BE FESTIVAL 2018 BROCHURE by BE FESTIVAL

03-07 JULY

2018

be festival The soul of Europe in the heart of Birmingham

Birmingham Repertory Theatre

befestival.org

A warm BE FESTIVAL welcome to our ninth edition of Birmingham's summer festival of European performing art. The REP are once again our hosts for a week long celebration of theatre, dance, circus, food, music and visual arts.

DISPLACING THE LINE

Whilst originally from Spain, we have for over a decade been traversing and living between Madrid and Birmingham, forging partnerships between these two unique and spirited cities and across the continent. Yet we are under no illusion about the potential for change and the repercussions on our festival and the cultural sector post Brexit. With that in mind and our belief in the importance of going deeper into what separation means, we invite audiences to reflect on the borders we unknowingly create as individuals and groups. The programme explores this with shows about technology and its frightening ability to cloud our sense of priority, Greece's rampant austerity under a gleaming European faĂ§ade, refugeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; responses to VISA lock out, and installations that create interactive spaces to encourage meaningful connections. Our programming intention is to showcase work that crosses borders, tests physical limitations, bodily boundaries, social preconceptions and hybridises artistic disciplines. We invite you to become a member of a temporary community, where art and creativity provides a bridge to new discussions. This festival is yours to enjoy and yours to build.

Isla Aguilar and Miguel Oyarzun 2

Directors of BE FESTIVAL

Introduction

tickets & prices

dinner menu

IN DEX

03 - 07 JULY x

Location Birmingham Repertory Theatre (Back Door via Cambridge Street entrance)

performing arts programme

feedback café & discussions

jury & awards

visual arts programme

workshops

the hub bar & karma currency

music programme (be late stage)

Tickets & Times Studio Shows | 7pm WEEKLY PASS with dinner: £100 | without: £60 day ticket with dinner: £24 | without: £16

*Concessions: £20 | without: £12

Sat Matinee with Early Ideas | 12pm DAY TICKET with lunch: £14 | without: £6 *Concessions: £12 | without: £4

be membership

hosting & volunteering

* Over 65, students & unemployed

Box Office: 0121 236 4455 www.birmingham-rep.co.uk Transaction fees apply.

team

thanks & support

An interval dinner is served each night on the main stage.

calendar

£8 included within the Day Ticket £10 on the door

Interval Dinner

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Food at be

TUE

Dinner

We welcome back Marmalade catering team. You can expect plenty of European dishes and diverse, fresh locally sourced products with a vegetarian option served every night. When purchasing your festival tickets, buy your dinner at the same time and save £2! Dinner tickets can also be bought on the door at £10 each.

Vegan Citrus Marinated Tofu with Vegetable Couscous v Spanish Garden Salad

WED

Dinner Every night, ticket holders can enjoy a dinner served on the REP’s main stage after the first half of the evening performances. Dinner is served from 8:15pm.

Breaded Pollock with Vegetable Couscous

Roast Pork with Wild Rice Vegan Goulash with Wild Rice v Mixed Leaf, Balsamic and Shallot Salad with Focaccia

Thu

Dinner

Baked Hake with Rosemary Potatoes Red Pepper in Tomato Ragu with Penne v Mixed Leaf, Tomato Salad and Focaccia

Fri

Dinner

Thai Pulled Pork Stir Fry Vegetable Stir Fry Thai Vegetables v Thai Carrot Salad and Wholemeal Pitta

Sat

Lunch

Spiced Chicken Thighs with Curried Lentil Dahl Baharat Halloumi, Cauliflower and Courgette with Curried Lentils v Spanish Garden Salad

Sat

Dinner

Beef Lasagne Vegetarian Lasagne v Italian Salad Caramelised Pineapple and Banana with Toffee Sauce v: vegetarian option Every meal is served with fresh fruit and bread. Gluten free and vegan options available on request.

Arts From Tuesday to Friday the performing arts programme will begin at 7.00pm in the REP Studio. On Tuesday evening we begin the festival with two hour long shows, getting back to our 4 show per night format Wednesday through until Friday. On Saturday, the performing arts programme will start from 12.00pm with two shows, plus our Early Ideas programme of scratch theatre at 1.00pm. The evening programme will begin again from 7.00pm and all audience members are welcome to the final BE FESTIVAL awards ceremony from 11pm.

