Generation Jeans

Belarus Free Theatre is a theatre company in exile. Founders Natalia Kaliada and Nicolai Khalezin, are 'enemies of the state' in Belarus. Receiving asylum in the UK, they continue to create theatre and art around the world. Known for physicality and intensity, they remain focussed on the importance of action against injustice.

In 2018, Nicolai and Natalia bring two powerfully political works to the Malthouse Theatre: Generation Jeans and Trustees.

During the reign of the Soviet Union, Belarusians were prohibited from wearing jeans or listening to rock music. Two decades after the Union’s collapse, buying or selling these rare tokens of the ‘free world’ can still get you arrested.

Nicolai Khalezin gives a candid account of his own experience of incarceration and young love, illustrating how denim became a symbol of freedom under repression. With a soundtrack by DJ Laurel, Generation Jeans is a vivid insight into modern life in Europe’s last dictatorship.