We Attended the Premiere of "Kupalaŭcy" About Informers. The Intellectuals in This Play Will Make You Feel Disgust

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

In 2024, the Cyberpartisans published 40,000 appeals sent to the KGB from September 2014 to August 2023. This mass included ordinary spam and requests for help in finding relatives. But there were also denunciations.

"Nasha Niva" then called some exposed informers to ask what guided them when they sometimes informed on neighbors they greeted daily. People justified themselves in different ways: some of them saw nothing wrong in their actions, because "they were not informing, but reporting a crime." "Crime" here meant, for example, criticism of the current government in the market or articles by Tut.by journalists.

Thus, the characters of the "Kupalaŭcy" play, when "pushed against the wall", begin to chirp: "We didn't denounce! We were sending signals!" Or: "A small evil in the name of good is justified."

Павялічыць

Scene from the play "Minsk Sea", premiere, March 31, Warsaw, Przodownik stage.

Playwright **Ilya Prudnik**, who created the play "The Concerned" based on the denunciations, wove this difficult material into an interesting form — the entire nature of human secret and dark aspects unfolds before the viewer's eyes within the model of a single family. A friendly, intellectual, and highly moral family, as repeatedly emphasized by its members.

Павялічыць

A tragic event brings everyone together at the dacha – the father, husband, brother, Captain, who lived by the Minsk Sea and ventured into distant seas, has died. The family's unity is soon called into question: for some reason, the Captain's brother was not welcome at the wake, nor was one of his sons, Kastus, who now lives abroad in Germany. The reason lies in ideologically opposing views: the deceased's brother, Pyotr, a retired KGB officer (**Aleh Harbuz**), at one time did not hesitate to inform on his oppositionist parents, who were friends with writer Vasil Bykaŭ, in order to advance his career. However, he immediately became unwelcome in the family.

Equally disliked by some family members is a completely opposite life scenario: their son Kastus, who secretly left the country after 15 days of detention and didn't even come to his father's funeral, is condemned here no less.

Павялічыць

Scene from the play "Minsk Sea", premiere, March 31, Warsaw, Przodownik stage.

A rather classic feast with memories and toasts in honor of the deceased takes an unexpected turn when the KGB officer Pyotr arrives at the dacha. Here, one would expect conflicts and anger directed solely at him. But suddenly, Pyotr reveals a trump card: your unprivatized dacha could be confiscated by the state, but I will help prevent that if you confess which of you informed on Kastus.

Of course, everyone's initial reaction is purely defensive — "there can be no informers in our intellectual family." However, the KGB officer has a whole deck of cards ready for this — excerpts from databases that work better than any truth serum. It is important for him to show and prove that not only is he a "rat" in this family, but all the others are also not saints.

It's worth noting that at this point, the play transforms from a straightforward narrative into a captivating experience for the audience, where everyone present takes on the role of a detective, trying to be the first to identify the main informer. You feel as if you are in the movie "Knives Out", only here there's a whole auditorium full of investigators. Spoiler: you are unlikely to figure out the main informer (at least, we couldn't).

But it turns out that in this "friendly" captain's family, there are plenty of misdeeds even without that call directed against Kastus.

The widow Natalya (**Zoya Byelakhvostik**) informed on her son-in-law, because, in her opinion, he was unworthy of her daughter Nina (**Valyantsina Hartsuyeva**). The son-in-law (**Dzmitry Yesianevich**) informed on the widow, because he also "loved" his mother-in-law. And Nina, who is an adopted daughter in this family, informed on her brother Mikita (**Mikhas Zuy**) due to a lack of affection and envy.

It's worth singling out the performance of actor Dzmitry Yesianevich here — his character, despite having written 13 denunciations, is appealing because he at least doesn't pretend to be a saint, which all the other characters do for a time. He is a simple factory worker, not a highly moral intellectual; he curses and doesn't build multi-layered excuses. "I informed because they interfered with my sleep," he bluntly states the truth about his calls concerning protestors in 2020. It's nasty, but even nastier when people wriggle like eels in a frying pan, trying to attribute good intentions to their evil deeds.

The factory worker Vasya, in his portrayal, is extremely natural; the curses from his lips are "tasty" (meaning: very expressive, fitting). As is the informer's song. Yesianevich's joining the "Kupalaŭcy" troupe in exile has truly made the team stronger.

Павялічыць

Scene from the play "Minsk Sea", premiere, March 31, Warsaw, Przodownik stage.

Musical interludes, similar in vibe to karaoke in bars after a few drinks, dilute the war that has begun among relatives. Lavon Volski served as the author of both the lyrics and the music here. Sometimes, the atmosphere resembled the good old N.R.M. album "Dom kultury" (House of Culture), and the audience was already applauding the informers — well, they certainly "lay it down" well (meaning: perform well)!

The play "Minsk Sea" was directed by Polish director **Wojciech Urbański**. This is his second collaboration with "Kupalaŭcy" — before this, they jointly created "Zekameron" based on the documentary novel of the same name by political prisoner and lawyer Maksim Znak. While exploring the nature of informing on stage, the creative team itself doesn't find a definitive answer to the question of where it all begins.

The play's characters mention that informing was not invented by Lukashenka or Stalin; it has always existed in all countries, not just authoritarian ones. Does it mean it's just one of humanity's basic "firmware" features? "Our people are vigilant and not indifferent," the characters' reflections resonate in the play.

"Minsk Sea" shows what anonymous denunciations can lead to — not just "generally," within the state, but through the example of one family, where the entire beautiful facade of unity and normalcy crumbles at a snap, because lies were laid as its foundation, making the entire structure maximally fragile. Thus, the memorial for the Captain also transforms into the funeral of a societal cell.

Павялічыць

Scene from the play "Minsk Sea", premiere, March 31, Warsaw, Przodownik stage.

But the state and its ideology, which encourages denunciations, certainly increases their number and scales up malice. That is why Mikita (Mikhas Zuy) also decides to file a denunciation — against the entire Republic of Belarus at once. His piercing monologue, it seems, hits the bullseye.

"The Republic of Belarus digs into my wallet, gets into my bed, gets into my head. The Republic of Belarus bites into my skin, poisons my blood, changes me, hurts me. I ask for measures to be taken."

Павялічыць

The team that worked on the play. Photo: Lavon Volski's Facebook

The play "Minsk Sea", supported by the ArtPower Belarus program, will be performed in Warsaw for two more days — April 1 and 2. Tickets for the premiere have long been sold out, so follow new announcements on the official social media channels of "Kupalaŭcy".

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