The international festival “Theater week with Belgazprombank has triumphantly ended with the play "We are fine" of the legendary Polish director Gjegorz Yazhin.
The theatre forum was held under the motto “Seven countries - seven wonders of the world. The geography of the festival was really extensive – from Argentina to South
Korea. For twenty days performances of different genres and for all tastes were presented to the Belarusian viewers. But the repertoire of “Theater week with Belgazprombank was
united by the highest skills of actors and directors, who brought to Minsk, without exaggeration, the masterpieces of dramatic art.
Days of Lublin Theatre in Minsk will become the bonus for theatergoers, which will take place since the 27th till the 29th of October. Three groups from Poland will show their performances on the
stage of the Palace of culture of labor unions. The theater “Provizorium will offer to the viewers its “reading of “The Brothers Karamazov of
F. M. Dostoevsky, “InVitro – the performance based on fragments of the novel “On the overgrown path by the laureate of Nobel Prize for literature Knut
Hamsun. At the end, on the 29th of October – the plastic performance of the Lublin Dance Theatre “48/4.
As a result of the past festival OJSC “Belgazprombank was awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus for the high contribution to support dramatic art.
“Theatre week with Belgazprombank de facto became one of the most prestigious events in the cultural life of Belarus. Alvis Hermanis, Oskaras Korshunovas, Gjegorz Yazhina visited
the Belarusian theatrical audience – directors, whose names are known throughout the world. During previous years the national theatre prize “Golden Mask (Russian
Federation) and international festival of theatre art “Panorama (Belarus) were the partners of “Theater week with Belgazprombank. The current festival hosted an
international forum of theatrical art “TeArt. Its program included not only performances, but also master classes, different formal and informal events and meetings which promote
the analysis and research of the place of theater in contemporary art, as well as the development of cultural exchange among groups from different countries and schools.
The program of the festival
- International festival “Theatre week with Belgazprombank made very noble event for Belarusian viewers – the famous theater critic noted, chief editor of the magazine
“Art of Lyudmila Gromyko. – The thing is that recently our theater has become rather “pop and it exists without crossing of established limits and does
not always fill the form with actual meaning. As a result, subtle and well-educated audience leaves theater, which has become too predictable. During “Theater week with
Belgazprombank performances with brightly delineated idea and meaningful interpretation were proposed to us. This is author’s direction, but not collected from production, worked
out for decades methods. During “Theater week with Belgazprombank the audience again met with great dramatic art, and there is hope that its interest in theater will be awaken
again.
This year Belarusian viewers saw a very qualitative and rich theater program. Personally, I'm happy that I managed to watch “The Sound of Silence by Alvis Hermanis and the
outstanding performance of Oskaras Korshunovas “Hamlet. An interesting and unusual for our audience was an Argentine “Uncle Vanya, which just enraptured with
unexpected interpretation, subtle irony and a high level of acting. The Korean version of “Macbeth, performance “Killbet – is the meeting with another
authentic theatrical culture ... And the acquaintance with the works of famous Polish director and master of European level Gjegorz Yazhina became a true revelation for armatures of the Belarusian
Theater.
On the day of the opening of “Theater week with Belgazprombank doors of the Republican Palace of Culture of labor unions were opened wide for all connoisseurs of the beautiful who
came to the premiere of the Russian classics in Argentine interpretation. Production of “Uncle Vanya. Watching the woman who kills herself presented by Theater Company of
Daniel Veronese, caused contradictory views, but in any case, did not leave the audience indifferent. As critics note, “this performance is rich in game, it brings into play actors, whose
energy is amazing, captivating the audience into an amazing journey into the artistic world of the theater.
Plastic performance “Daphnis and Chloe, staged by the National Choreography Centre of Grenoble, became a real adornment of the poster of the festival. The premiere of the
performance of Jean-Claude Gallott took place on the 12th of October and had full house on the stage of the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theatre. The author of the performance –
Jean-Claude Gallott – one of the few choreographers of modern dance, who staged on the stage of the Paris Opera (the inviolable sanctuary of classical ballet) two performances. They say
about the level of the troupe of the National Ballet Center of Grenoble that the contest for the vacant position in the team reaches 350 people and the performance “Daphnis and
Chloe became a record breaker of “Theatre week with Belgazprombank as all the tickets for it had been sold 3 weeks prior to the show.
The performance “Daniel Stein, Translator provoked contradictory emotions of the audience, but most important is that the audience met it with great interest: the hall was full.