Companies who perform in the main festival programme are eligible for a series of performance and development related prizes - including the coveted audience award. After the end of each eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performances the audience will be asked to vote for their favourite show.

Tue 03

P-Project

7pm - 10.30pm

Ivo Dimchev

Co-presented with Fierce Festival © Ivo Dimchev

A welcome return for last year's first prize-winners at BE, with an extended and updated version of REVOLT ATHENΣ. Another year of Brussels led austerity has passed in the Greek capital whilst its washed out, nostalgic postcard image continues to fade into obscurity. A three-piece, politicallyminded cast offer insights into post-crisis Greece and act as alternative tour guides intertwining figures of Greek mythology with tear gas-choked rioters against a backdrop of video footage and music. ODC Ensemble are an international, politically-oriented group, whose work often incorporates non-actors in public spaces.

REVOLT ATHENΣ (Greece) 60 min © Alex Kat

ODC Ensemble

(Bulgaria / UK) 60 min

A simple Premise. P-Project is a solo by Performing artist Ivo Dimchev based on several words beginning with 'P' such as Piano, Pray, Pussy, Poetry, Poppers and so on and so forth. People will be given an opportunity to walk away with hard cash, and after the Performance will be invited to Play with the complex Pussy catalogue, and construct their own Pussy and Print it on a Postcard. Ivo is an internationally renowned choreographer, performing artist and singer songwriter. He released his exemplary debut album Sculptures in 2017. Some scenes may have sexual content and involve nudity - audience age restrictions apply (over 18s only). Ivo will perform a special pre-festival concert on Saturday 30th June, 8pm, at The REP. See p.29 for further details.

Fear of Missing Out Colectivo Fango

(Spain) 30 min © Raúl Bartolomé & John Rojas

F.O.M.O.

Let's Dance! VerTeDance

(Czech Republic) 30 min

Contemporary dance is often denigrated and accused of being self righteous, impenetrable even, begging the question how can it be explained? With tongue firmly in cheek, director Petra Tejnorová (with a cast of five) takes charge in writing the 'manual for anxious audiences' offering guidance about how to overcome your 'contemporary' fears. Emblazoned with irony, the show plays with the audience whether on the fence or initiated. VerTeDance were created in 2004 in Prague and with previous work Correction, they won the 2015 BE FESTIVAL audience award.

Hyperconnectivity is a modern phenomena derived from our ever-evolving, networked and digital world. As increased reliance on electronic communications weighs on our day-to-day existence, our sense of perspective can distort, leading to profound consequences for our state of mind and relationships at home, work and online. Colectivo Fango's eyepopping trip into the digitally interrupted mindset poses an array of questions about the negative effects of technology. The company's mission is to pursue and relate to human identity, often with uncomfortable results. In March F.O.M.O. completed a month long run at Madrid's national theatre, Teatro María Guerrero. x

wed 04

7pm - 10.30pm

Cie. Kirkas

(France) 30 min © Hagai Ofan

Control Freak

Three Rooms Sister Sylvester

(Turkey / UK / Syria) 30 min

Three Rooms is a hybrid live-digital performance that takes place simultaneously in Paris, Istanbul and the REP's Studio theatre. The performance uses technology to cross both disciplinary and physical borders. It was conceived as a response to Europe’s continuing border crisis, which prevented the actors from traveling to either the rehearsals or performances of the original commission in 2016. The play uses Skype to overcome these obstacles, and to question the possibilities and limitations of technology to mediate absence. Actors Amal Omran (Syria), Onur Karaoglu (Turkey) and Kathryn Hamilton (UK) respond using theatre, multimedia and video. The show premiered last year at London's Shubbak Festival.

Pulsating, funny and perfectly controlled multimedia chaos driven by performer and director Kulu Orr. Kulu simultaneously creates and loops live music whilst performing circus tricks and using wearable computers to control light, sound and video across the stage. It's a heady synthesis of bleeps and visuals, both mesmerising and awe inspiring. The only problem is, there's no band to help out… yet. Kulu is both a circus practitioner and computer science expert. French company Kirkas focuses on circus and acrobatics as means of artistic expression.

