The theatre is the last forum where idealism is still an open question: many audiences all over the world will answer positively from their own experience that they have seen the face of the invisible through an experience on the stage that transcended their experience in life.
— Peter Brook, An Empty Space

When I was working in Florence one of my students from Egypt who was getting his PhD in International law asked ‘why do dictators and repressive governments imprison and/or kill the artists?’

This question came from an incredibly intelligent, sensitive individual who sincerely wanted to know the answer to something he couldn’t understand.  I thought of this encounter today because of an email I received from a colleague in Europe who wanted me to know that his friend and collaborator, Natalia Kolyada, Director of Belarus Free Theater, had been arrested and imprisoned along with others during a peaceful demonstration against a falsified re-election of the President.  They have no idea where she has been taken.

An empty space is full of potential.  It is within that space that we, as theatre artists, bring expansive opportunities for inquiry,  reflection, and inspiration.  Hopefully we bring our audience to moments of experiencing the ‘invisible’ as deeply felt as Peter Brook implies.  If we are capable of occasionally reaching these heights and depths then it is a logical and awesome conclusion that yes indeed we, as theatre artists, are truly powerful.  But it is a power that must be honored, celebrated and embraced by our cultures and societies.  Imprisoning Natalia only demonstrates the weakness of the government which fears her voice and the power of that voice reflected in her body of work.  Imprisoning her must be unacceptable to all of us who KNOW the intrinsic value of artistic contributions to society, whether they are easily digested or not.

I ask you to, please, read the following sent to me by Brendan McCall of Ensemble Free Theatre Norway and take a stand to spread this information to all theatre artists, practitioners, leaders, students and audiences around the world.

Because if we don’t make a stand it is possible that the work of Natalia Kolyada and the Belarus Free Theater will no longer have the choice to fill empty spaces.   You can learn more about them by clicking here.

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Dear friends and colleagues,

On Sunday, 19 December 2010, several hundred men and women were arrested in Minsk during the violent dispersal of their peaceful protest against the latest presidential elections of Belarus, whose legitimacy is questionable at best.

Among those arrested was Natalya Koliada, Director of Belarus Free Theater, a theater community who has dedicated itself to upholding democracy and freedom of expression for the past 6 years.

Members of BFT, including Ms. Koliada, have been frequently arrested and threatened with death, and their performances have frequently been shut down by the KGB.  Audience members as well as the company´s actors, directors, producers, writers, and technicians have also been arrested.

I just learned that, earlier this morning, Ms. Koliada´s husband and fellow Director of Belarus Free Theater, Nikolai Khalezin, was arrested at his apartment this morning, 20 December 2010.

I have worked with this group a couple of times in the past year, both in Minsk (February) as well as here in Oslo (September).  During their latest visit in Norway, while performing Discover Love as part of an event with the Norwegian Helsinki Committee at Det Norske Teatret, Mr. Khalezin was threatened with death through emails and phonecalls.  The bitter irony is that their play dealt with true events based on fellow supporters of human rights and freedom of expression, who had disappeared.

Members of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee are working to help release Ms. Koliada and others who have been wrongfully imprisoned, both through petitions to the Norwegian government, as well as through NHC´s presence in Minsk currently.

I am writing to my colleagues within the theater community to sign a petition to state our support of Belarus Free Theater,  and to demand on the Belarussian government for their release.  I plan on sending this to various cultural leaders here within Norway, to help garner political pressure to help facilitate their swift release and immediate safety.  Based on previous conversations I have had with BFT in the past, the more visible these actions by the Belarussian government can become within the greater international community, the better.

TO SIGN:
Please send me your name and any associate title and/or country by WEDS 22 DECEMBER 2010 to:

brendan.mccall.norway@gmail.com

I am going to be sending the signed petition out on Thursday morning to a number of people here in Norway.

***Please feel free to pass this message long to anyone that you think would be interested in signing it, and have them email me their name, title, country***

Thank you for your support
Brendan McCall
Director, Ensemble Free Theater Norway