Korniag Theatre

Korniag Theatre filled an empty niche in experiments with the human body on the Belarusian stage, where the actor’s physicality becomes a main mediator between the onstage action and the physical presence of the viewer. In this case, the dance itself, absent the actor’s dramatization, is of less interest for Korniag: I work with the drama actors only. I care about a man acting with his body more than about dancing.

The director gives a great meaning to the space. He breaks the famous fourth wall and the traditional box of the scene in his performances: characters speak directly to the audience, go to the audience hall, explore and learn the space that is not provided for the theater. There are no stage decorations in its conventional sense in performances of Korniag. They are reduced to objects, a kind of symbols and signs necessary for dramatic action. With the dematerializing of the stage space, director creates abstracted, figurative scenes and thereby deprives the time-space of the performance of its unambiguous meanings. The most important means of aesthetic influence in the situation of an almost empty stage is then lighting. A light and dark shade dramaturgy carefully designed by director not only helps the modelling of space and objects, but also creates a special atmosphere of action.

Sound is equally important component of the stage synthesis for Korniag. It is precisely the music that becomes the impetus for the creation of a visual image for him. Whether it is a remake or music specially composed for the play, or even lack of it — in each case, the music is an emotional tuning fork of the action that characterizes its atmosphere and resonates with each inner character’s space.