WRITERS
Viacheslav Durnenkov
Russia
Viacheslav is the author of 20 plays, some of which are co-written with his brother Mikhail. He has worked with the Russian Union of Theatre Actors, Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Theatrical Laboratory in Yasnaya Poliana and is a participant in the international educational project Class Act.
Viacheslav’s collection of plays Culture Layer was published by EKSMO and won him the Characters prize and Duty.Honour.Merit prize at the International Contemporary Drama Contest in Belarus, as well as awards at the New Drama 2005 and New Drama 2008 Russian festivals.
Anders Duus
Sweden
Anders graduated from Dramatiksa Institutet in 2004 and currently works as a Swedish playwright, dramaturg and translator. Since 2005, Anders has been the Riksteatern’s Writer in Residence and dramaturg.
Plays include: Måndag är fiskbulledag (2003); Vaknätter (2004); Odysséen (2007).
Paul Jenkins
UK
Paul has a Masters Degree in Playwriting from Goldsmiths College, London and is currently on attachment with the National Theatre Studio, London.
His last play Natural Selection won the Kings Cross New Writing Award and premiered at the Munich Staatsschauspiel. He also writes for television, having completed the BBC Writers’ Academy.
Aaron Landsman
USA
Aaron graduated from New York University with a degree in Experimental Theatre in 1991.
His plays tend to be produced in intimate, commonplace spaces such as homes and offices. Aaron also works as an actor with Elevator Repair Service Theatre, a company which have received critical acclaim both off-Broadway and across Europe. Aaron has taught at The Juilliard School, guest lectured at Colombia University and teaches a course at New York University. His articles have appeared in publications including The Village Voice and The Contemporary Theatre Review.
Aaron’s plays include What You’ve Done, commissioned by Houston’s Diverse Works Art Space and he has had several works performed at New York’s Performance Space 122. Aaron is currently writing two plays, How To Kill Yourself And Why and Special Tonight.
Angelica Liddel
Spain
Angelica has a degree in Psychology and Dramaturgy and her works have been published and translated into a variety of languages including Portuguese, German and French. Since 1993, Angelica has been the director of Atra Bilis Teatro company.
Plays include: Greta Wants To Kill Herself (winner of the ‘Ciudad de Alcorcon’ literary prize); Necessary Monologue of Extinction of Nubila Wahlheim (winner of the House of America Innovation Dramaturgy Prize 2003); Ricardo’s Year (winner of the Valle-Inclan prize 2008).
Alexei Scherbak
Latvia
Alexei was raised and studied in Liepai before studying for one year at the Pskov pedagogical University. Alexei then spent a year serving in the army in Afghanistan and was withdrawn in 1989. Alexei has since worked as a director and scriptwriter at a film studio and a journalist.
Plays include: Catch an Apostle (winner of a Contemporary Drama prize at the 2006 ‘Free Theatre’ International Contemporary Drama Festival); Bourgeois Heaven (winner of the 2007 International Drama Contest); Whistle Stop (winner of the 2007 International Screenplays Festival); Colonel Pilat (winner of the 2008 Lubimovka Festival and Duty.Honour.Merit Russian Playwriting Festival).
Peca Stefan
Romania
Peca studied scriptwriting at New York University. In 2005 he took part in the Royal Court’s International Residency programme. Peca’s work has been presented internationally, including in the UK, US, Austria, Bulgaria, Poland and Serbia.
Peca is the founding member of the BLA Independent Company and is an associate artist of The Internationalists, based in New York.
Plays include: Relationship Drama (winner of the 2007 Heidelberg Stuckemarkt Innovation Award and the 2006 London Fringe Report Best Play Award).
Goran Stefanovski
Macedonia
Goran is a leading dramatist who is now based in Canterbury, Kent where he lectures in Scriptwriting at Canterbury Christ Church University. Goran’s 1993 play Sarajevo played at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, as did his 2004 work Everyman before it toured with Theatre Melange. Goran’s work addresses themes of identity, cultural history and politics.
Jean-Pierre Thibaudat
France
Jean-Pierre worked as the chief editor of the theatre section of a French newspaper from 1978-1996, was a Russian correspondent from 1996-2000 and was a grand reporter (senior title in French media) from 2000-2006.
Jean-Pierre is the artistic director of the Passages festival as well as the French paper Liberation.
Michal Walczak
Poland
Michal studied at the General Trading School in Warsaw and went on to study Theatre and Stage Direction at the Theatre Academy in Warsaw.
As a writer plays include: Sandpit (winner of the Lódz young playwriting contest and KON-Texsts 2004 Original Text Award); A Trip Inside a Room (winner of Warsaw Drama Society Playwriting Contest, finalist of Brave Plays’ Week in Radom, Ministry of Culture Original Text Award); The Mine; Sad Princess; Night Bus; The First Time.
As a director plays include: A Trip Inside a Room; Child; Space; Hungover; Last Daddy.
Özen Yula
Turkey
Özen completed secondary school in Oregon, USA. Özen studied Economics before doing a post-graduate degree in Drama.
He has had various work published and translated into a number of languages since 1993. Özen’s plays have been performed in the Chartreuse-Avignon and the Martin. E. Segal Theatre in New York.
CREATIVE TEAM
Natalia Koliada
Co-author / co-producer
Natalia is the General Director and Theatre Producer, co-founder of Belarus Free Theatre alongside her husband Nikolai.
