Connection

The production is part of Dialogue (im)possible – special Festival section which is an attempt to connect with Russian and Belarusian artists who had to leave their countries due to censorship and the threat of persecution and confront their national, cultural and linguistic identity with a new environment. Or those who had to stay in their country for various reasons and create unofficially.

Connection is a monodrama by Maryna Yakubovich’s who was an actress for sixteen years in the famed Belarusian Free Theatre. In her visual–performative project, tells the story of Maryia Kalesnikava, musician and civic activist the campaign manager for Viktar Babaryka, opposition candidate in Belarus presidential elections in August 2020. Kalesnikava became one of the faces of the cheerful early days of civil protests against the results of these elections. Many no doubt recall the optimistic image of the iconic trio of the Belarusian opposition – Veranika Tsepkala showing the distinctive V-sign, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya clenching her hand resolutely into a fist and Maryia Kalesnikava making a heart symbol with her hands. All that followed is linked to the worst repressions imaginable. In September 2020, the brave Kalesnikava was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Viktar Babaryka was sentenced to 14 years and has been missing for two years. In February 2025, the Viasna Human Rights Centre that methodically monitors the situation of prisoners of conscience and human rights violations in Belarus, published a report that brings alarming numbers and shocking facts about the restriction of communication and contact with prisoners, new cases of prisoners of conscience, restrictions on personal freedom of bloggers and journalists, corrupt judiciary, violence, torture, and inhumane treatment of interrogators and prisoners. The small-scale production Connection is about freedom and unfreedom, about decisions and their consequences, about guilt and responsibility, about strength and weakness. It is also about a lack of contact (connection) between loved ones and families with prisoners of conscience. Yet it is also about the (im)possibility of connecting the author Maryna Yakubovich with her native country and family, as she was forced to leave Belarus in 2021 and lives in Austria. The theme of freedom of speech and opinion, for which Belarusian activists, journalists and politicians are serving draconian sentences, is becoming increasingly relevant for many European countries. Maryna Yakubovich’s work is a reminder of the importance of democracy and how easily it can be lost.

Maryna Yakubovich

She is a theatre and film actress, member of the International Federation of Actors (IFA), director, teacher of acting and theatre disciplines and author of “Actual Theatre”. She graduated from the Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts as a director and was the leading actress of the Belarusian Free Theatre for more than 16 years. In 2021 she was forced to leave Belarus. She currently teaches at the Thomas Bernhard Institute of the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.