This operatic tale of folkloric ghost-kings, aristocrats and curses resuscitated from the mists of time seems like peculiarly conventional fare for Belarus Free Theatre, a company born underground that typically integrates urgent political consciousness-raising with experimental, erudite storytelling.
Based on the 1964 novel by Uladzimir Karatkievich, it has a classic storybook framework: set in the 19th century and told by an elderly Belarusian ethnographer, Andrey (Andrei Bondarenko), it recounts his youthful encounter with Nadzeya (Tamara Kalinkina), a woman of noble birth who is trapped by a family curse. It was laid, generations ago, by King Stakh who, with his men, was duped into drinking poison by her ancestor and who all now stalk the grounds as violent spectres.