Natalia has been detained three times for participation in peaceful political and theatrical activities. She was the first person to be detained at a street protest against enforced disappearances in Belarus. She was convicted for publishing the Monitoring of Human Rights on the internet. Her father, Andrei Koliada, was dismissed from the Academy of the Arts for cooperation with Belarus Free Theatre and was physically attacked as a result; the criminal investigation case on it was closed down.
In February 2010, her play They Saw Dreams played at the Soho Theatre based on documentary material and stories of the political prisoners Irina Krasovskaya, Svetlana Zavadskaya, Tatiana Klimova and Lyudmila Karpenko.
Co-producer with Nikolai Khalezin of the following productions by Belarus Free Theatre: 4.48 Psychosis; We.Self-Indentification; We.Belliwood; Technique of Breezing in a Vaccum; Discover Love (written by Natalia Koliada and Nikolai Khalezin, directed by Nikolai Khalezin); Generation Jeans (written and directed by Nikolai Khalezin); Zone of Silence; Being Harold Pinter; Eurepica.Challenge; A Flower for Pina Bausch; New York '79.
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Nikolai Khalezin
Co-author / producer
Nikolai is a playwright, director and journalist and co-founded Belarus Free Theatre alongside his wife Natalia Koliada in March 2005.
Nikolai was arrested four times for participation in peaceful political protest rallies and theatrical activities. He was taken to trial for organising a peaceful political street rally. His plays are forbidden to be staged in Belarus. In summer 2010 was attacked outside his house. The criminal investigation case on it was closed down.
Nikolai is the author of 11 plays including Generation Jeans and Here I Am and has won numerous awards recognizing his contribution to humanitarian theatre. Under Belarus Free Theatre he has presented his work at festivals in Riga, Helsinki, Moscow, Paris, Munich, Stockholm, St.Etienne, Warsaw. See Natalia’s biog for co-productions under Belarus Free Theatre.
Previous roles include: Artistic Director art-director and one of the founders of Minsk Alternative Theatre, over 10 performances as Stage Designer (1987 – 1991); Founder and owner of the Vita Nova gallery later turned into the Modern Arts Centre (1991 – 1994); Editor-in-chief at The Name, The News and Our Freedom newspapers all of which were closed down by the government by political reasons (1994-2000); marketing and political consulting (2000-2004).
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Vladimir Shcherban
Director
Vladimir became a director at the Yanka Kupala National Academic Theatre in 1999 but was dismissed in 2006 for his cooperation with Belarus Free Theatre. Various performances by Shcherban in Belarus have been cancelled and he has been detained for his professional activities.
In 2008, together with Nikolai Khalezin and Natalia Koliada, he helped found Fortinbras, the only underground arts school in Belarus.
Productions directed for Belarus Free Theatre include: 4.48. Psychosis; We.Self-Indentification; We.Belliwood; Technique of Breezing in a Vacuum; Zone of Silence; Being Harold Pinter; A Flower for Pina Bausch; New York '79.
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Aliaksei Naranovich
Assistant Director
Aliaksei was a student at Fortinbras, the Belarusian underground arts school set up by Nikolai, Natalia and Vladimir. He also studied at the Belarus State Academy of the Arts in Minsk.
Aliaksei has been repeatedly attacked and imprisoned for his cooperation with Belarus Free Theatre.
As well as assistant directing, Aliaksei has also worked as a fireman, a bricklayer, a librarian, a loader, a collector and a restorer.
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Laur Biarzhanin (Dj Laurel)
Sound
Laur is a musician and professional DJ. Alongside Belarus Free Theatre he was an initiator of the project World Musicians for Solidarity with Belarus, of which Mick Jagger is a patron. Laur has been detained for his professional activities.
He was the first DJ in Belarus to represent the music from labels such as Compost, Ubiquity, Schema, Hospital and Good Looking. He collaborates with artists from around the world, organizing live music events, including Jazzanova , Sonar Kollektiv, A&R Tru Thoughts, Kiss 101 FM, 7 Samurai, NinjaTunes, A&R WahWah45s.
Joint performances with musicians and DJs include: Montefiori Cocktail; Gabin; Jake Wherry (The Herbaliser); Up, Bustle and Out; DJ Food; Jason Boardman; The Brand New Heavies, The Karminsky Experience.
As sound manager for Belarus Free Theatre: Generation Jeans; Discover Love.
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Viktoriya Biran
Costume
Viktoriya joined Belarus Free Theatre in 2010.
She trained as a journalist at the Institute of Journalism BSU in Minsk and worked for cultural website budzma.org before joining Belarus Free Theatre.
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Rima Ushkevich
Assistant to the Art Director
Rima joined Belarus Free Theatre in 2009 where she wrote her first play, winning the Tom Stoppard Award at the American International Drama Awards. She is also involved with Fortinbras, the only underground arts school in Belarus founded by Belarus Free Theatre.
She previously worked as a journalist and correspondent for seven years including at Belpan news agency, as well as at TV and radio company MIR Interstate.
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Svetlana Sugako
Assistant to the Director
Svetlana joined Belarus Free Theatre in 2005 as an administrator and assistant director but she also performs with them occasionally. She is also a musician and song-writer, formerly in band Tarpach.
In 2006 she was jailed for 7 days for shouting the anti-state slogan ‘Long Live Belarus’ after the presidential election.
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Art Harley Davidson
Stage Manager
Art studies Theatre Direction and Production at Belarus University of Culture. He writes and performs poetry and songs.
Theatre includes: Tuned Sound (Sound Director, 1992 - 2000, Israel); Quartermile Records (Audio and Video Editor, 2000 - 2003, USA); Columbus Dance Centre (Sound and Lighting Director, 2003 – 2010, USA).