Pages

Showing posts with label Belarus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belarus. Show all posts

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Personal Is Political With Minsk Mates at Chicago Shakespeare #Review


Timeless, traditional Belarus folk songs stand in stark contrast, next to violent vignettes.  And Minsk 2011:   A Reply to Kathy Acker is all the more potent for it's risk.  The playwright left the country for what was supposed to be a few week trip and was banned from his homeland, and has been in exile in London, missing his wife and aging mother back in Belarus.  Members of the company have been blacklisted, beaten, fined, lost their jobs, and have been imprisoned.   Working with Belarus Free Theatre gives "taking risks" on stage a whole new depth of meaning. 

ChiIL Live Shows caught opening night last night and this show is highly recommend, for those who care about human rights and multicultural storytelling.   Tickets are only $20 for this short run, 6 show, limited engagement in the intimate upstairs space at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier, so it's quite affordable and accessible.  Do note, there is nudity, violent subject matter, and monologue heavy subtitles, so this is one for mature audiences only.

Minsk 2011:   A Reply to Kathy Acker is a welcome wake up call and a compelling, unflinching look at modern day Minsk.  It's easy to get compassion fatigue and tune out the tough situations people face here at home and particularly half way around the world.  Theatre is a fantastic medium for the message.  If visual and visceral stories are the lifeblood of a city and a society, then Minsk 2011:   A Reply to Kathy Acker is akin to a blood transfusion.   You WILL leave the theatre with these tales firmly imbedded in your brain and in your heart.   

I'm still reeling from the imagery of spilled blood and sugar, of scars from heavy handed jackboot thugs coexisting next to average accidents, and the words "step on a body just to hear the crunch".   Some shows leave a mark.  Amid current police raids on underground performance spaces in the Belarus capital of Minsk last month, this brave band of actors still pushes the boundaries.   The heat and pressure isn't deterring them, instead it seems to be making diamonds...gems of truth about the uncrushable, independent human spirit, in the guise of theatre arts.    




In the Face of Police Raids Last Month in Minsk
Belarus Free Theatre Brings Newest Political Piece
Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker
To Chicago Shakespeare Theater 
January 30–February 3, 2013 
All Tickets $20 to Foster Dialogue and Encourage Participation

Belarus Free Theatre has made its way to the United States, despite several police raids last month at underground performance spaces in the capital of Minsk. The raids came on the eve of the company bringing its newest political piece, Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker, to Chicago Shakespeare Theater for performances now through February 3, 2013 in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. To foster dialogue and encourage participation, all tickets for this six-performance limited engagement are $20. The piece, which explores the sexual brutality and oppression by the totalitarian regime in Belarus, is one of many award-winning productions by the company, celebrated for creating art based upon the unjustly persecuted people of Belarus.

Belarus Free Theatre was formed in 2005 by Natalia Koliada and Nikolai Khalezin to provide an opportunity for commentary on conditions in their country—one of the last totalitarian governments in Europe. Enduring constant police interference, arrests, and violence under the authoritarian rule of President Lukashenko, the company must produce their work in Belarus in secret. Members of the company have lost their jobs, been imprisoned, blacklisted, and in some cases, exiled from their home. Yet Belarus Free Theatre continues to develop internationally acclaimed work with the support of artists and theater companies around the world.

Artists from London to Los Angeles have raised their voices in support of Belarus Free Theatre. In response to last month’s raids, several prominent English actors, including Ralph Fiennes, Alan Rickman, Joanna Lumley, Mark Rylance and Simon Callow, appealed to British Prime Minister David Cameron, urging him to use his political power to help free Belarusian political prisoners. The effort was organized through the Free Belarus Now project, a global campaign for the human rights of the Belarusian people. British playwright Tom Stoppard recently told The Guardian that “democracies ought to be trying to make democracy contagious,” noting his admiration for the campaigners. “They are trying to remind the world at large that the Belarus problem hasn’t gone away—it’s gotten worse.”

