Constanța State Theatre and local TV stations are broadcasting the reading performance of ”INSULTED. BELARUS(SIA)”

28-05-2021

In the context of the incident created by the Belarusian authorities through the hijacking of a plane to arrest a political opponent, the Constanța State Theatre has partnered with local TV stations to broadcast the reading performance INSULTAȚI. BELARUS(IA) by Andrei Kureicik on Friday, May 28.

Thus, the performance will be broadcast on DottoTv (at 20:30), Litoral TV (at 21:00), and Dobrogea TV (at 21:30). Attention: it is not recommended for people under 16 years old.

The performance was created in February of this year as part of the global reading program – Belarus(ia) Worldwide Reading Project, as a sign of solidarity with the theatrical movement and the citizens of Belarus, who had been protesting for six months without interruption for freedom and the right to organize fair and free elections.

After the elections last year in Belarus, held without international observers and accompanied by massive protests, resulting in the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko as president, who has ruled the country since 1994 and is known as "the last dictator of Europe", artists were among the repressed citizens.

At the National Theatre "Ianka Kupala" in Minsk, director Pavel Latushko (former Minister of Culture and Ambassador of Belarus to Poland and France) was dismissed for supporting the protesters. In a sign of solidarity, most of the staff resigned. On August 26, just 20 days before its 100th anniversary, the National Theatre of Minsk ceased to exist. The troupe gathered in a basement and continued to work, broadcasting their performances online.

In this context, playwright Andrei Kureicik wrote a play while attending protests, about the reality he was living, along with the entire country, using as starting points the statements of Aleksandr Lukashenko and Svetlana Tihanovskaia. Insultați. Belarus(ia) is a harsh, dignified, and humorous play in which, alongside the two presidential candidates, five other representative characters are featured, whose lives were tragically affected by Lukashenko's decision to suppress the peaceful revolution of the Belarusians through violence and torture. It portrays what is happening in Belarus, but it could happen anywhere, anytime. It is a cry for help and a warning signal, aiming to raise awareness among as many people as possible about a concrete situation and, at the same time, the danger represented by any form of dictatorship.

On September 12, 2020, a first reading performance took place in Ukraine, in Kherson, marking the beginning of a project conceived by John Freedman, the play's translator into English: Belarus(ia) Worldwide Reading Project. The play was translated into 21 languages and accounted for around 130 readings in over 80 theatres across 28 countries, from New York and Boston to Hong Kong, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, The Hague, Stockholm, Prague, Budapest, Vilnius, Tel Aviv, Tbilisi, and Tashkent.

Raluca Rădulescu is the translator of the play into Romanian and the initiator of the reading program in theatres across Romania. The first reading performance took place on October 26, 2020, at the National Theatre of Iași. It was followed by two readings in the Republic of Moldova, at the National Theatre "Mihai Eminescu" in Chișinău and the National Theatre "Satiricus I.L.Caragiale" in Chișinău.

On February 7, 2021, declared by Svetlana Tihanovskaia as "International Day of Solidarity with Belarus," the largest series of reading performances within the Belarus(ia) Worldwide Reading Project began in Romania. The performances were as follows:

February 7, 2021 – National Theatre "Vasile Alecsandri" Iași
February 8, 2021 – National Theatre "Mihai Eminescu" Chișinău
February 9, 2021 – Northern Theatre Satu Mare – Mihai Raicu Troupe
February 10, 2021 – National Theatre "Radu Stanca" Sibiu
February 11, 2021 – Municipal Theatre "Bacovia" Bacău
February 12, 2021 – Classic Theatre "Ioan Slavici" Arad
February 13, 2021 – "Tony Bulandra" Theatre Târgoviște
February 14, 2021 – Regina Maria Theatre Oradea
February 15, 2021 – "Andrei Mureșanu" Theatre Sfântu Gheorghe
February 16, 2021 – Youth Theatre Piatra Neamț
February 17, 2021 – unteatru Bucharest
February 18, 2021 – Constanța State Theatre
February 19, 2021 – Dramatic Theatre "Fani Tardini" Galați
February 20, 2021 – Municipal Theatre "Matei Vișniec" Suceava
February 21, 2021 – Children's and Youth Theatre "Colibri" Craiova
February 22, 2021 – National Theatre Târgu Mureș – Liviu Rebreanu Company

The reading performance created by the Constanța State Theatre features Nicodim Ungureanu, Theodor Șoptelea, Dana Dumitrescu, Cristiana Luca, Andu Axente, Ștefan Mihai, and Maria Lupu, with direction by Erwin Șimșensohn.

Raluca Rădulescu, translator: "Any act of solidarity is useful in the time we are going through, and I believe that this solidarity with the artists from Belarus, and with the theatres in Romania, is also a sign of internal theatrical solidarity, which we also need just as much in this era of uncertainty."

Andrei Kureicik, playwright: "This play is my response to the brutal repression faced by the artists and citizens of Belarus for their position. Lukashenko is closing theatres and art galleries, throwing hundreds of actors into the streets, many of them arrested or fined, but this does not silence the theatre. We continue to speak the truth about what is happening in Belarus. For me, the international solidarity project INSULTAȚI. BELARUS(IA) is proof that there are no borders for the voice of theatre. And I believe that this Romanian solidarity, seen in the impressive number of reading performances, is the result of the fact that Romanians have gone through what we are going through, they have escaped from a tyranny, they have not forgotten, and they know the price of freedom, which Belarusians are paying now, day by day."