belarusians.co.uk | Беларусы ў Вялікабрытаніі

The reaction to the Kupalaŭski Theatre trip to London has been mixed among both British – to whom Belarus is of interest – and local Belarusians; visitors’ comments on this site are good evidence of that. Many have decided to go to see the play, some of them emphasised not mixing art and politics, a few decided to stage a protest nearby instead.

The local diaspora has mostly got excited with the unusual event: until recently it was more likely to see in Britain military choirs from Belarus performing Russian Kalinka-Malinka, than truly Belarusian art. We hope the Bloomsbury theatre will be full tonight and we will there too – occasions to see Kupalaŭski’s plays don’t happen often.

Sadly, the Belarusian government uses arts in its it’s own political games. Media in Belarus have been writing about the Kupalaŭski Theatre touring Britain and performing for charity. They are keeping quiet about the fact that the whole tour will consist of only one performance and it will not be charitable, unless that is what a free entry means. They are not saying that the performance has been organised in opposition to the exiled Belarus Free Theatre playing King Lear in Belarusian on the most prestigious English stage as part of the most exciting theatrical event of the year. All suggests that the Kupalaŭski Theatre tour was conceived in retaliation for an unsuccessful attempt by the Belarusian Ambassador to persuade the Shakespeare Globe to cancel the invitation to the Belarus Free Theatre. The Globe to Globe festival organisers pointed out to the Ambassador that politics and arts don’t always go along easily.

A year after the first presidential elections, the Naša Niva newspaper wrote that the main outcome of the President’s efforts had been a fundamental split in the Belarusian society. Tonight another … though small comparing to what is happening in Belarus will be drawn in. It’s fantastic that we have a chance to see the Kupalaūski; pity they could not bring the Tutejšyja (Locals) – their most spoken about production since Independence – it’s banned in Belarus.