Just a few weeks ago, the members of the Belarus Free Theater were either in jail or in hiding. Now they are performing their play Being Harold Pinter as part of the Under the Radar Festival in New York. Soon they will be back in Belarus, where they will continue to risk the wrath of President Aleksandr Lukashenko, the man known as “Europe’s last dictator.”
On the eve of their return to Minsk, the Belarus Free Theater joins internationally-acclaimed playwright Tom Stoppard, PEN American Center, and a stellar supporting cast for an evening celebrating artistic freedom and the courage of hundreds of writers, artists, journalists, and intellectuals targeted in Lukashenko’s latest crackdown following the nation’s flawed December elections.
Czech musician Iva Bittova and American actor Billy Crudup will join Don DeLillo, E.L. Doctorow, Tom Stoppard, and surprise guests for a farewell gathering featuring literature, music, and cocktail conversation about the power of art and the future of Belarus.
Viva the Belarus Free Theater
When: Wednesday, January 19, 7 p.m.
Where: Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, New York City
Who: Billy Crudup, E.L. Doctorow, Don DeLillo, Tom Stoppard, Iva Bittova, the Belarus Free Theater, and surprise guests
Tickets: $25. Visit lepoissonrouge.com.
All proceeds to benefit the Belarus Free Theater.
(Photograph of the Belarus Free Theatre performing in London taken by Keith Pattison.)
1 comment:
Dear David,
I've lost your email address and couldn't find it anywhere on the blog, so am just leaving this comment: we are accepting nominees for our second annual Arts & Literature Prize. Last year you guys won, so I thought maybe you'd like to enter something again! Also please consider announcing the prize on your blog here.
The link is: http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2011/02/laila-lalami-to-judge-2nd-annual-3qd-arts-literature-prize.html
Thanks!
Yrs,
Abbas
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