Tickets were also sold out long before the Belarusian premiere, and it is not surprising. As the performance – is the winner of the Government Prize of the Russian Federation, twice laureate
of the most prestigious theater award of St. Petersburg “Gold soffit, the participant of international festivals. Only the Theatre on Vasilevsky was allowed by Ludmila Ulitskaya to
make a dramatization of her famous novel, which had been awarded with the national literary prize “Big Book.
On the 15th and 16th of October Far Eastern exotica reigned on the stage of the Belarusian State Academic Musical Theatre. The theatre “Play Factory Mabangzen (South Korea)
presented “Killbet – it is an epic drama in the style of action based on William Shakespeare's “Macbeth. The action of the Korean performance is
moved to the distant future. The futuristic show emphasizes and enhances the energy of the original play. The play is full of humor, which dilutes the dismal mood of Shakespeare's work, but at
the same time it preserves serious and tragic tones.
Gjegorz Yazhina, director of the production “We are fine, which crowned “Theatre week with Belgazprombank, shared with his vision of the play:
- For me this drama, written by Dorothy Maslovskaya, perfectly reflects the state of our public consciousness. The play expresses the things, about which the Poles think, about their concerns. There
are two main themes. The first - the events of World War II. The second, closer to the present – the study of the question “does Poland belong to Europe, have we become the
Europeans?. It should be noted that this is a story about a family consisting of several generations: grandmother, daughter and granddaughter. Lady Danuta Shaflyarska, who plays
grandmother’s role, remembers the war, she participated in the Warsaw uprising, which is very important for the dramatic concept of the performance.
Partnership of business and government
During one of the meetings within the program of “Theater week with Belgazprombank Belarusian Minister of Culture Pavel Latushko noted the contribution of business into support of
national culture:
- Holding such a large-scale cultural project as “Theatre week with Belgazprombank in Belarus became possible thanks to mutual understanding and cooperation of government agencies
and private businesses. Moreover, I am convinced that today one can not speak about development prospects of dramatic art without attracting considerable support from the side of business community.
There is no doubt that Belgazprombank is a leader in this area, it renders systematic and substantial assistance for the development of theaters in Belarus by supporting culture and dramatic arts of
our country, by acquainting Belarusian audience with new performances and theaters, which come to our country thanks to the help of Belgazprombank.
What are the further prospects of support of Belarusian culture from the side of commercial companies? Director of the Center for Visual and Performing Arts, established with the assistance of
Ministry of Culture, Angelica Krashevskaya, while discussing this subject, noted:
- The Centre for the Visual and Performing Arts has a sponsor, partner, founder: Belgazprombank, which helps us all. Unfortunately, this is a single case of such a close and successful public-private
partnership in the sphere of support and development of dramatic art of our country. I think that further prospects are more dependent on the positions of the business, whether it is interested in
bringing up and cultural education of the nation.
The chairman of the board of OJSC “Belgazprombank Victor Babariko summed up the completed “Theater week with Belgazprombank:
-This year “Theatre week with Belgazprombank used a new format. During the month the Centre for the Visual and Performing Arts, created with our assistance, presented to the
Belarusian audience masterpieces of world theater, which are united not by the subject, as it was in previous years (“We are watching Shakespeare, Chekhov....), but by innovatory
talent and a special look at usual things which seems to be simple. The organizers of this great action offered to the public performances from around the globe. Theater kaleidoscope, which clearly
shows different directions of performing arts from many countries, is becoming truly comprehensive.
For us it is important that the Belarusian audience was in tune with the European and world so that festival performances attract the audience, and going to the theater came in fashion. Theatre
– is the closest art to people as the ability to think and empathize is a natural and necessary demand of human mind and soul. We want to maximally extend the auditorium for the
“middle class as its formation and development should be defined not only in terms of economic, but also as a complex of spiritual and intellectual properties and qualities. And
the presented during the festival performances correspond to these very aims.
I am convinced that dramatic art reduces the distance between the thoughts and emotions. The main thing is that emotions are accompanied by artistic shocks. I hope that this year's festival
offered such opportunity to the audience. It is important for all of us to receive evidence once again that the modern world is extremely wide, diverse, and we are the part of this world.
The international festival “Theater week with Belgazprombank took place in Minsk from the 7th till the 26th of October. The forum was organized by the Centre of visual and
performing arts, created by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus and OJSC “Belgazprombank". The general partner of the festival – OJSC
“Gazprombank (Russian Federation).