The Last Witness [of Old Hrodna]

Performance and Discussion

Every day, Ruslan cycles through the streets of Hrodna, attuned to the pulse of the news. His true passion lies in gathering the stories of his old city and its people — uncovering the hidden truths of Hrodna’s past.

When Hrodna turns into one of the epicenters of the Belarusian protests during the August 2020 presidential elections, Ruslan himself becomes a target of persecution. His sense of reality begins to fracture, and the boundary between truth and illusion starts to dissolve.

As his system of ideals collapses, Ruslan begins to draw unsettling parallels between the upheavals of the present and the echoes of the past. In his search for meaning, he examines the values that shape national identity and the crucial role of independent journalism in safeguarding the truth.

Creatives:
Written by Amalia Riznich
Directed by X

Cast:
Mitya Savelau
Natallia Liavonava
Aliaksandr Ratsko
Aliaksei Vainilovich
Dzmitry Rachkouski – voice

Approximate running time:
1,5 hrs performance + 1 hour Q&A

Language:
The performance will be in English and in Russian and Belarusian (with English subtitles). The discussion - in English.

Trigger Warning: Contains strong language and scenes of violence, including police brutality.

“Mass peaceful protests, which had erupted across Belarus in response to President Aliaksandr Lukashenko’s manipulation of the August 2020 presidential vote, largely wound down by the end of 2020 due to the government’s relentless and vicious crackdown. The authorities, however, escalated smear campaigns and prosecutions against political and civic activists, independent journalists and human rights defenders on trumped up, politically motivated charges” - Human Rights Watch.

5 years on, over 1 million Belarusians were forced to flee the country, over 1100 political prisoners remain locked up in prisons and 15 people died in detention or after their release.

Organisers:
Ad Astra Social Impact Studio, Beladania and The Thomson Foundation.

The project was made possible with the support of The German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Additionally, the project is supported by ArtPower Belarus and funded by the European Union.

Staged reading of The Last Witness was first performed in November 2024 at Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin within the project “Contextual Echoes of Civic Resilience” - a collaboration between Gorki Theatre, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the European Humanities University and Belarusian playwrights and actors.

“A powerful artistic image is the journalist's mother, trying to convince him that
the protests are provocations by Western intelligence agencies”
Deutsche Welle.