Billinger & Schulz

x (Germany) 30 min © Florian Krauß

Violent Event

Someone Loves You Drive With Care Tom Cassani

(UK) 30 min

Tom Cassani is a performance artist and a liar. A crafty specialist of deception, he questions our collective construction of truth and lies, often challenging the borders of his own body using blunt and scary looking objects akin to the classic sideshow stunts made famous in vintage US circus. His trickery is enabled by his remarkable sleight of hand exposing deceptive techniques. Professionally trained in prestidigitation, all Tom’s work uses deceit as an artistic platform, exploring subjects of truth, honesty and manipulation.

Violence permeates all areas of human existence, from the micro to the macro and is often closer to home than we care to admit. Five performers using movement, dance, sound and text - discover how acts of physical aggression and the escalation of violence can both disturb and stimulate us. In doing so, they ask questions about our paradox boundaries between stage and the real world and challenge the notion of the theatre as a protected space. Billinger and Schulz create challenging tense work where society and the public are conceptually central and the body is the chief narrative tool. x

THU 05

7pm - 10.30pm

A.L.D.E.S.

(Italy) 30 min © Cristina Valla

This Work About The Orange

Levitations Hannah De Meyer

(Belgium) 30 min

Levitations is a landscape of thoughts. It’s a darkroom. It’s a remote cabin in the mountains, and everybody is silent. In this one-woman show, spectators are invited into Hannah's universe of movement and poetry, where hope and despair, being and not being, sexuality, love and death rub shoulders. Hannah De Meyer graduated from the Maastricht Theatre Academy in 2015 with Solace, for which she received the TAZ-Young Theater Award 2015. She seeks the extreme in her work, in the stillness, the meditative and the shocking.

As a viewing audience member, we are often unwittingly part of a complex relationship with the performer where we sit/enjoy/endure/speculate post performance and shape our opinions. Yet how many times have we wished we could get involved? This sharp piece flips the coin with a focus on our shared experience. Led by Marco Chenevier and Alessia Pinto, we are treated to Clockwork Orange aesthetics - the orange, the milk, the colour white - layered with bizarre interventions and an underlying narrative about the politicisation of the arts. A.L.D.E.S. is an Italian Association of artists and cultural works run by Roberto Castello. Marco Chenevier won the first prize at BE FESTIVAL in 2016 with Quintetto.

R14 | Julien Grosvalet

(France) 25 min ÂŠ Puk Samia Hamlaoui

ÂŠ Julien Mudry

Tsunami

Take Care of Yourself Cie. Moost - Marc Oosterhoff (Switzerland) 30 min

A visually arresting physical performance and choreography where light conjures and distorts an abundance of ideas connected to natural and personal disasters. Five dancers interweave their bodies and shadows creating a flow of force in the quest for balance. Ultimately this is a piece about resilience, our personal strength and the tools that make us stronger. R14 was officially conceived back in 2014 with the emergence of Julien Grosvalet's debut work, Forbidden Light. Tsunami is their third public work.

Man walks into a bar and lines up ludicrous amounts of whisky shots and the audience watches on in equal parts fear and excitement. What happens next is anyone's guess. Take Care Of Yourself is a melange of dance, performance art and circus from Swiss parkour practitioner Marc Oosterhoff who isn't afraid to put his life on the line for the greater good. Marc is currently working as acrobat/ dancer/actor for YoungSoon Cho Jaquet, while still experimenting with his own art form. Take Care Of Yourself was recently selected to be part of Tanzfactor 2018 in Cologne.

x 12

FRI 06

7pm - 10.30pm

Paul O’Donnell

(UK) 30 min © Simon K. Allen

We've Got Each Other

Aquí, Siempre Here, Always Poliana Lima

(Spain / Brazil) 25 min

An intergenerational, trans-cultural choreographic work, bringing together four women from four different countries beaming with individual diversity, experiences and traditions. The show explores how movement systems and foundations are unique to each person's body; like you are in control of your own autobiographical map. From Argentinian popular dance to the European ballet tradition, the performers reveal their histories, sensibilities, doubts and aspirations exploring the relationships between memory, the present and the future. Poliana Lima is a Brazilian born, long term resident of Madrid and award winning choreographer and performer.

