Discovering Love

A wonderful rendezvous of dancing and drama (Source: Brisbane Powerhouse).

Discover Love, presented by Belarus Free Theatre, is magic. The political piece was written to draw awareness to the thousands of abductions and murders that happen each year in Belarus under their totalitarian regime. This piece was simple but heartfelt, and was such a pleasure to see that people were risking their lives in the name of spreading art and the truth about the state of government in their country.

Sensitive but simplistic, Discover Love revolves around the life of Irina Krasovskaya through her growing up in the USSR and her eventual marriage to her loving husband Anatoly. Before his abduction and systematic murder by political forces, we share their story of love. We see their love live through the gamut of human emotion, including frustration, despair and hope, and we see their love conquer obstacles and trying situations such as poverty, distance and political beliefs. But what’s most important is that we see their love grow into something that is enduring and unwavering.

Discover Love is a beautiful, joyous and celebratory piece of love that serves to remind the audience that its presence is always felt, even among the evils and injustices in the world. Three actors help share this story, with one woman and two men (Marina Yourevich, Pavel Gorodnicky and Oleg Sidorchik) who were exceptional – dancing across stage, cascading phrases and moving with ease between so many emotions.

The only aspect of the production that I was disappointed with was the speed that the actors spoke at. The show was spoken at top speed in [Belarusian], and there were detailed subtitles that translated the spoken text into English. I was constantly switching between the actors and the subtitles, and I missed quite a bit of stage action because I wanted to fully understand the story. You also miss out on that incredible ephemeral quality in live theatre where an actor can make eye contact with you and you connect so much more with the drama. The piece was still stunning and enthralled me, but I don’t think I got to enjoy the entire spectacle – but then again, this piece wasn’t written in mind for an English audience.

The set was simple, using some basic lighting with one chair, a bed, and a few other objects for the actors to use in scenes. The music was great too, an interesting fusion of pop, traditional and zydeco pieces that really helped to enhance the emotions onstage. There was a beautiful, lamenting motif that was presented by an ocarina throughout the show and provided a great feeling of confluence in the score and showed progression of the performance.

At the end there was a standing ovation and the cast took four bows. It was so wonderful to see that so many people appreciated this performance, and I absolutely recommend it. Words can only describe so much, but this performance is beautiful. It’s solemn and heartfelt, uplifting and sad all at the same time. World theatre at its finest!

‘Discover Love’ presented by Belarus Free Theatre is showing on 17-19 February at Brisbane Powerhouse’s World Theatre Festival. Performed in Belarusian and Russian with English surtitles. Recommended for people aged 15 or older. Visit the World Theatre Festival Official Website for more information on session times and to buy tickets and festival passes.