"I'm a 'rat', but I'm not the only one." Volnyja Kupalaŭcy to show a play about informers and snitches

Zoya Belakhvostik at the rehearsal of the play "Minsk Sea". Warsaw, Poland. February 26, 2026. Photo: Raul Duke / Belsat

"There can be no informer in our family!"

The play for the Kupalaŭcy is directed by Polish director Wojciech Urbański.

Two years ago, he staged "Zekameron" with the Kupalaŭcy (based on Maksim Znak's documentary novel of the same name), which is successfully running on theater stages in Polish cities. In 2026, the director took on Illya Prudnik's play "The Indifferent", created based on the KGB denunciation database, which was stolen by cyber-partisans in 2024.

Павялічыць

Valiantsina Hartsuyeva and Dzmitry Jesianevich at the rehearsal of the play "Minsk Sea". Warsaw, Poland. February 26, 2026. Photo: Raul Duke / Belsat

The action takes place after 2020. A "respectable Minsk family" gathers at their dacha in Kalodzishchy to commemorate the Captain — husband, father, and father-in-law, with whom they have just said goodbye forever. Chandeliers are covered, vodka is uncorked. At the table are the widow Natallia Mikalajeŭna (Zoya Belakhvostik), her youngest son Mikita (Mikhail Zuy), adopted daughter Ninachka (Valiantsina Hartsuyeva), and Ninachka's husband, "a simple guy," Vasya (Dzmitry Jesianevich). Unexpectedly, the deceased's brother, Pyotr Nestsyaruk (Aleh Harbuz), a KGB officer with whom the Captain had severed all contact during his life, appears at the dacha. Pyotr warns that if he doesn't help, the system will "squeeze" the dacha from the family. He can help on one condition: Nestsyaruk wants to hear a confession from whoever wrote the denunciation against the Captain's eldest son, Kastus, who, after serving time, emigrated to the West.

"Admit that you are not saints either. I just want to feel that I'm not the only one in the family," says KGB officer Nestsyaruk. "I'm a 'rat', but I'm not the only one..." he will add later.

"I am categorically against this and will not play along! There can be no informer in our family!" — Natallia Mikalajeŭna raises her voice.

Can't be...? Well, then it began: skeletons tumble out of the family closet — one by one. Vasily is already unmasked. It turns out that in 2020, he sent as many as 13 denunciations "where they needed to go." And later... We stop here and won't spoil it anymore. Because all this is worth seeing with your own eyes, immersing yourself in the "Minsk Sea" with your own body and conscience.

Aleh Harbuz: It will be funny, and scary, and interesting

Immediately after the rehearsal, actor Aleh Harbuz, who transforms into KGB officer Nestsyaruk in "Minsk Sea" (and is constantly worried that his "KGB officer" might turn out too "good and pleasant"), admits that creating a play based on the denunciation database was his idea.

Павялічыць

Dzmitry Jesianevich and Aleh Harbuz at the rehearsal of the play "Minsk Sea". Warsaw, Poland. February 26, 2026. Photo: Raul Duke / Belsat

"Truth be told, I thought it would be some kind of variety show. But we decided to go a different route. Although the musical numbers remained. I don't know how the songs will combine with the drama. Because it turned out to be quite a drama..." says Aleh Harbuz.

"A drama, but in episodes, we laughed (especially with Vasya — Dzmitry Jesianevich) like madmen," we interrupt the actor.

"I hope it will be funny, and scary, and sometimes — just interesting. We'll see how it goes," Harbuz parries, admitting that it wasn't easy to get into the role of a "KGB officer"...

The play's director, Wojciech Urbański, adds that there was also an idea to create something like a political action in the form of a direct statement based on the material — with a montage of denunciations. But they abandoned the idea, realizing that their main audience — Belarusians — already know everything well.

