Insulted. Belarus(sia)

Finland in Solidarity with Belarus

Klockriketeatern presents a reading of Andrei Kureichik’s play Insulted. Belarus(sia). 

The reading is published as a video on Belarus Solidarity Day, Sunday February 7th 2021. We read the play in English, translated by John Freedman.

The protests in Belarus have now been going on regularly and systematically for six months. As an expression of their solidarity with the people and the theater community in Belarus, theaters around the world are reading Kureichick’s play. “The Insulted. Belarus Worldwide Reading Project” has organized over 120 events (readings, productions, films, videos, radio broadcasts, translations, play publications) in 77 venues and 25 countries. Translations have been done to 20 languages. 

Andrei Kureichik is a well-known Belarusian playwright/screenwriter/producer and a member of the Coordination Council, founded by the opposition in Belarus. His fictional 7-character play tells the story of the first month of the Belarusian revolution, its ups and downs on the eve of the inevitable democratization of the country after 26 years of dictatorship. All characters have real prototypes, in some you will recognize former and current leaders of the country, and in others incredible Belarusians who have gone out to battle the totalitarian machine, sometimes at the cost of their lives, their freedom, and their loved ones. 

Kureichik tells of the tragic escalation of violence employed by the authorities to repress freedom-seeking Belarusians, and how solidarity, truth and faith in human values inevitably lead to victory over evil.

Klockriketeatern has a deep-rooted solidarity with the situation in Belarus and with our friends and collegues during a continuous crisis. During our Diana Drama Fest in 2015 the Belarusian artist Źmicier Vajciuškievič (WZ-Orkiestra Minsk) gave a concert and a lecture connected to his project European solidarity with Belarus. In 2017 we visited the TEART Festival in Minsk as invited guests and in 2018 with the performance 3 Musketeers – East of Vienna, as a part of the international program of the festival.

All our actors are participating pro bono. Klockriketeatern will donate a sum of money to the Belarusian culture society via By Culture – a group of concerned Belarusian artists from all genres of art. The group is asking for help from the international community to demand a fair and legal election, as well as to stop the violence of law enforcement agencies. By supporting this cause we want to help the Belarusian cultural community that is courageously speaking out each and every day. Read more here.

The Finnish National Theater also produces a reading of Andrei Kureichik's play in Finnish, Loukatut. Belarus(sia), on Friday February 12th 2021 at 7 pm. A video recording of the reading is available two weeks after the performance. Read more here.