{"id":35576,"date":"2016-03-08T15:01:14","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T21:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=35576"},"modified":"2016-03-08T15:01:57","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T21:01:57","slug":"eastern-european-theater-company-incorporates-political-art-into-king-lear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/eastern-european-theater-company-incorporates-political-art-into-king-lear\/","title":{"rendered":"Eastern European theater company incorporates political art into \u2018King Lear\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Katina Beniaris<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">Based in a country formerly allied to the Soviet Union and currently subjected to harsh censorship laws, Belarus Free Theatre remains fearless in their second U.S. visit with a contemporary twist on this Shakespeare tragedy about an aging king.<\/p>\n<p>Five years after their Chicago debut, the political theater company returned to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagoshakes.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Shakespeare Theater<\/a> in February with the American premiere of their searing production of Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cKing Lear.\u201d Directed by Vladimir Shcherban, this \u201cKing Lear\u201d brings a compelling and raging approach to the classic Shakespeare play by connecting it to the theater company\u2019s rich and complicated history.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>You must understand the power behind <a href=\"http:\/\/www.belarusfreetheatre.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Belarus Free Theatre<\/a> to appreciate their shows. Formed in 2005 under one of Eastern Europe\u2019s last surviving dictatorships, the underground theater company has had dangerous run-ins with the Belarus authorities in the past. Uncensored art is classified as a criminal activity under Belarus\u2019s strict government. Many company members have served time in prison and lost their jobs or gone into hiding as a result of their productions on the oppressive conditions in their homeland. The company\u2019s resistance movement was recently the focus of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hbo.com\/documentaries\/dangerous-acts-starring-the-unstable-elements-of-belarus\" target=\"_blank\">HBO documentary<\/a>, \u201cDangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Performed in Belarusian (a variant of Russian that is the country\u2019s official language) with English subtitles, \u201cKing Lear\u201d draws parallels between the title character\u2019s collapsing country and current conditions in the Belarus government.<\/p>\n<p>However, this parallel doesn\u2019t seem clear at times. Audience members unfamiliar with Shakespeare\u2019s storyline might be confused throughout the play, especially if they also don\u2019t know about the theater company\u2019s origins. Belarusian folk songs and dances erupt when Lear divides the land among his daughters. Famous Shakespearian quotes are missing in the play\u2019s English-language supertitles.<\/p>\n<p>This approach might not resonate with everyone, but the theater company remains consistent with their cultural and social message. The play\u2019s passions run high as the characters assert their own power. Anger is as rampant as the blood and dirt scattered across the stage. There\u2019s madness when Lear cracks eggs and Edgar plays with human waste (represented by realistic, chunky peanut butter).<\/p>\n<p>At Feb. 5 performance, several actors brought their considerable best to the play. Aleh Sidorchyk provides a fresh and modern portrayal of the titled character melting down to madness. His energetic voice throughout the production makes Lear seem more like a tragic hero than a withering old man. The character of Edgar (played by Siarhei Kvachonak), Gloucester\u2019s only legitimate heir is first portrayed as unsympathetic. But, disguised as Poor Tom and covered in \u201cpeanut butter,\u201d he runs around insanely until he runs into Lear. Kvachonak presents quite the striking contrast on stage to portray Edgar\u2019s disintegration.<\/p>\n<p>While this \u201cKing Lear\u201d might be confusing at times, the company created visually impressive effects with minimal scenery. The notable storm scene blows us away with such simple items as a blue tarp and drops of water.<\/p>\n<p>Shakespeare\u2019s tale of a king fighting to keep his grip on sanity takes out transcendent power in Belarus Free Theatre\u2019s production. The defiance in their retelling rings true because they know so well how power in their own oppressive Belarus government has affected their own lives.<\/p>\n<p><em>This production ran at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier from Feb. 5-14. For more information about the theater, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagoshakes.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.chicagoshakes.com.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: Aleh Sidorchyk played titled character in Belarus Free Theatre&#8217;s &#8220;King Lear.&#8221; (Nicolai Khalezin).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Katina Beniaris Based in a country formerly allied to the Soviet Union and currently subjected to harsh censorship laws, Belarus Free Theatre remains fearless in their second U.S. visit with a contemporary twist on this Shakespeare tragedy about an aging king. Five years after their Chicago debut, the political theater company returned to Chicago [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":35596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,585],"tags":[2114,2052,2113,2053],"class_list":["post-35576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-winter-2016","tag-belarus-free-theatre","tag-chicago-shakespeare-theater","tag-king-lear","tag-shakespeare"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Eastern European theater company incorporates political art into \u2018King Lear\u2019 - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/eastern-european-theater-company-incorporates-political-art-into-king-lear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eastern European theater company incorporates political art into \u2018King Lear\u2019 - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Katina Beniaris Based in a country formerly allied to the Soviet Union and currently subjected to harsh censorship laws, Belarus Free Theatre remains fearless in their second U.S. visit with a contemporary twist on this Shakespeare tragedy about an aging king. Five years after their Chicago debut, the political theater company returned to Chicago [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/eastern-european-theater-company-incorporates-political-art-into-king-lear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-08T21:01:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-08T21:01:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/KingLear-Featured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"734\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"katinabeniaris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"katinabeniaris\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/eastern-european-theater-company-incorporates-political-art-into-king-lear\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/eastern-european-theater-company-incorporates-political-art-into-king-lear\/\",\"name\":\"Eastern European theater company incorporates political art into \u2018King Lear\u2019 - 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