My name is Siarhei Tolstikau, I am a Belarusian from Mahilioŭ, an actor. I lived in Minsk from the age of 20 and have performed in over 200 stage productions. You may know me from the Belsat TV series “Akrestsina”; your children might remember me as a storyteller from the show “Simple Wonders” on Malanka; and Belarusians in Vilnius may have seen me on stage in the plays “Tsikhari” and “Tseclia”.
Almost my entire acting career in Belarus was connected to the New Drama Theatre – I worked there for 23 years. But in autumn 2020, it became impossible to stay silent at work, and we went on strike. It ended in dismissal and blacklists – I couldn’t find work anywhere anymore. Not even side jobs in private companies.
In 2021, one of my colleagues was detained and sentenced to two years for participating in protests. After his arrest, law enforcers came to my place with a search warrant, and a few months later, I was summoned to the Investigative Committee in an unknown capacity and interrogated in connection with my colleague’s case. They came back with another search. But I remained in the country.
In December 2021, I got a role in Andrei Kureichyk’s series Akrestsina. Filming began in early 2022. Afterward, I planned to return home to tie up loose ends, pick up my cat, and move to Kyiv, where I had been offered a job at the Left Bank Theatre. But during filming, several backstage videos and reports were released where I appeared on camera – and I was made to understand that returning was no longer safe. I had to stay in Vilnius with just a backpack.
Naturally, I was disoriented: where to go, what to do, how to survive – only questions. I slept long hours and felt numb – maybe it was depression.
For the first six months, I worked assembling metal structures – I believe that’s what wrecked my joints. I have arthritis, and it’s getting worse. In September 2022, I launched my own children's theater and folklore studio “U Nieskladanae”, which has been running for three seasons. Unfortunately, even with meaningful work, my health hasn’t improved.
In May, with the end of the school year, we go on break, and it’s the dead season in the theater world, so financial problems began. In previous years, I managed with odd jobs, but now, because of my condition, I can’t handle physical work anymore.
I need to pay for my room, buy medicine, and cover physiotherapy treatment (some of which is only available in private clinics). At times, despair takes over. My father died in February last year (I couldn’t attend the funeral), and now there’s no one left to truly hear or understand me. I don’t like asking – I prefer giving. But what can you do, this is life…
Fundraising Goal
€3500
€1500 – rent for several months
€1000 – physiotherapy and medication
€1000 – food, mandatory insurance, daily expenses