The almost entirely imagined Bon Jovi musical hits Birmingham as part of its global city-stop tour… with no band, no hydraulics... and a cast of one. Prepare yourselves for the breathtaking, high energy, tragic love story of Tommy and Gina (from Livin' on a Prayer) created and starring Paul O'Donnell, and fuelled by the power of your imaginations. Paul is a theatre maker and performer, and an associate artist of the REP and Theatre Absolute. His work aims to expose the ‘ordinary’ in a ‘spectacular’ fashion.

Guided tour inside a dance performance nº24 (Spain) 30 min © Terence Brett

Laboratorio de Acción Escénica Vladimir Tzekov

Sisyphus New Perspectives

(UK / Belgium) 30 min

Inspired by the ancient myth, Sisyphus is a multisensory performance that starts with a man and a block of wood. Performed by radical Belgian painter and performer, Thibault Delferiere, in collaboration with Sicilian musician Giuseppe Lomeo and UK director Jack McNamara, this intense performance uses the body, paint and brutal objects to explore the endless cycles of hope and failure. Controlled physicality and masterful command of atmosphere are hallmarks of this performance from one of Europe's most distinctive disabled artists.

SAT 07 MATINEE WITH EARLY IDEAS 12pm - 1.30pm

Imagine your dance-theatre experience came with a guide, like you'd just jumped on a city centre open-top bus. Three Spanish actors offer an alternative to the usual audience experience perhaps making that jump into the unknown a little less confusing. Or ignore their stepby-step approach and their irony and let your senses take control. Subtle games and tools a-plenty, this laboratory is a cunning critique of the performative realisation of dance. The collective led by performer and director Manolo Bonillo are committed to ignoring old languages and schemas and building unique forms of expression.

EARLY ideas x

Continuing the success and positive feedback from last year’s lunchtime scratch session, we present two different ‘works in progress’ alongside two shows from the main programme.

We Are Not A Couple Tom & Ayla

(Netherlands) 15 min

A fascinating perspective on 'couples' by circus performers Tom & Ayla who are regularly assumed as partners in life. This show lays out a map of relationship success through acrobatic language. The pair create and perform together regularly in Germany and Holland.

Presente/ Futuro Festival winner

(Italy) 15 min

Our partners in Italy, the Presente/Futuro Festival in Palermo, are dedicated to promoting emerging performing artists. As part of their annual festival they offer an award to present work at European Festivals including BE FESTIVAL.

BE Next (UK) 10 min ÂŠ Jonathan Fuller-Rowell

BE NexT Curtain Raiser

Sat 07 evening

7pm - 10.30pm

A digital recalibration of the symbolic potency of Plato's Cave allegory, which sees last year's BE FESTIVAL first prize award winner's aim squarely at fake news, social networks and virtual reality, allowing audiences to reflect on the walls and shadows we build around us. It's a mash up performance where opera, cinema, digital and visual technology collide; a living experience where everything is created in real time. ODC Ensemble is led by Athens based Elli Papakonstantinou and their work embraces the bewilderment of the audience in the face of persistent dislocation.

The Cave

"BE Next is an art itself. For me, it is a programme designed to better yourself and break past barriers and limits." Mohammed Irfan Arshad 16

ODC Ensemble

(Greece) 65 min

ÂŠ Karol Jarek

Inclusivity is at the heart of BE FESTIVAL's manifesto and our BE Next project is testament to our ongoing commitment to providing opportunities for young people to learn life skills through performing arts. The annual festival performance is the culmination of a week's workshopping by local 14-19 year olds in Birmingham, led by professional tutors and previous BE FESTIVAL performers Nasi Voutsas and Bertrand Lesca. The project is specifically aimed at young people that don't speak English as a first language, refugees, asylum seekers and those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.

