STOPOVER EUROPE 

This documentary performance is a co-production of Czech independent institutions: Rekultur, Divadlo X10 and Belarusian Social Theatre Lab

PLAYWRIGHT Anastasia Relitova
DIRECTOR Valiantsina Maroz
DRAMATURGY Kacia Chekatouskaya, Ondřej Novotný
SET Lucie Pangrácová
COSTUME DESIGN Hanna Kazakova & Valiantsina Maroz  
MUSIC Jindřich Čížek
VIDEO Yusupova
POSTER DESIGN Nastya Stalmahova
PHOTO & PR VIDEO Dita Havránková
PRODUCER Ewa Zembok (production platform Rekultur)
PROJECT MANAGER Hanna Kazakova
CAST Elee Nova, Hanna Sabaleuskaya, Khrystyna Volovik, Kostiantyn Zhyrov.

Premiere: 26.9.2023, Theatre X10, 10/39 Charvátova st., Prague 1. 

Stopover Europe is a documentary performance that delves into the experiences of emigration and escape from war, centering around the personal narratives of Belarusians and Ukrainians who have endured these challenging journeys since 2020.

For Belarusians, the catalyst for their exodus was the August 2020 revolution, triggering an unprecedented wave of repression that coerced tens of thousands, now numbering in the hundreds of thousands, of active citizens to flee their homeland in order to evade persecution under the Lukashenko regime.

In the case of Ukrainians, the turning point was February 24, 2022, when millions of people, mostly women and children, were compelled to abandon their homes as the Russian full-scale invasion launched relentless shelling and bombing.

Stopover Europe explores the profound transformations that individuals undergo throughout such turbulent events, examining the reevaluation of personal values, the awakening of national identities, and the challenges encountered while adapting to unfamiliar places.

Moreover, the performance seeks to shed light on the evolving dynamics between Ukrainians and Belarusians. Will the future witness the potential reestablishment of dialogue and understanding? Can families torn asunder by opposing allegiances find hope for reunification?

Social Theatre Lab has existed since 2017 and aims to highlight socially significant, traumatic, and underestimated topics and problems of Belarusian society. Under the direction of Valiantsina Maroz, it produces documentary performances and staged readings of its own plays and plays by contemporary authors. Alongside many other NGOs and sociocultural organizations, Social Theatre Lab participants have been actively involved in the protests following the rigged 2020 elections. Most of its members are now in exile, residing in Poland, after pretty much all Belarusian NGOs, independent media, and cultural organizations have been liquidated since 2021.

Special thanks goes to Barak Kultury Foundation in Poznań.

The project was created with the financial support of the European Union (National Restoration Plan, Ministry of Culture), the City of Prague, the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic, the Life of the Artist Foundation and was supported by the European programmes Culture Moves Europe and EU4Culture. This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union. The Project is funded by the European Union in the framework of the EU4Culture project implemented by the Goethe-Institut, Czech Centers, Danish Cultural Institute and Institut Français de Géorgie.