Belarus Free Theatre returns to Chicago for the first time since its American premiere of Being Harold Pinter at The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival in January 2011, which earned the company an Obie Award. Following the New York premiere, the company would have been forced to return to Belarus without a subsequent U.S. engagement, placing its members at great risk. In an unprecedented Chicago theater initiative, Chicago Shakespeare Theater joined Goodman Theatre, Northwestern University, and the League of Chicago Theatres to present performances of
Being Harold Pinter in Chicago January 27–February 20, 2011, allowing Belarus Free Theatre to stay in the country while company members sought asylum from persecution at home.

Minsk 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker, devised, written and performed by Belarus Free Theatre, and conceived, directed and adapted by Vladimir Shcherban, combines the company’s distinctive mix of experimental theater with real-life testimony and biting satire. Revealing a sexually repressed society and lamenting for the city that has lost its way, the production and its artists pine for a beloved home that has turned ugly. Taking its inspiration from the late American postmodernist writer Kathy Acker, the work addresses Belarusian society through the prism of sexuality, telling the stories of a series of exploited individuals. Following the Fringe First Award-winning performances in Edinburgh in 2011, the production moved to a critically acclaimed run at London’s Young Vic in 2012, and made its U.S. premiere earlier this month in New York before continuing on to Chicago Shakespeare Theater.


Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s limited six-performance World’s Stage presentation of Belarus Free Theatre’s Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker runs now through February 3, 2013 in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Run time is 85 minutes with no intermission. Performed in Russian and Belarusian with projected English translations.

Committed to fostering dialogue on the important international issues explored in this production, Chicago Shakespeare is encouraging broad-based participation by offering all tickets for $20. All patrons receive a 40% discount on guaranteed parking in Navy Pier garages. Additionally, Navy Pier is offering $10 parking after 5 p.m. through March 17, 2013. 

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater’s website here.   For more information on the Free Belarus Now project click here.
Audience Notice: The production includes some mature content and depictions of violence and brief nudity.

Social and Political Issues Take Center Stage Chicago Shakespeare Theater Announces 2013 World’s Stage Presentations Stories from Belarus, South Africa, Nigeria and Italy Come to Chicago


ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a leading international theater company, known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare’s genius for intricate storytelling, musicality of language and depth of feeling for the human condition. Recipient of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Chicago Shakespeare’s work has been recognized internationally with three of London’s prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards, and by the Chicago theater community with 70 Joseph Jefferson Awards for Artistic Excellence. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson, CST is dedicated to producing extraordinary classic productions, new works and family fare; unlocking Shakespeare’s work for educators and students; and serving as Chicago’s cultural ambassador through its World’s Stage Series.

ABOUT THE WORLD’S STAGE SERIES
Chicago Shakespeare’s presentation of Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker is emblematic of the wide scope of work presented through the World’s Stage Series—a program that brings the world’s most exciting theatrical events to Chicago audiences and presents Chicago Shakespeare’s work abroad. Chicago Shakespeare has collaborated with more than 600 international artists representing 16 countries on five continents, engaging audiences in a dialogue with the world’s established and emerging theater artists. Strengthening its reputation as a leader in cultural diplomacy, CST partners regularly with respected international affairs organizations, including the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Chicago Consular Corps, Chicago Sister Cities and World Business Chicago.

Since the inception of the World’s Stage Series in 2000, Chicago Shakespeare has imported international productions ranging from pedestrian-based live art events (Australia’s one step at a time like this) to grand aerial and water spectacles (France’s Compagnie Transe Express and Ilotopie); to iconic theaters such as Shakespeare’s Globe (London), the Maly Drama Theatre (St. Petersburg) and La Comédie-Française (Paris). As a leading cultural ambassador, Chicago Shakespeare has presented its work at the Royal Shakespeare Company (Stratford-upon- Avon), The Donmar Warehouse (London), on tour in Germany and Australia, and this past spring, was among the 37 international companies that came together for an unprecedented 37-play “Globe to Globe” festival for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Friday, December 21, 2012

Chicago Shakespeare Goes Global With World's Stage Collaborations in 2013 #ChicagoShakespeare



Chicago Shakespeare Theater
Announces 2013 World’s Stage Presentations

Stories from Belarus, South Africa, Nigeria and Italy Come to Chicago
Social and Political Issues Take Center Stage

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announced today four new World’s Stage presentations in 2013—bold theatrical events from across the globe, each in its own voice, provoking discussion on issues of international significance. On the heels of celebrating the Year of Creative Scotland with two critically acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland productions this fall, Chicago Shakespeare Theater continues to demonstrate its commitment to engage audiences in global issues, bringing to Chicago conversations of searing social and political importance through the work of internationally acclaimed theater artists.

