Press releases

MOGILEV, 9 January (BelTA) – Mogilev will host the 12th international youth theater forum M@rt.contact on 21-27 March, Andrei Kuntsevich, the head of the main department for ideology, culture and youth affairs of the Mogilev Oblast Executive Committee, told a press conference.

This year the playbill will feature 22 plays by 20 theaters from 10 countries (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and others). For the first time the forum will welcome theater companies from Austria and the United States. “Over 11 years the forum in Mogilev has become an iconic event anticipated not only in the region but also in the entire country,” said Andrei Kuntsevich. “I hope this year it will also live up to the expectations of the theater community and lovers of theater art because the organizers tried to make the playbill as diverse and interesting as possible.”

The forum will be running at several venues: Mogilev Regional Drama Theater, Mogilev Regional Puppet Theater, Mogilev Concert Hall, and the Museum of Ethnography where Theaomai theater-studio will show The Brothers Karamazov by Director Silva Krivickiene. The forum promises youth debuts and premieres. For example, the Mogilev Regional Puppet Theater is going to show a one-man performance Blue Blue featuring the winner of the National Theater Award Nikolai Steshits. The performance based on a work by Vladimir Korotkevich has been produced by young but already famous director Igor Kazakov.

According to Director of Mogilev Regional Drama Theater Andrei Novikov, the organizing committee of the forum always manages to compile a highly artistic and diverse playbill, including dramaturgy, types and forms of theater language. The program of the forum will include serious modern and classical dramaturgy. “The forum will pursue its main goal, which is to improve the artistic taste of the audience, draw more people who can think, analyze and perceive the world from a creative angle, reduce the number of people who view theater as a light entertainment,” he said.

Tickets will be sold through the ticket office of the Mogilev Regional Drama Theater and online starting from 10 January. The cost will vary from Br4 to Br35.

The project was launched in 2006 with a view to develop and popularize theater art. In the past 11 years the festival has grown into one of the most important cultural events in Belarus. Over the years the festival has shown 168 performances from 17 countries. The aggregate audience has made up more than 36,000.

The founders of the festival are the Culture Ministry of Belarus, the Mogilev Oblast Executive Committee, and the Mogilev Regional Drama Theater.