Overload (Italy) 70 min © Alex Brenner

Sotterraneo

Feedback (France) – 30 min Café & Discussions Feedback Café is a unique and invaluable opportunity for audiences and artists to engage with each other, to discuss and look back at the previous evening’s performances over a coffee and a pastry.

WED 04 3pm Sotterraneo return with a full 70 minute performance of their award winning 2016 show Overload; still retaining the slick, witty and thoughtful nuance that has recently powered its way into the imagination of UK audiences. Somewhat a commentary on our distracted society, it's like watching the world from above with dense, fog-like messages all canvassing for your attention – we're all mutating into something that's very, very fast. Sotterraneo are a theatre collective born in Florence in 2005. They won two prizes at BE FESTIVAL in 2012 and again in 2016 when they toured the UK and Spain as part of Best of BE.

THU 05 to SAT 07 3pm Fri 06 Main Stage 1.30pm

Feedback Café

on the work of visual artists Klaus Erich Dietl and Stephanie Müller.

Feedback Café facilitated by

members of Sotterraneo with Main Programme Artists.

Networking Lunch Meeting Our networking event takes place over lunch offering an invaluable opportunity for artists, promoters and producers to network and mingle. Take time out to introduce yourself to other practitioners and industry professionals from across Europe and beyond.

BE JURY

Mark Ball

Julia Carruthers

Is a well-known figure in the Birmingham arts scene as he was the founding director of Fierce Festival between 1998 to 2007. In 2017 he became the Creative Director of Manchester International Festival (MIF) where he is responsible for leading the artistic programme for The Factory. From 2009 - 2017 he was Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT).

Daniel Kok Is an arts producer and programmer working across theatre, dance, live art, circus and spoken word and currently works as a programmer at Cambridge Junction. Previously he has been part of key UK arts venues, festivals and organisations like Barbican, LIFT, LIMF, Arts Depot and Dance Umbrella.

Began her career at the Edinburgh International Festival and soon became Programme Coordinator for London's Riverside Studios. She was Head of Dance & Performance at Southbank Centre between 2000 & 2008, Executive Director at Akram Khan Company and was recently Director of the Dublin Dance Festival (2012-2015). She is currently Programme Director at Warwick Arts Centre.

Joan NegriĂŠ

Bart Meuleman

Is an actor, director and theatre producer based in Barcelona, Spain. He is also the artistic director of the theatre company FITT Nuevas Dramaturgias and the venue Sala Trono, both based in Tarragona, near Barcelona. At Trono, Joan has a dual role as Programmer and Executive Producer.

Is a Flemish author and theatre maker who lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium. He is a regular producer and creator for stage at Toneelhuis. He ran the production company at Toneelhuis from 2010 to 2016 and now is a key member of the team working as part of P.U.L.S. (Project for Upcoming Artists for the Large Stage).

BE AWARDS BE FESTIVAL is committed to the development of artists at all stages of their careers. Companies who perform in the main festival programme are eligible for a series of performance and development related prizes. At the end of each set of evening performances, the audience will be asked for feedback to give to the artists and to vote for their favourite show. Make sure you vote for yours!

BE FESTIVAL 1st Prize Supported by The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama & Birmingham Repertory Theatre

£1500 plus a fully supported two-week creative residency in Birmingham and a performance of the full-length version of the winning show at next year’s festival.

ACT Festival Prize The winning performance will be programmed supported at Bilbao’s ACT Festival in June 2019.

and

MESS Festival Prize The winning performance will be programmed and supported at the International Theatre Festival MESS in Sarajevo in autumn 2019.

Teatro Libero di Palermo Prize Awards Ceremony & Closing Party Sat 07, 11pm till late Open to everyone, the Awards Ceremony will begin at 11pm followed by the festival Closing Party.

The winning company will be programmed and supported at the Festival Presente Futuro in Palermo in spring 2019.

Audience Prize Every night, each audience member will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite show with the most popular to be awarded the Audience Prize. 19

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BE InspIrEd thIs summEr John Piper PALMYRA Tue 1 May – Thu 21 Jun FREE ENTRY

by Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas

Organised by the Mead Gallery in association with Tate Liverpool.

