Ukrainians lead Belarus Free Theatre

Press release:

This September, Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) returns to the Barbican Theatre with the world premiere of King Stakh’s Wild Hunt, a thrilling gothic noir based on the celebrated Belarusian novel.

Directed by BFT co-founders Nicolai Khalezin and Natalia Kaliada, King Stakh’s Wild Hunt is a conversation between art forms, interlacing opera, theatre, multimedia and live music to tell a story rooted in the history of Belarus with blazing relevance to Europe today and our indifference to brutality.

The production brings together actors, opera singers and musicians from Belarus and Ukraine – many of whom have been forced to flee their homelands due to war or dictatorship. It is the most ambitious artistic venture BFT has ever undertaken as well as being a statement of solidarity between Belarusians and Ukrainians, united in total condemnation of the war in Ukraine.

King Stakh’s Wild Hunt is one of the most popular novels by the visionary Belarusian writer, Uladzimir Karatkievich. Inspired by Eastern European folklore it follows the ghostly hunt to free a young heiress from an evil curse….

This world premiere features a score by Olga Podgaiskaya, conducted by Vitali Alekseenok, Artistic Director of the Kharkiv Music Fest in Ukraine and incoming Principal Conductor at Deutsche Oper am Rhein. On stage: seven actors from BFT’s permanent ensemble, all exiled from their Belarusian homeland and now living in Poland and the UK; seven on-stage classical musicians from Belarus and Ukraine, known as the Five-Storey Ensemble; and five opera singers from Ukraine – with the lead roles of Andrey Belaretsky and Nadzeya Yanouskaya performed by Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko and Ukrainian soprano Tamara Kalinkina.