On March 6th theatre Kryly Halopa should have presented documentary project “Chernobyl” to the Belarusian public for the first time. It was planned to present the performance, to conduct discussion with the invited experts and exhibition of children’s drawings on the theme of “Chernobyl”. Today, March 5th, at the full-dress rehearsal, we were informed that the show’s canceled because of the renovations, scheduled to begin tomorrow. While the activities planned for March 8th at the Cultural Center were not canceled.
At the Department of the ideological work with youth and culture, we were given an explanation that “at first the renovation (the money on which has been absent for a few last years, but recently has been found) and then the performance, but not immediately. At first, you have to present it to commission, and get the act of reception and only then show it to the public. ”
Our last performance “The Pants” based on the play of P. Pryazhko was banned by the Commission in December 2012. We have no doubt that the same fate waits for the “Chernobyl”, which raises much more acute issues. That is why we are not going to participate in a farce, in which the cultural functionaries are gathered not for artistic purposes but for the bans based on the political reasons.
We interpret today’s “cancel of the performance because of renovation” as a covert ban. And we declare that once again the censorship in Belarus banned the piece of art which could be a bit inconvenient for existing system.
The “Chernobyl” project was presented earlier in Denmark at the International Theatre Festival “Transit” and at theatre festivals in Poland.