Tue 8 – Wed 9 May

AIK PRODUCTIONS & TURTLE KEY ARTS

Love, Bombs And Apples written by Hassan Abdulrazzak, performed by Asif Khan

Mon 21 – 22 Tue May

DRYWRITE & SOHO THEATRE

Fleabag

by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, performed by Maddie Rice Image: John Piper, Harbour Scene, Newhaven 1936-1937 © The Piper Estate / DACS 2017

Warwick Arts Centre @warwickarts warwickarts

Tue 8 – Sat 12 May

WARWICK ARTS CENTRE AND CHINA PLATE

Trying It On written and performed by David Edgar, directed by Christopher Haydon

Thu 7 – Sat 9 Jun

Box Office 024 7652 4524 warwickartscentre.co.uk

Warwick Arts Centre, The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL

Warwick Arts Centre – the region’s biggest arts and entertainment venue with café, gallery and FREE parking after 6pm

23 AUG – 8 SEP

30 OCT – 10 NOV

24 NOV - 13 JAN

The dynamite new comedy from the creators of The Play That Goes Wrong

The stage première of Alice Sebold’s worldfamous novel adapted for the stage by Bryony Lavery

Follow the yellow brick road for the ultimate family adventure this Christmas

THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY

THE LOVELY BONES

THE WIZARD OF OZ

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE (OUR) HOME THIS SEASON AUTUMN & WINTER 2018

Box Office 0121 236 4455 BIRMINGHAM-REP.CO.UK Registered in England 295910 Charity No.223660

VISUAL arts programme

<Introduction

2018 marks the final year of BE FESTIVAL’s two-year Visual Arts cycle exploring the concept of borders. Last year we invited several European artists of all backgrounds to respond to and reflect on the shifting attitudes towards the theme Europe: Drawing The Line. Physical & Imaginary Borders. All exhibitions are free!

ARMS are for mugging - ARMS are for hugging <For this year’s festival we welcome back our artists in residency, the German performance interventionists Klaus Erich Dietl and Stephanie Müller. <Following their piece Protection Shields To Go – presented at the Alternative Village Fete in collaboration with the Birmingham Weekender as part of their BE residency – Müller and Dietl have collaborated over the past twelve months to create their final piece ARMS are for mugging - ARMS are for hugging. The piece contains a trio of separate works Protection Shields to cuddle up with, Cut in Half, and Swapping Chamber – Sniffing Diamonds, Cutting Glue which will be exhibited throughout the festival. Müller and Dietl's approach to the theme has been to build subtle and artistic narratives around the reality of increasing tensions relating to freedom of movement in and around Europe’s borders. Their trilogy considers the inner and invisible boundaries of each individual as a consequence of political or geographical borders. The duo’s surreal vis-à-vis ‘situations’ invite us to leave our comfort zones and reflect on our patterns of perception and behaviour. Audiences are invited to consider how they make sense of changing cultural identities across the continent, and reflect on the parallel narratives that have become so prominent and seem likely to burn brightly for years to come. As the artists themselves say: "let's rip it up and start again".

Protection Shields to cuddle up with

Cut in Half Equipped with a sewing machine and modified doctors’ prescriptions, the artists asked the people of Birmingham to share their insecurities as the artists transformed these fears into pieces of art. This year the duo brings back this work in a remixed form: Protection Shields to cuddle up with, which takes the form of a mobile pharmacy. “We propose a dispensary on wheels, equipped with a series of handmade 'protection shields' ”, says Dietl. “On first sight they may seem like devices you can use to cut yourself off from the world – but have a closer look, and you’ll see they invite the wearer to concentrate and exchange with others, enabling users to actually remove their blinkers, leave reality and rest, refocus, relate and reveal.”

All exhibitions are free!

