The Insulted Plays

The Insulted Plays make up a tetralogy that begins in a state of strife in the Russia of 2017, goes on to inhabit the vortex of a transformational Belarus, and ends at an Archimedean point to the planet Earth itself.

Like an “all against all,” Insulted. Russia tracks the sharp divisions in society — a dissevering that is fated for clashes.

Beginning on election night, 2020, Insulted. Belarus dramatizes the birthing of a body politic and the vicious, abortive intervention in response to it.

The Voices of the New Belarus resound as the groundswell of the nation: a polyvocal, verbatim chorus that attests to the blood-stained aftermath of widespread protests. Their voices form a pillar of every kind of strength.

Like a microcosm suspended in the cosmos, the space capsule of Insulted. Planet houses an international crew that is riven by historical tensions and pitched by a sudden war on Earth.

Although animated by acts that strike like a slap in the face of our humanity, The Insulted Plays direct us on — to decency, hope, fellow-feeling.

Andrei Kureichik is one of the foremost playwrights, screenwriters, and producers in Belarus. His plays have been performed at the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre and Janka Kupala Theaters in Moscow and Minsk, as well as at numerous theaters throughout the former Soviet Union.
Prior to 2020, as a writer and director, Kureichik was beloved for his comedies and suspense thrillers. Following the contested presidential elections and brutal aftermath in Belarus in August 2020, he has gained an international following as a political playwright. Forced to flee the country as a member of the Coordination Council working with perceived winner Svetlana Tikhanovskaya's transition team, Kureichik leveraged his creative energy to produce the documentary play Insulted. Belarus, about the 2020 presidential elections, subsequent protests, and violent crackdown by Alexander Lukashenko's regime in Belarus. Already, the play has been translated into 30 languages and received 250 readings and performances across the globe (including Hong Kong, Nigeria, throughout the EU, UK, and North America). Articles about the play have been published in Plays International & Europe, Contemporary Theatre Review, the Boston Globe, Dialog, and Theatre Journal, among many others. It has been featured on BBC Radio's "The Cultural Frontline" and by the HowlRound Theatre Commons. Kureichik's follow-up play, a verbatim piece about Belarusian political prisoners, Voices of the New Belarus, has received similar recognition.

John Freedman is an American writer and translator who, after working for 30 years in Russia, now resides in Greece. He lived in Moscow from 1988 to 2018, where he was the theater critic of The Moscow Times (1992–2015). His play Dancing, Not Dead (2011) was winner of the Internationalists Global Play Contest (2011) and his short play, Five Funny Tales from the Heart of Buenos Aires (2013), has been performed in New York City, Chattanooga, and Edinburgh. He has translated over 100 plays, of which productions have been mounted in five continents. He is the author or compiler of numerous books, including Silence’s Roar: The Life and Drama of Nikolai Erdman (1992) and Provoking Theater: Kama Ginkas Directs (2003). He is the curator of two Worldwide Play Readings projects: Insulted. Belarus (2020 to present) and Ukrainian Play Readings (2022 to present).