Nicolai Khalezin

director, playwright, designer, educator, political campaigner, journalist, co-founder and artistic director of Belarus Free Theatre

Nicolai Khalezin MBE is a co-founder and artistic director of Belarus Free Theatre (BFT) as well as an award-winning director, playwright, designer, educator, political campaigner, and journalist. Prior to co-founding BFT in 2005, Khalezin was editor-in-chief of three of the leading sociopolitical weekly newspapers in Belarus, all of which were shut down by the regime. He was the owner of the only contemporary art gallery in Minsk, which was also closed down by the authorities. Khalezin served time in prison in Belarus for his involvement in political campaigns and was recognised as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. This experience inspired one of BFT’s most celebrated shows, Generation Jeans (2016), an autobiographical duologue about rock music and resistance, which has been performed more than 100 times around the world, including at the home of Václav Havel on his invitation in 2008. Forced into exile for his work as a political campaigner, Khalezin was granted political asylum in the UK in 2011. His playwriting credits for BFT include: King Stakh’s Wild Hunt (2023), Dogs of Europe (2023), and Time of Women (2014), all of which he also directed. In June 2023 Khalezin was awarded the MBE for Services to Theatre in the King’s Birthday Honours.