Is the second piece of Dietl and Müller’s pleasingly perplexing puzzle. “During our stay in Birmingham last July and September we kept hearing the phrase 'Please, cut it in half' ” explains Müller. “On the one hand people seem to enjoy tiny bites and bits – but there is also something more sinister with this phrase: earlier last year a historic tree in Centenary Square was cut down. This was to allow for the major building works currently taking place but others have suggested it has more to do with new 'antiterror measures' ”. Taking all this to its unnatural conclusion the duo cut shopping trolleys in half and surround them with fake grass carpets and ornamental bushes. People are invited to sit in these moving seats, close to each other: “a situation most of us usually try to avoid” say the artists. 23

Swapping Chamber – Sniffing Diamonds, Cutting Glue

Swapping Chamber – Sniffing Diamonds, Cutting Glue is the final slice of their serpentine stew where Müller and Dietl are joined by Brussels-based dancer and choreographer Justine Maxelon and Oxford-based singer-songwriter Laura Melis Theis. Somewhere in the city centre the quartet will install a treasure chamber; a walk-in respite from everyday life for weary city-dwellers. Here passersby can seek solace and, once relaxed, confide in the artists with their worries, insecurities and reservations. The artists aim to transform people’s fears, their problems – things that are usually immaterial and intangible yet which 24

prevent people from moving forward – into a piece of take-away artwork. Step-by-step the interior of the swapping chamber is deconstructed to create something for those brave enough to enter. “During our performance at the Bullring Market last year we had a very precious aha-moment”, confides Müller. “One of our participants said he suffers from feelings of disconnection from his surroundings, because the city changes so rapidly. As we talked to him more, we slowly came to the conclusion that his problem was actually the difficulty he faces in connecting with people, not the landscape. Sometimes, the strategies we use to get in touch with some people do not work with others. Everyone has different needs and so we need different adapters to better facilitate our exchanges. This very special encounter at the Bullring Market made us want to create special and different situations for different people – via our treasure chamber”.

visual arts programme tue 03 - sat 07 various times

about THE ARTISTS

Part of a buzzing collective of artists and activists in their hometown of Munich, Dietl and Müller are known for their interactive live performances, sound installations and film projects. Müller also plays drums, modified typewriters, umbrellas and sewing machines in performance art duo/band beißponyC (signed to Munich’s famed feminist Chicks On Speed Records and RagRec). Dietl, when not painting orM producing sound installations and film projects that Y sample and recalibrate elements of daily media coverage, directs music videos and live visuals. CM Dialogue lies at the heart of Müller and Dietl’s work MY and via moving images, sound, textile art, painting, CY performance and DIY strategies, the duo encourage festival goers to interact with the world around CMY them. Can we be persuaded to question our daily K routines?

NEW VISUAL ARTS CALL OUT A new call out for Visual Arts proposals will be open in summer 2018 to reflect on "Archive & Memory" coinciding with BE FESTIVAL’s 10th anniversary.

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Workshops

WED 04

Wed 04 - fri 06 10.30am to 1.30pm (Meet in The Hub, 10.15am) The workshops are led by experts in their field – artists and producers – and focus on a range of subjects relevant to performance. Attendance is free to festival ticket holders, participating companies and festival volunteers.

Booking: Email requests to workshops@befestival.org from Sunday 1st June with your proof of festival ticket purchase. There may be the opportunity to sign up on the day, subject to availability.

Theatre of the Polis Elli Papakonstantinou / ODC Ensemble Greek theatre maker and actor Elli Papakonstantinou, who wrote and performed last year's festival first prize award winning show REVOLT ATHENΣ, will introduce the work and processes of ODC Ensemble. The workshop will demonstrate and encourage practice in digital and new media, music, real time video and personal, visualised texts. Elli Papakonstantinou is an artist and theatre director. During the economic crisis in Greece, she engaged herself beyond her 'usual' role to become a politically engaged entrepreneur and connector of different actors in society.

thu 05 Politics in the Room – A Workshop Around PALMYRA

Theatre – Fit: A Workshop In Contemporary Theatre

Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas

Sotterraneo

How can ideas around disagreement, frustration, hatred and reconciliation be used on stage to create a space for artistic and political negotiation? How do we prioritise simplicity when talking about very complex matters? Research, discussions, improv and loud music (probably ABBA) to follow.

Italian theatre outfit Sotterraneo engage in a specific method of research they call 'collective and landscape creation'. The workshop will be turned into a physical and hyperkinetic theatre training camp (like a Spartan gym and a B-movie) ultimately giving participants ways to develop authorial sensitivity towards every action and movement.

