Belarus Free Theatre wins awards at Fringe

The Belarus Free Theatre has won the main award of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011 for its play A Reply To Kathy Acker:Minsk 2011.

The awards giving ceremony takes place in Edinburgh at 11:00 am on August 26.

One of Free Theatre's chiefs, Mikalai Khalezin told “Narodnaya Volya” newspaper a few days before the festival:

“Years ago, when the Belarus Free Theatre just came into existence, a journalist said to me: 'I suppose you dream to perform at the Edinburgh Festival or in Avignon.' I replied honestly: 'No.' The matter is that they are two most important theatre festivals. You need to pay for your participation in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: pay for travel expenses, accommodation, venue hire, pay your actors, etc. We have never based on grants, so our participation in such financial projects would be strange. Frankly speaking, we have never felt that awe at these fests. From the first days of our existence, we have been playing at prestigious world's stages. Fringe's venue did not attracted us. I once asked my old friend Igor Zhelezovski, a speed skater, why he had not become an Olympic champion, though he had won world's championships 6 times. He said: 'I liked the expression 'world champion' since my childhood. An 'Olympic champion' did not arouse any emotions.' The same seems to have happened to us: it did not arouse emotions.”

The year 2011 changed us, changed the theatre, changed our route. We have found ourselves in the centre of the world's theatre life having survived the most difficult turning point for the time of our theatre's existence. Now we have an opportunity to participate in the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe. It's not because we found money. No. We only have soaked ourselves in the civilized theatre market with its institutions interested in innovating collectives. Fuel theatre company is one of these institutions. It offered us to prepare a performance and show it the the festival in Edinburgh. Uladzimir Shcherban, who has long been nourishing an idea of a reply to Kathy Acker, or to be more precise, to her New York City in 1979, turned to this work that was to be done in the shortest time.

By the way, The Guardian included performances by the Belarus Free Theatre in the top 10 theatres worth to be watched at the Fringe. It was “advance payment”, but Belarusians did not disappoint anyone. Our congratulations!