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Beate Hein Bennett Free to be…a Human
Being
September 21 – October 13, 2024
In our times of social and political turmoil, the word “Freedom” gets bandied about with diverse intentions, from trivially individualistic desires to the very existence of an entire society. How each of us interprets this fundamental concept depends on the sociopolitical and economic circumstances in which we live. For those who live in autocratic, dictatorial, or totalitarian societies, the concept of Freedom (writ large) covers the entire spectrum of human life, from individual survival to social and cultural exigencies. To protest and fight against such political conditions demands of the individual tremendous personal courage. The most violent present examples in Europe of autocratic dictatorships are the war waged by Putin against sovereign Ukraine and the repressive pro-Putin regime in Belarus with tens of thousands of people persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and murdered, and forced into exile—or living in silent subjugation.
The Belarus Free Theatre, founded and led by Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin, exemplifies the voice of protest while in forced exile in London, but it also shows the possibility of theater artists creating a network of support for those suffering the consequences of their protest actions inside and outside Belarus, even extending their assistance to Ukrainian and Russian dissenters and their families. An example of their commitment to the cause is the present production of “KS6: Small Forward”, a multimedia event that is centered on the biography of the Belarusian basketball star Katsiaryna Snytsina, now living in exile in London, of how she evolved from living the exclusive international life of a sports star to becoming a prominent voice of protest against the brutal regime of Putin friend, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, a country that borders Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Russia.
As the audience enters the Ellen Stewart Theatre it is greeted by the loud beats of Hip Hop produced by DJ, Blanka Barbara upstage left bopping to the thumping sounds. The stage space is largely empty, except for a couple of modern arm chairs set up on a glossy basketball court, with a hoop high up center stage. On each audience seat a large photo portrait of a man or a woman with name is prominently displayed—one cannot sit down without picking one up. A brief description on the back details who the person is, the date of his or her imprisonment, under what article s/he is being detained, and two q.r. codes, one for writing a letter to the prisoner and one for donating money to the International Humanitarian Fund for Political Prisoners in Belarus. After about fifteen minutes of Hip Hop, the “person of interest” rushes onto the stage to thunderous applause (taped) for a live TV interview. It is Katsiaryna Snytsina herself, former basketball star now actor, who will narrate and perform her trajectory from basketball to activism, from being a beloved hometown (Minsk) girl to exiled star and dissident. Her story is in turn funny, trivial, amazing, horrifying, tragic—an example of so many victims of a brutal regime. In a series of fast sketchy scenes, scripted by Nicolai Khalezin, directed by Natalia Kaliada and Khalezin, with choreography by Javier de Frutos and Anthony Matsena, Ms. Snytsina is ably supported by fellow actors in various roles: Raman Shytsko, Darya Andreyanova, and Mikalai Kuprych (on live feed camera) and Blanka Barbara, the constant DJ. Her narration is accompanied by archival video segments designed by Dmytro Guk to provide the actual context to her story. Thus the production is not so much a recapitulation of a life but more a step by step lively re-creation of Snytsina’s moral awakening to the tragedy affecting her fellow Belarusians. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the President-elect (2020) of Belarus in exile, said in the September 24 post-production live interview with Margaret Hoover, taped for PBS “Firing Line,” that dissent or protest is not a political decision, it is a moral decision. Her husband, a prominent opposition leader is presently imprisoned and has been out of communication for “500 days”--his wife counts the days--and has probably been subjected to torture, like thousands of others whose families do not know the fate of their loved ones. As one sits in the audience at LaMama in New York, anxious about the outcome of the impending US elections, one cannot but be awed by the persistent courage of dissenters and the creative ingenuity with which the Belarus Free Theatre under the leadership of Ms. Kaliada and Mr. Khalezin bring the urgent plea for humanity to the public. It is a reminder that political theater has functioned for millennia as a public forum for moral discourse.
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