Photo Flash: Public Theater Hosts Belarus Free Theatre Rally

The Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson and Amnesty International USA hosted a rally on Wednesday, January 19 from 12 PM to 1 PM to show solidarity and support for the persecuted Belarus artists and activists, including Belarus Free Theater whose powerful production of BEING Harold Pinter was just staged to great acclaim at this year's Under the Radar Festival.

In attendance this afternoon were Tony Kushner, Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis, Mandy Patinkin, Linda Emond, Jay O. Sanders, Kathryn Grody, Josh Hamilton, and Belarus Free Theater Founder Natalia Koliada as well as over 300 demonstrators.

Adapted and Directed by Uladzimir Shcherban, BEING Harold Pinter, by the Belarus Free Theater, played a sold out run at this year's Under the Radar Festival and performed an encore benefit performance on Monday, January 17 to raise money for the persecuted theater company. The powerful play incorporates transcripts from Belarusian political prisoners with excerpts from Harold Pinter's lifetime of writings. Creating visually striking images with simple means and underscoring the fierceness of Pinter's words with the intense physicality of the actors, BEING Harold Pinter blurs the boundaries between art and reality, delivering a poignant contemporary commentary on violence, oppression, freedom and human dignity.

BELARUS FREE THEATER BFT was founded in 2005 by Natalia Koliada along with her husband, Nikolai Khalezin, who is the company's General Director and Producer. The company features Pavel Garadnitski, Irene Iarochevitch, Mikalai Khalezin, Yana Rusakevich, Aleh Sidorchyk, Dzianis Tarasenka, and Maryna Yurevich.

For more information on the January 19th rally, please visit www.zoneofsilence.org and for more information on how to help support families of political prinsoners and other oppressed civil society groups, email Belarus.solidarity@gmail.com or visit charter97.org or amnestyUSA.org.