Belarus Free Theatre is more than a theatre.
Alongside exploding taboos on the world stage, BFT has pioneered an award-winning global model of artivism that unites artistic, geopolitical, environmental and human rights concerns.
Deploying a three-pronged approach that combines theatre productions, campaigns and education, BFT has illuminated how artists can drive real social change by inspiring audiences to take positive action.
In the fifteen years since it was first founded, BFT has conceived 14 campaigns on subjects including climate change, the rights of LGBTQI+ people, police brutality and equality of access and opportunity for disabled people. Many of these campaigns are ongoing, reinvigorated every year until positive change becomes a reality.
BFT and its co-founding Artistic Directors, Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin, have successfully lobbied politicians and policymakers to bring targeted sanctions against perpetrators of human rights abuses. In November 2020, they received the prestigious Magnitsky Prize for Courage Under Fire, presented by stage and screen luminary, Stephen Fry, for their indefatigable work defending democratic freedoms.
