Searching for artistic freedom

In Belarus, theater not sanctioned by the state is considered illegal.

Because of this, some performers have met and performed secretly, including the Belarus Free Theatre, which was founded in 2005.

“It has been called ‘the last dictatorship in Europe,’ ” Natalie Taylor Hart, assistant professor of Performing Arts and scenic designer at Elon University, said of the situation in Belarus.

Many of the members were previously harassed and jailed for their messages. Many of its performers and leaders are now in exile, visiting the world and sharing their stories.

Natalia Kaliada and her husband, Nicolai Khalezin, are co-founders of the Belarus Free Theatre and will visit Elon University this weekend along with two other members of the group. The four performers will hold workshops open to Elon students only.

However, a free public lecture will take place at 4 p.m. Monday in Yeager Recital Hall on the Elon University campus to share their stories.

“They’re currently at the mercy of various theaters and organizations hosting them. They’re in Australia right now performing,” Hart said. “They have done a similar workshop (to the one they’ll offer at Elon) at CalArts in California.

Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey is artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London and has worked with the group; they currently call London home base.

Hart learned about the group through her husband who served as assistant props manager at The Public in New York, where the group performed.

“I arranged a trip to New York and saw a couple of performances,” Hart said. She was able to raise some money during the summer to bring the performers here.

The Belarus Free Theatre has earned a number of awards throughout the years, including The French Republic Award of Human Rights in 2007; the OBIE award on May 16, 2011; “The Scotsman Fringe First 2011” prize “for innovation and outstanding new writing” at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2011 and “Discover Love” was awarded Outstanding Performance of Off-Broadway by Independent Theatre Bloggers Association in New York in May 2011,. The theater group also was a nominee for A Drama Desk Award for “Performance Being Harold Pinter” as a Unique Theatrical Experience.

Fred Rubeck, chair of the Department of Performing Arts at Elon University, said this will be “a phenomenal experience for folks in this area and the university, too.”

The Belarus Free Theatre will be arriving in the area today and their last day on the campus will be Tuesday.

Hart described their work as “more avant-garde — varied and quite interesting. This isn’t an event for children, however. They use nudity and harsh imagery to create images about injustice and torture.”

By Charity Apple, "Times"