New Yorkers Rally in Support of the Belarus Free Theater

The crowd gathered Wednesday at the corner of 67th St. and Lexington Ave. with their flags and chants of "Long Live Belarus!" in English and Belarussian may have seemed patriotic, but they were also angry. The New Yorkers, Belarussians and representatives from the city's theater companies at the rally were holding signs bearing photos of bruised and battered political prisoners. They were carrying them in support of a small, underground theater company called the Belarus Free Theater.

The seven-person company just finished a run of its play "Being Harold Pinter," a show that was performed in Belarus under the most secretive and anonymous conditions possible. After the republic's presidential elections last month, the Lukashenko regime that has held power in Belarus for 16 years began a crackdown.

"After last month, all of my friends are in KGB jails," said Natalia Koliada, the founder of the Belarus Free Theater. "Why are artists acting and politicians still just talking?" she said. "It's time for them to act."

Staging a demostration brought protestors a ray of hope amid today's chilly drizzle. "I almost got in jail," Alesia Shalkevich said holding a poster denouncing human rights violations by the Lukashenko regime. "It was very dangerous for me to be there. We are trying to do something from here because in our country it is almost impossible," she said. Shalkevich moved to New York in the Summer of 2010 after being persecuted for protesting the government.

New York literati, including playwright Tony Kushner, and Public Theater Director Oskar Eustis spoke at the protest, invoking the historical importance of theater in affecting political change.

The Belarus Free Theater will take its play "Being Harold Pinter" to Chicago in February and then to Hong Kong. Eustis hinted at the possibility of more shows in New York: "I have a feeling we'll be bringing them back."