Segal Center Film Festival on Theatre and Performance (FTP) 2022 presents
A School For Fools
by Belarus Free Theatre
Country: Belarus | Running Time: 90 | Language: Russian | Year Of Release: 2020
About A School For Fools
Based on the avant-garde novel by Sasha Sokolov this coming-of-age story tells of a young boy living with schizophrenia. In his conflict with the outside world some of today’s most urgent concerns are laid bare: can our internal self ever be reconciled with the external and can freedom ever co-exist with oppression? Performed and broadcast live from the bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms of the cast due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this production is a celebration of creativity in difficult times.
A School for Fools is based on the novella by Sasha Sokolov
Director and Adaptor: Pavel Haradnitski
Broadcast Director: Svetlana Sugako
Translation: Alexander Boguslawski and Daniella Kaliada
Ensemble:
Aliaksei Naranovich as Student so-and-so (Bacillus)
Roman Shytsko as Student so-and-so (Nymphaea alba)
Andrei Urazau as Father, Fedor Muromtsev and Deaf Stoker
Maryna Yakubovich as Mother
Yura Dzivakou as Dr. Zauze and Semen Nikolaev
Anastasia Dubatovka as teacher Veta Akatova and Vodokachka
Kiryl Kalbasnikau as Arcady Akatov, Veta’s father
Nastasya Korablina as Sheina Solomonovna Trachtenberg
Siarhei Kvachonak as teacher Savl/Pavel Petrovich Norvegov
Aliaksei Saprykin as Principal Perillo, Supervisor so-and-so and Chemist
Stanislava Shablinskaya as Roza Vetrova (Rose of the Wind) and post office Woman
Yulia Shevchuk as Judge and Supervisor’s so-and-so wife
Composer: Aliaksei Saprykin
Drone operator: Mikhail Melnikov
Executive Producers: Nadia Brodskaya, Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin
Subtitles: Nadia Brodskaya
Special Thanks to: Sasha Sokolov, ElKOST International Literary Agency and Alexander Klimin, Alexander Boguslawski, Henadzi Tsaryk, Billy Clark, Marina Alekno and Olga Kolzun, Kolya Kuprich, Senya Vasechkin and to all of our families for their patience.
“It is an unprecedented reality, when in 2021, a theatre company is forced to relocate its entire troupe out of a country in Europe for fear of persecution and torture. It is a disgrace that we allow not just artistic freedoms but basic human freedoms to be absolutely disregarded in a country that is but a three-hour flight from London. The sheer existence of Belarus Free Theatre and our continued work, despite repression, is the greatest threat to dictatorship – the will of the people to continue telling the truth is the greatest show of power imaginable. As our patron Vaclav Havel once said in an address to the Czech nation, “Living within the truth is humanity’s revolt against an enforced position”, so we ask the world to stand in solidarity with us at this most critical time in our history. Solidarity is crucial for our survival, and A School For Fools’ inclusion in the 2022 Segal Center Festival is a wonderful example of artists standing together to overcome global adversaries.” -Belarus Free Theatre
About Belarus Free Theatre
Described by The New York Times as “one of the bravest and most inspired underground troupes on the planet,” Belarus Free Theatre is the only theatre in Europe banned by its government on political grounds. Founded in 2005, the company emerged as a direct challenge to the censorship of artistic expression in Belarus. Soon after its inception the company was forced underground, faced with harassment and persecution for demanding recognition for those hidden on the margins of an oppressed society.
About The Festival
The Segal Center Film Festival on Theatre and Performance (FTP) is an annual event showcasing films drawn from the world of theatre and performance. The festival presents experimental, emerging, and established theatre artists and filmmakers from around the world to audiences and industry professionals. The 7th annual festival will focus on work for the screen created by theatre artists during the Time of Corona. The festival will be held digitally from March 1st – 15th 2022.
Watch A School For Fools from March 1st to March 15th 2022 on the Segal Center Film Festival on Theatre and Performance (FTP) website.
Support this film by Belarus Free Theatre by making a direct donation to them at the following details: Paypal: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YSWJGYPSYZ8XJ
Read more about Belarus Free Theatre and A School For Fools at (https://belarusfreetheatre.com) or get in touch at info@belarusfreetheatre.com / Twitter @bfreetheatre; Instagram @belarusfreetheatre
For more visit:
- https://howlround.com/home-and-lockdown-belarus-free-theatre
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/02/theater/school-for-fools-review.html
- http://exeuntnyc.com/reviews/review-school-fools/
- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jun/02/a-school-for-fools-review-belarus-free-theatres-audacious-lockdown-challenge
- https://stagedoorapp.com/lyn-gardner/review-school-for-fools?ia=554
