John Freedman is an American writer, translator and theatre critic. But he is also an activist who seeks to support writers from countries threatened by the loss of democracy. He created the concept of sharing the work of playwrights in a project called Worldwide Play Readings.
The Worldwide Play Readings project began in September 2020, when Belarusian playwright Andrei Kurejcik asked him, as an American colleague, if he would translate his play The Insulted. Belarus about the revolution in Minsk and organise some readings. The project has now held 240 events in 115 venues, 32 countries and 22 languages. A few hours after Russia unleashed war on Ukraine, the theatres that hosted readings of Insulted. Belarus, began asking what they could do to support Ukraine.
The Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings project was born out of that night and has now taken place in 335 events in 195 venues in 28 countries and 16 languages. He lived in Moscow from 1988 to 2018, where he wrote articles for The Moscow Times.
In the interview you will find out:
How was the translation of Ukrainian works done, and who helped John Freedman?
Did Russian playwrights fall for pro-Russian propaganda? How did the war affect the Russian art scene?
Why did John Freedman decide to leave Moscow and what was life like in Russia from his point of view?
Worldwide Ukrainian Play Readings
Máte problém s prehrávaním? Nahláste nám chybu v prehrávači.
