British Parliament for cooperation with Belarusian opposition (Photo)

A campaign “Solidarity with Belarus” goes on in the Great Britain.

The Belarus Free Theatre has finished a week-long visit to London, which was organized by a leading British human rights organization Index on Censorship. The aim of the visit was continue the global artistic campaign “Solidarity with Belarus” initiated by the Belarusian theatre company, and supported by British theatre, public and political leaders.

One of the actions of solidarity was of British playwrights, stage directors and actors to the Embassy of Belarus in London. The rally initiated by the outstanding British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard and actor and stage director Sam West evoked great response in mass media, which influenced the visit of the Belarus Free Theatre which was in the focus of attention of the British press. Summing up the results of the visit, articles about the situation in Belarus appeared on the world, British and Russian services of the BBC, the state broadcasting corporation, in the newspapers The Independent, Observer and The Guardian, in Economist magazine.

The program of the visit out stepped the framework of communication with representatives of the sphere of culture, and the desire to meet with leaders of the Free Theatre was expressed by representatives of the Foreign Office and the Parliament. At the meeting held in Westminster, a member of the Parliament Paul Farrellyassured the directorship of the theatre that in the near future a Belarusian group in the deputy corps would be created. Creation of such a structure is to facilitate organizing contacts between British politicians and representatives of democratic Belarus.

The leading human rights organization Index on Censorship, which has become a partner of the Belarus Free Theatre in the run-up to the solidarity campaign in Britain, organized an evening in Free World Centre. London. It was held under a slogan “Tom Stoppard presents the Belarus Free Theatre. The leader of European Belarus movement Andrei Sannikov made a welcoming address. His working visit to London coincided with the visit of the Free Theatre to the Great Britain.

The concluding chord of the visit to the Great Britain was invitation of the leadership of the theatre to the evening celebration of the 50th anniversary of the committee “Writer in Captivity” of the British PEN Club.

Natalya Kolyada, director of the theatre, said commenting on the results of the visit to the Great Britain: “In his first visit to Belarus Tom Stoppard said: “Dictatorship is not a political problem, but a moral one”. We are genuinely glad that so many people in Britain understand that, and especially people of art. Today’s world is like this: people of art are more followed than politicians, and that means that having a tribune, one should speak about the things that concern you, either you are a theatre person, a writer, a journalist or a politician. And this visit to the Great Britain confirms this fact: when one speaks loudly and clearly, others are sure to hear. We cannot but hope that the promises of British politicians won’t remain just promises”.

Natalya Kolyada gives an interview to Britsih writer and reviwer of The Obsrevre Nick Cohen

Founders of the Belarus Free Theatre at the meeting with Member of Parliament Paul Farrelly

Sir Tom Stoppard presents the Belarus Free Theatre at the evening in Free World Centre

A speech of Mike Attenborough, Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre, London, who had become co-producer of the Belarus Free Theatre

Mike Harris, Andrei Sannikov, Natalya Kolyada, Sir Tom Stoppard, Nikolay Khalezin and Vladimir Shcherban

Initiators of the theatre campaign in support of Belarus, an actor Sam West and playwright Tom Stoppard

A celebration dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Writers in Prison Committee of the British PEN Club.

NIkolay Khalezin and Lisa Appignanesi, president of the English PEN