News & Events in Belarus

According to the panel of judges, the production proves the existence of a fringe theater in Belarus. The work is interesting for both an ordinary spectator and a professional theater critic. A bouquet of producer’s ideas, a powerful arsenal of graphic arts, irony fitting harmoniously into the dramatic line, splendid performance by the cast erase the beaten track from the puppet stage. Stage director Igor Kazakov has created a bright image of modern Hamlet mirroring behavior, ideas and emotions of the whole generation.

“The statement that Minsk is a center of all new and interesting can be rightly argued. It is regional theater companies that put up a good performance. The Mogilev play is a fine testament, proving once again a growing tendency of quality superiority of puppet theaters over drama,” Minsk theater critic Tatyana Komonova says.

Yekaterina Zorina’s Helena at Warsaw Melody (Comedian’s Refuge Drama Theater, St. Petersburg) won her the best actress. Anatoly Barannik took the honors for best actor for his role as Holden in Catcher in the Rye (Brest Academic Drama Theater n.a. Lenin Komsomol, Belarus). A tragic farce Romeo and Juliette by the State Drama Theater Na Liteynom from Saint Petersburg was named the best production. A poetic drama A Fright over the City by the Yerevan State Puppet Theater named after Ovanes Tumanyan won in the Scenic Language Originality nomination.

Speicla diplomas were bestowed upon the Taras Shevchenko Music Drama Theater (Chernihiv, Ukraine) for keeping traditions of the repertory theater (a play Our Town), and upon Yekaterina Yergulevich for a bright debut in the production Jester Balakirev, of the Court Comedy by the Mogilev Oblast Drama Theater.

Partaking in the International Youth Theater Forum M@rt.contact this year were eight countries. Modern productions for the youth and about the youth were presented at the best venues of Mogilev by 14 theaters of Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Armenia, Lithuania, Latvia and Moldova. The theater was first held in 2006. Over the time it has become one of the most awaited cultural events both in the oblast center and the entire theater world of Belarus. Over 90 plays have been showed at the forum since 2006. nearly 30,000 people watched them.