Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus

Q&A with filmmaker Madeleine Sackler.

Following the film will be a special performance featuring Oleg Sidorchik of the Belarus Free Theatre with an introduction by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater.

Director Madeleine Sackler goes behind the scenes with the Belarus Free Theatre, an acclaimed troupe of imaginative and subversive performers who, in a country choked by censorship and repression, defy Europe’s last remaining dictatorship. Comprised of smuggled footage and uncensored interviews, Dangerous Acts Starring the Unstable Elements of Belarus gives audiences a front-row seat to a resistance movement as it unfolds, both on the stage and in the streets. Creating provocative theater carries great emotional, financial, and artistic risks. For the members of the Belarus Free Theatre, there are additional risks: censorship, imprisonment, and exile. The film picks up in 2010 when the Belarus KGB is cracking down on dissenters, 16 years after Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko takes power during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Now, as a dubious new presidential election looms, the KGB targets the Free Theatre’s founders Nikolai Khalezin and Natalia Koliada who, along with their colleagues, find themselves torn between fighting for their art and for their families’ safety. An HBO Documentary Film release.