"We met, read the denunciations, discussed, and looked for a way to tell this story. We ultimately concluded that a play was needed that would be interesting in itself, and not just because of the denunciations. Of course, they play an important role, but this story itself, the play itself — it is bigger than just denunciations..." says Wojciech Urbański.

Wojtek Urbański: When the system is based on fear and ideology, informing begins

Wojtek Urbański says that Belarusian themes attract him, on the one hand, by their closeness to a situation that Poland has already experienced ("It pains me deeply for Belarus to succeed as well").

On the other hand, his personal history is tied to it. Before 2020, Urbański came to Belarus, organized readings, and participated in festivals. In 2014, he staged the play "The Quiet Rustle of Departing Steps" ("Sashka") by Belarusian playwright Dzmitry Bahaslaŭski in Warsaw, and before that — "The Red Bird" by Pavel Rasolka in Moscow (2013).

Wojtek has excellent Russian: he received his second theatrical education in St. Petersburg, graduating from the Institute of Performing Arts. But he admits that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was "like a knife in the back" to all his previous history.

"This erased all my connections with Russia. And now, working with Belarusians somehow helps me heal this wound. That is, in some way, I am also saving my own history — with those decisions to study there and so on. Various things intersect here. And if I hadn't gone to Russia then, I would hardly be working with the Kupalaŭcy today..." explains Wojtek Urbański.

Павялічыць

Wojtek Urbański at the rehearsal of the play "Minsk Sea". Warsaw, Poland. February 26, 2026. Photo: Raul Duke / Belsat

"Wojtek, let's return to the topic of informing. Doesn't it seem to you that every person, in general, carries an informer within themselves?" — asks the correspondent.

"I don't think everyone does. But everyone carries within them the desire to live better and richer. And with this desire, we live differently. Some constantly correlate it with their system of moral values. For others, everything comes easily without it. And there's a category of people who achieve their goals by writing denunciations against others. It's interesting that in that Belarusian database of denunciations, there aren't many written purely for ideological reasons. Most are due to personal grievances, revenge, personal gain. And a lot of absolutely crazy denunciations," shares the director of "Minsk Sea."

"Simply, whenever a system is based on fear, threats, and rigid ideology, whatever it may be, — informing begins in society. And this topic, unfortunately, remains relevant not only for Belarus," summarizes Wojciech Urbański.

He is considering the possibility of staging the Belarusian play about denunciations in Polish as well, with the participation of Polish actors — "to bring the theme of Belarus back into the Polish space."

Павялічыць

Dzmitry Jesianevich at the rehearsal of the play "Minsk Sea". Warsaw, Poland. February 26, 2026. Photo: Raul Duke / Belsat

"Where did this come from? Where did it start?.."

Wojtek Urbański wants "Minsk Sea", imbued with absurdity and laughter, to free Belarusians in exile from the darkness we still carry within us. And, probably, — from the thirst for revenge. Because laughter excludes it.

"I really don't want to condemn people for becoming like this. This is important to me. I don't believe that the family members we are talking about are evil by nature. But where did this come from? Where did it start? Who initiated it? Themselves or the system?.. They are not evil people by their nature. Why don't they realize that their denunciations can have terrible consequences? Why don't they think about this? Why don't others think about this?.." — a series of questions posed by the director of the production and by the play itself to the audience.

According to actor Aleh Harbuz, informing is a given that still requires understanding.

Павялічыць

Rehearsal of the play "Minsk Sea". Warsaw, Poland. February 26, 2026. Photo: Raul Duke / Belsat

"Informers always exist. And not only in authoritarian states but also in democracies. I think they still exist here too. It's just a given. Not a very pleasant given. I don't know why it happens like this. Of course, it would be better if there were none — no denunciations, no informers. But they do exist... And we need to work with this somehow. We need to understand it," concludes Aleh Harbuz.

The premiere of the play "Minsk Sea" will take place on March 31 in Warsaw on the stage of "Przodownik" (Olesińska street 21) of the Dramatic Theater. Tickets are already on sale.

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