Following its widely acclaimed 2010 production of Being Harold Pinter, the provocative Belarus Free Theatre returns to Chicago this winter, exploring the nature of sex in one of Europe’s last surviving dictatorships with Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker (January 30–February 3, 2013). 
In February, Chicago Shakespeare partners with The Market Theatre of Johannesburg to present the world premiere of Cadre, written by and featuring South African artist Omphile MolusiCadre tells the story of a former soldier in the Azanian People's Liberation Army during and after Apartheid, juxtaposing South Africa’s violent and passionate past with its disillusioned present (Chicago: February 15–23, 2013; Johannesburg: March 18–April 14, 2013)





In the spring CST presents the American premiere of the Olivier Award-winning Roadkill,site-specific performance for which audience members are transported by mini-van to an apartment in Chicago and are confronted with the brutal realities of sex trafficking. Drawn from the harrowing details of a young Nigerian woman trapped in a living nightmare, this production is the catalyst for The British Council’s collaboration with CST and St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York City to create a public program that engages local partners in a dialogue on the impact of human trafficking (Chicago: May 11–26, 2013; New York: June 4–30, 2013)





This June, Chicago Shakespeare joins the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago to commemorate the Year of Italian Culture in America with the American premiere of Piccolo Teatro di Milano’s Inner Voices. Written by Eduardo De Filippo, one of Italy’s most translated and respected writers, the play investigates perceptions of morality amidst a devastating post-war landscape (June 25–29, 2013).


