Escape Game 5

Scenes for the role-play

1. First, act out the situation in April 2021, when the police come to the family’s apartment and Roman is home alone working in the afternoon. He is lucky: the lights are off, and he manages to avoid being caught by staying completely silent while deleting data from his phone. His wife is at work and the children are at school when it happens. The police bang aggressively on the door, ring the doorbell, and shout. The situation is frightening and lasts a long time, but eventually the police assume no one is home and give up.
Afterward, Roman receives several calls from an unknown number but does not answer. He tells his workplace what happened, and his boss decides that the company will try to arrange a relocation for him.

2. Act out the scene where Anna hears from Roman (during the workday) what has happened and that the company wants at least him to move to Poland. Roman also explains that the entire family must immediately leave the apartment. Anna and Roman start calling anyone they can think of, but they only write sensitive details in secure, encrypted messaging apps. Their old home and phones are now known to the police, so the children are not even allowed to return home from school. Instead, they move immediately to temporary housing that a relative of Anna’s friend can rent to them.
Act out the scene where the children are picked up from school and told what has happened.

3. Scene in the new apartment one month later. The family plans the move and how to stay in contact with older relatives and friends who will remain behind. How do you prepare for possibly never seeing each other again—or your beloved homeland? At first, it is unclear how and when the rest of the family can follow Roman, but after workplace negotiations and the incident in which Belarusian authorities “hijack” Ryanair Flight 4978 incident to arrest Raman Pratasevich, the situation becomes clear. The entire family will apply for visas and take the same flight out of the country. The scene ends in tears and confusion in the family’s new apartment. The grandparents, whom the children love, will remain in Belarus.

4. Act out how the children experience school, which is a regular Belarusian school that does NOT include extra teaching in nationalism and security, unlike some state schools. History lessons also focus on Belarusian traditions that children in other schools do not learn. Simon (15) has a new girlfriend who will remain in the country. Anton (7) has a friend who has already moved to Warsaw, and he feels positive when telling his classmates about the decision to move. Some students are jealous, some are irritated that “everyone” is leaving the country. Others are preparing to leave themselves. Teachers try to discuss the topic as neutrally as possible.

5. Act out a scene where Roman hides his belongings at Anna’s parents’ summer house and talks with his in-laws, who are critical of the family’s decision to move. They believe Roman has involved Anna and the children in overly dangerous political activity and that they could have stayed out of it all and simply “kept a low profile.”

6. Act out a scene where the family packs for the move. Since they are flying, they cannot bring much. They also prepare for border control. There is a risk the family could be imprisoned if the regime suspects they are significant critics who could support an exile government abroad. Roman and Anna therefore create fake social media accounts so they can delete their real ones.

7. Act out the scene at border control. Border police open the bags, and the situation is very stressful.

8. Act out a scene where the family has arrived in Poland.

Note: Check which roles are needed in each scene. The same person can play multiple roles.

Roles

• Roman
• Anna
• Police officers
• Teacher