Program 2013

Minsk 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker

Belarus Free Theatre

Concept, Direction and Adaptation by Vladimir Shcherban

Devised, written, and performed by the Belarus Free Theatre

Originally co-produced by Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin, and "Fuel" Theatre Company (UK)

Running Time: 85 minutes

The Public Theater: 425 Lafayette Street

$20 Tickets: www.publictheater.org or call 212-967-7555

If scars are sexy, Minsk is the sexiest city in the world. Strip clubs, underground raves and gay pride parades pulse beneath the surface of a city where sexuality is met by government oppression. A love letter to a home that exiles those willing to fight for it, Minsk 2011 celebrates and mourns a land that has lost its way. This remarkable company that brought us Being Harold Pinter, Zone of Silence and Discover Love returns to New York with this moving and provocative production.

"A testimony to a now rare breed of provocative political theater, wherein art and reality are so uncomfortably close that it's sometimes hard to distinguish between them." - The New York Times

"Hard hitting, essential and furious, a show that explored the psyche of living in Europe's last dictatorship." - The Guardian

Festival presentation supported by The Trust for Mutual Understanding.

Written and performed by Pavel Radak-Haradnitski, Yana Rusakevich, Aleh Sidorchyk, Dzianis Tarasenka, Maryna Yurevich, Yuliya Shauchuk, Siarhei Kvachonak, Viktoryia Biran, Kiryl Kanstantsinau

Text "Belarus is not sexy" written by Natalia Kaliada in collaboration with Nicolai Khalezin | Original Translation by Yuri Kaliada and Natalia Kaliada | English adaptation by Chris Thorpe| Edited by Nicolai Khalezin | Production Manager Tom Cotterill; Stage Manager Svetlana Sugako; Tour Manager and Subtitles Nadia Brodskaya  | Originally presented at the Pleasance, Edinburgh | Developed in residence at the Dartington Space with the support of the Dartington Hall Trust | Funded by Arts Council England

Photos by Nicolai Khalezin