Committed to shining a spotlight and fostering dialogue on the substantial international issues explored in the 2013 World’s Stage Series, Chicago Shakespeare is encouraging broad-based participation from across the City. In support of this engagement initiative, all tickets for Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker and Cadre are $20.
“Chicago Shakespeare’s World’s Stage presentations, commissions and international touring have redefined the Theater’s reach and importance to Chicago,” said CST Executive Director Criss Henderson. “We are actively contributing to an aspiration of the City’s Cultural Plan—to be a ‘global destination for creativity, innovation and excellence in the arts,’ by stimulating the international conversation on critical global issues.”
Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s line-up of international presentations is emblematic of the scope of work presented in the World’s Stage Series—a year-round initiative that brings the world’s most exciting theatrical events to Chicago audiences and presents Chicago Shakespeare’s work abroad. Chicago Shakespeare has collaborated with more than 600 international artistsrepresenting 16 countries on five continents ,engaging audiences in a dialogue with the world’s established and emerging theater artists. Strengthening its reputation as a leader in cultural diplomacy, CST partners regularly with respected international affairs organizations, including the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Chicago Consular Corps, Chicago Sister Cities and World Business Chicago.
"Chicago Shakespeare's international exchange is a great asset to Chicago and enhances the city's global reputation," said World Business Chicago President Rita Athas. "Chicago Shakespeare Theater is making important connections and these efforts contribute greatly to the global city we continue to build."
Since the inception of the World’s Stage Series in 2000, Chicago Shakespeare has imported international productions ranging from pedestrian-based live art events ( Australia’s one step at a time like this ) to grand aerial and water spectacles ( France’s Compagnie Transe Expressand Ilotopie ); to iconic theaters such as Shakespeare’s Globe (London), the Maly Drama Theatre  (St. Petersburg) and La Comédie-Française (Paris). As a leading cultural ambassador, Chicago Shakespeare has presented its work at the Royal Shakespeare Company ( Stratford-upon-Avon ), The Donmar Warehouse (London), on tour in Germany and Australia, and this past spring, was among the 37 international companies that came together for an unprecedented 37-play “Globe to Globe” festival for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
2013 World’s Stage Series:
Belarus Free Theatre’s
Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker Performed in Russian with projected English translation January 30–February 3, 2013 | Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare
text by Natalia Kaliada with Nicolai Khalezin | directed and adapted by Uladzimir Shcherban
Belarus Free Theatre returns to Chicago following its widely acclaimed 2010 production ofBeing Harold Pinter . Now, one of the world’s most provocative and inspiring companies presents a new work entitled Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker . In a sexually repressed society,Minsk 2011 laments for the city that has lost its way, pining for a beloved home that has turned ugly and for a people who cannot express themselves. Belarus Free Theatre was founded in 2005 in Europe’s last surviving dictatorship, and the company is one of the most outspoken critics of Belarus’ repressive regime. Despite the loss of jobs, freedom and home, the company continues to develop award-winning work with the support of artists and theater companies around the world. Tickets are on sale now for $20.
World Premiere of Cadre 
Chicago | February 15–23, 2013 | Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare
Johannesburg | March 18–April 14, 2013 | The Market Theatre of Johannesburg
written by Omphile Molusi
Chicago Shakespeare and the The Market Theatre partner to present the world premiere of Cadre in Chicago and Johannesburg. South African artist Omphile Molusi ’s play is inspired by true events in the life of an activist during, and after, the Apartheid era. Following Molusi’s internationally acclaimed production Itsoseng, presented by Chicago Shakespeare in 2010,Cadre explores the life of a former soldier in the Azanian People's Liberation Army who struggles with feelings of disappointment and betrayal in his quest for democracy. Bordering between present-day South Africa and its turbulent past, Cadre is a story of dreams and change, honoring families, friends and all the unsung heroes who died hoping for a better futureMolusi, one of South Africa’s leading young theater artists, was the first recipient of the Royal Shakespeare Company/Baxter Theatre Brett Goldin Bursary Award, which earned the young playwright a life-changing scholarship to study with the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon. Presented with Richard Jordan Productions in association with The Market Theatre of Johannesburg and the Adelaide Festival of Arts. Tickets are on sale now for $20.
American Premiere of Roadkill 
Chicago | May 11–26, 2013 | Location TBD
New York | June 4–30, 2013 | Location TBD
text by Stef Smith | conceived and directed by Cora Bissett
Following sold-out runs in London (where it received the Olivier Award) and Paris, Roadkill has its American premiere in Chicago. Based on the real-life experiences of a young woman trafficked from Nigeria, Scottish writer/director Cora Bissett's critically acclaimed, site-specific theatrical and multi-media event explores the terrifying complexities of human trafficking. Transported by mini-van to an apartment in a Chicago neighborhood, audiences will come face-to-face with the brutal and hidden truth behind the newspaper headlines—sharing the intimate, harrowing details of a young woman trapped in a living nightmare. Roadkill premiered at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was the first production in history to win every major theatre award of the Festival, as well as a special Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award.The British Council partners with CST in Chicago and St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York City to create a public program that engages local partners with a vested interest in the eradication of sex-trafficking, exploring the impact of this issue on these two important American cities.Presented with Pachamama Productions and Richard Jordan Productions in association with Traverse Theatre.
Piccolo Teatro di Milano’s
American Premiere of Inner Voices

Performed in Italian with projected English translation
June 25–29, 2013 | Courtyard Theater
by Eduardo De Filippo | directed by Toni Servillo
Chicago Shakespeare joins the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago to commemorate the Year of Italian Culture in America with the American premiereof Inner Voices, a production by one of Italy’s most important theaters, Piccolo Teatro di Milano. The Piccolo was last in Chicago in 2005 when CST presented Arlecchino, Servant of Two Masters. In collaboration with Théatre du Gymnase, Marseille on the occasion of Marseille Capitale de la Culture 2013, The Piccolo will debut Inner Voices written by Eduardo De Filippo , one of the most translated and respected Italian writers in the world. Written in 1948 as a reaction to the post-war period, the characters of Inner Voices move against the backdrop of the wreckage of World War II– with startling relevance to the rubble of today’s economic crisis. Following his successful production of Goldoni’s Vacation Trilogy at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival, acclaimed Italian director Toni Servillo will stage Inner Voices in CST’s Courtyard Theater.Produced by Teatri Uniti/Piccolo Teatro di Milano in association with Teatro d’Europa and Teatro di Roma.
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater’s website at www.chicagoshakes.com

Google Analytics