(10 minutes)

 

Alena's Boy was specially written to participate in the Belarusian Dream Theater, an international performing arts event supporting freedom of expression in Belarus, conceived and initiated by Brendan McCall, Artistic Director of the Ensemble Free Theater Norway. It was one of 25 10-minute plays performed around the world on 25 March 2014, Belarus Freedom Day.

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Alena (50's) and Polina (20) work together in the room service office of a hotel in Minsk. They are occasionally visited by Aleksandr (30-50's), the hotel porter. With this play, I was hoping to convey a mood around the shifting fortunes of Belarus, reflected in the changes planned for the hotel where the three characters work. Each have their different personal experiences, and means of dealing with change. All three characters have a vulnerable sense of pride, as they try to find their place. And eventually we find out more about Alena's boy.