The Belarus Free Theatre is used to staging gripping plays. Now they are engaged in a drama that has rendered them without homes and in which the leader of their country has been cast as villain.

Alexander Lukashenko, often described as the last tyrant in Europe, has run Belarus since 1994, maintaining many of the practices and security methods that the country inherited from Soviet times. He has been repeatedly declared winner of elections that foreigner observers have considered flawed, including one last December where he was declared to have won nearly 80% of votes cast. And his security services have arrested and harassed opposition groups.

Belarus Free Theatre is among the victims of state persecution, with its leaders being arrested and released after the last election. Members of the troupe have been on tour out of the country, doing a production of "Being Harold Pinter," a mix of text from the Nobel-winning British playwright and Belarussian political prisoners.

The show was a recent hit at the Under the Radar festival in New York, drawing raves from critics and celebrity admirers such as Tony Kushner, Olympia Dukakis and Kevin Kline. The celebs, in turn, have been trying to help members of the theater live in the unexpected exile in which they have found themselves.

After their New York engagement, Chicago's Goodman Theatre stepped forward and pledged to host Belarus Free Theatre for a month, including performances in three venues.

Will the Twin Cities vaunted theater community step up with a similar offer?

Already, some smaller companies have been building consciousness about the plight of Belarus Free Theatre. Skewed Visions, Pillsbury House Theatre, Frank, Bedlam and other troupes are sponsor readings of "Being Harold Pinter," one of which is scheduled for 8 p.m. tonight (Mon., Jan. 24). Another is scheduled for 7 p.m. Jan. 29. Both are at Park Square Theatre, 20 W. 7th Pl., St. Paul.

But, in these difficult times, is there the wherewithal for the community to come together to support theater artists who have put their lives on the line for their art?