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A scene from "Being Harold Pinter" created and performed by Belarus Free Theatre

Here in the United States staging a controversial play may draw protests, but it won't land you in prison.

This coming Monday, local theatre companies are playing their part in an international show of support for 

, a company whose recent travails give its name even more irony and urgency.

" in  March of 2005, committed to staging underground performances of Belarusian prohibited playwrights as well as other modern works that contradict the "ideological system of Belarusian dictatorial regime." Their website says the project will end once the Belarussian political system is transformed from a dictatorial regime to a democracy.

On December 19  several members of the BFT company were arrested for protesting what they believed to be the rigged election of Alexander Lukashenko. While BFT was still able to make it to New York in time to perform its critically acclaimed "Being Harold Pinter" at the Under the Radar festival earlier this month, their story has led theater professionals around the world to stage readings of "Being Harold Pinter" in a show of support.

"Being Harold Pinter" is a piece that combines playwright Harold Pinter's words with the performers own experiences living with the brutality of an repressive regime. One man's engaging fiction is revealed as these performers' horrifying reality.

Gulgun Kayim of Skewed Visions, one of the local organizers, says Belarus Free Theatre's work reminds other professionals just how powerful theater can be:

Kayim says initially, when members of BFT were still in jail and it looked they wouldn't be able to perform in the United States,  Skewed Visions wanted to stage "Being Harold Pinter" as a means to simply get BFT's message out. Now the event has expanded in scope to educating US audiences about the Belarusian regime.

Skewed Visions' Charles Campbell says lack of awareness is a large part of the problem:

Campbell adds that while any one individual might think it impossible to make a difference, theater by nature is built by community:

Monday's reading of "Being Harold Pinter" will be staged at Park Square Theater, and is a collaboration of  Bedlam Theatre, Frank Theatre, Pillsbury House Theatre, Heart of The Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre, and Skewed Visions. For more information, 

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

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Twin Cities theaters are joining forces to raise awareness of an oppressive Eastern European regime.

Actors take to the stage for Belarus Free Theatre

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