezin at the opening ceremony

Performance "Generation Jeans"

Performance "Being Harold Pinter"