Belarusian Modern History on the British Stage (Photo)

A Festival of Russian-speaking dramaturgy was opened with a play of Belarusian playwright Natallya Kalyada (Natalia Koliada) in London's Soho Theatre.

A play "They Saw Dreams" was presented to the audience of the First Festival of Russian-speaking dramaturgy.

Natallya Kalyada's play "They Saw Dreams" was written in 2005 on the basis of documentary material. It's based on stories of political prisoners' and abducted opposition activists' wives: Iryna Krasouskaya, Svyatlana Zavadskaya, Tatsyana Klimava and Liudmila Karpenka. The heroines of the play take a journey of awareness of their losses against the backdrop of preparations for their first collective public appearance. The first public reading of the play was staged by Uladzimir Shcherban (Vladimir Scherban) and performed by actors of the Belarus Free Theatre on February 16, 2006 in Minsk in clandestine conditions.

A hall of the Soho Theatre Salon was overcrowded and part of the audience didn't have a chance to attend the reading and was put on a waiting list. A lot of famous personalities gathered in the hall: British playwright Sir Tom Stoppard - one of the Patrons of the Belarus Free Theater, a famous poet and playwright Tony Harrison; Lithuanian actress Ingeborga Dapkunaite, whose husband Simon Stokes staged the reading of the play "They Saw Dreams".

A whole bouquet of actresses of leading British theaters took part in the presentation of the play: Zoe Aldrich, Rebecca Peyton, Abigail Davies, Ruth Posner, and Margaret Tully. The only male role was played by Simon Tcherniak, and a leading female role was played by an actress Sian Thomas, a star of the National Theatre, known to movie fans from "Harry Potter" epic film series. A discussion with the author of the play Natallya Kalyada was conducted after the reading completion.

Also plays "Titty Flawless" by Maxim Kurochkin, "Natasha's Dream" by Yaraslava Pulinovich and "Mommies" by Uladimir Zueu will be presented during the Festival.

The audience during the reading of the play

A public discussion. Noah Birksted-Breen, a festival’s initiator, Natallya Kalyda and Amnesty International’s representative Aisha Jung

Tom Stoppard, Sian Thomas and Tony Harrison

Ingeborga Dapkunaite and Natallya Kalyada

Ingeborga Dapkunaite and Natallya Kalyada

Natallya Kalyada, Tom Stoppard, Fiona Stoppard, Tony Harrison

Daniella Kalyada, Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Natallya Kalyada, Iryna “Yaro” Yarashevich