In Minsk, the Republican Theatre of Belarusian Drama (RTBD) plans to mark its anniversary by staging productions from previous years, whilst the anniversary premiere in December 2026 will be in Russian.
“To mark its anniversary, the RTBD will open its doors with the flagship premieres from last season. Audiences will be able to see the best productions that have already won the hearts of theatregoers. And in December 2026, the first premiere of the 35th anniversary season will be Alexander Pushkin’s *Little Tragedies*, directed by Svetlana Naumenko,” the theatre’s website reports.
The theatre’s artistic director and director of the production, Svetlana Naumenko, described *Little Tragedies* as a gem of drama and a challenge for a theatre that “wishes to reach such heights”.
On social media, audience members have criticised the theatre’s decision to stage this production in Russian, notes Reform.news.
A production in Russian at the RTBD runs counter to the stance the theatre has maintained for many years. Among Belarus’s 28 professional theatres, it currently remains one of only three that perform exclusively in Belarusian, alongside the Kupalov Theatre in Minsk and the Kolasov Theatre in Vitebsk.
The theatre’s website also states, in the section on its history, that ‘all RTBD productions are performed in Belarusian’.