Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 20 September (BelTA) – The International Theater Forum TEART introduces Belarusian audience to new productions, names and theater experiments from different countries, Belarus’ First Deputy Culture Minister Irina Driga said at the opening ceremony of the 8th International Theater Art Forum TEART at the Yanka Kupala National Academic Theater on 20 September, BelTA has learned.

The theater forum has become a large-scale event. “TEART consists of two parts: the Belarusian program with its interesting experimental productions that will not leave anyone indifferent, and the international program featuring the best artworks from different countries. It is symbolic that the forum which introduces us to new forms of national and world theater kicks off on the stage of Belarus’ oldest theater,” Irina Driga said.

Director of the forum (the director of the ART Corporation visual and performing arts center) Anzhelika Krashevskaya expressed the words of gratitude to all those involved in the organization of the festival (these are more than 50 organizations). TEART is held thanks to people who care, including spectators. In response, the organizers do their best to make every theater event unforgettable.

The festival kicked off with the Belarus Open show case scheduled for 20-24 September. Belarus Open began with a new version of The Government Inspector staged by art director of the Yanka Kupala Theater Nikolai Pinigin and his student Dmitry Tishko. Nikolai Pinigin stressed at the opening of the forum that TEART has grown into the main event in the country’s theater life and expressed happiness that Yanka Kupala’s The Government Inspector opens the Belarusian program.

Belarus’ largest theatrical TEART consists of three sections: international program, Belarus Open and TEART’s School educational platform. Among the participating countries this year are Russia, Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, Poland, Belgium, France, Finland, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea. The international program features nine major theatrical productions. Ten best Belarusian performances will be shown in Belarus Open.

The international program will open with The Wedding, based on the one-act play A Respectable Wedding by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Oskaras Korsunovas. For the Lithuanian director this will be the fifth visit to TEART and it promises to be an unforgettable experience for the spectators the cultural emphases in the performance change because depending on the city hosting The Wedding (OKT/Vilnius City Theater).

TEART will wrap up in the OK16 cultural incubator on 16 October. The closing ceremony will bring together actors and producers, stage designers and directors.

The eighth edition of the International Theater Forum TEART will be held from 20 September to 16 October under the slogan Decompression. Among the organizers are the ART Corporation visual and performing arts center, Belgazprombank, Gazprom Transgaz Belarus. The forum is held in cooperation with the Culture Ministry of Belarus and the Minsk City Hall.