BELARUS'"FREE THEATER" DEFIES REPRESSION

C O N F I D E N T I A L MINSK 000746 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/31/2017 TAGS: PGOV PHUM BO SUBJECT: BELARUS'"FREE THEATER" DEFIES REPRESSION Classified By: Charge Jonathan Moore for reason 1.4 (d). ¶1. (C) On August 29, Charge met with representatives of the Belarus' independent Free Theater (FT) to express the Embassy's moral support after authorities raided a private residence where they were performing the play "Eleven Vests." Police detained and later released over 40 Belarusian actors and theatergoers and five foreign nationals, including three French theater-studio managers, on August 22. Describing the disproportionate raid as "strange" even in comparison with previous GOB raids, FT Art Director and principal actor Nikolay Khalezin recalled to Charge how minutes before the show began GOB police used buses to block the venue's entrance, but still allowed the foreign nationals to enter. Revealing that the performance had been quietly coordinated with the French Embassy, Khalezin speculated that GOB is concerned about growing European interest in the FT. ¶2. (C) According to Khalezin, GOB efforts to suppress the FT also reflect FT's pro-European (pro-Western) orientation. The art director elaborated that FT's staff and fans strongly support the October 14 European March being organized by Belarus' democratic opposition. He added that FT would perform plays whose themes explore Belarusian identity within European civilization with the aim of encouraging support for Belarus' EU integration. When Charge asked about FT's financial circumstances, FT Manager Nataliya Koleda and Director Vladimir Shcherban concurred that the self-financing FT lacked funds for its eight to nine planned productions that cost about USD 500 to 600 each and noted that FT would be very grateful for any outside assistance. Remaining upbeat, Khalezin noted that his theater enjoys strong moral support from many Western artists (including playwright Tom Stoppard and, most recently, singer Mick Jagger) and unequivocally pledged that Free Theater's shows would go on. Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) The courage, resilience, and sense of purpose of these pro-democracy activists -- in light of the enormous GOB harassment they have faced since FT's founding in 2005 -- is impressive. Whereas Belarusian opposition parties and civil society groups seek to democratize and reform Belarus' institutions, the Free Theater dramatizes the need to liberate Belarusians' social and cultural consciousness. Moore