Bertrand Lesca and Nasi Voutsas (France/UK) have been working together since 2015 and are the creators of EUROHOUSE (Edinburgh Fringe/ National Tour 2016/17) and PALMYRA, which won a BE FESTIVAL award last year.

Sotterraneo is a theatre collective set up in Florence in 2005 and have produced several shows staged in major national and international theatres.

In Between Invisible Screens Klaus Erich Dietl & Stephanie Müller Ready to take off the blinkers? The workshop invites you to focus on your own insecurities and reservations, allowing you to leave your comfort zone and explore the blank pages of your artistic practice. Using visual techniques and art they encourage self-introspection and ask you to take a closer look at our own self-made borders and create flexibility with those. Klaus and Stephanie are based in the midst of a buzzing collective of artists and DIY activists in Munich, Germany. Together they provide platforms for interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange. 27

fri 06 Building A Body Without Organs Amy Russell Participants are invited to work together through improvisation with the intent of producing performances that, similar to jazz, allow the spontaneity to co-exist with repeatable structures. This follows the work of Deleuze and Guattari about non-differentiated bodies in which energetic economies and patterns of meaning are not reified, but flow in self-liberating 'lines of flight'. Amy Russell is the founder and pedagogic director of Embodied Poetics, a new intensive training in devised physical theatre beginning in London in September 2018.

Producing and Tour Booking Jessica Bowles and Sarah Wilson-White Essential to so much creative work, whatever your discipline, is the need to find an audience through performance touring. Using your nuanced project as a starting point, this interactive workshop offers guidance on how to approach venues, put together materials and assets and offers general advice on making your work stand out from the crowd. You'll also get to grips with managing logistics and negotiating fees and agreements. 28

The Hub Bar & Karma Currency If you are ever in need of a pick-me-up through human interaction, alcoholic, caffeine or fruit-based beverage then The Hub Bar is your first stop. Open morning and evening, The Hub Bar runs purely on cash. Or more specifically, BE’s own currency called The Karma where notes are issued in return for cash.

k x

Exchange rate: £1 = K1 Use karma at the bar but not for tickets. Cards incur a £2 charge. It's cheaper to use Karma!

Late night dancing and revelry is very much encouraged at BE and this year’s free music programme fuels our nightly hoedowns. As always, the live entertainment takes place in the beautifully transformed festival Hub replete with laid back, retro feel and decor.

SAT 30 june *SPECIAL EDITION CONCERT Co-presented with Fierce Festival

BE LATE STAGE

The Hub Bar opens from 8pm to grab a drink and bands will be on stage from 10.30pm.

i-vo

8pm | £10/£8

A pre-festival concert by internationally renowned artist I-VO, who is opening the festival on Tuesday with P-Project.

music programme

His set includes some of his most iconic songs with tracks from his new album, Sculptures. With a breathtaking voice and dark lyricism, his performance makes for a haunting and deeply moving musical experience. He has received numerous international awards for dance and theatre and has presented his work across Europe, South America and North America. 29

Tue 03

wed 04 Lycio (LIVE)

The Brave Sons of Elijah perry (LIVE)

10.30pm

Pulsating electro pop courtesy of a hybrid 3 piece from Birmingham who share a charm and vibe with bands like London Grammar. Recent shows saw them supporting UK acts Rae Morris and Yonaka.

Thu 05

10.30pm

A proper feel-good, rootsy stompathon with a Brum-based group well known for their whooping and general roof-raising mayhem and their unique cocktail of blues, ragtime and country sounds.

Smokin' Pilchards (LIVE) 10.30pm

Sea shanty inspired folk from a group who specialise in weaving incessant, fast-paced rhythms with catchy blues-derived riffs all inspired by the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heritage in Cornwall and the Midlands. 30

Sat 07

Fri 06 DJ Glyn Phillips presents

Awards Ceremony & The Family Tree DJs 10.30pm

10.30pm

DJ and radio jock Glyn Phillips is back for our Friday night shenanigans. BE FESTIVAL just wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be the same without his floor-filling GlobalSoundClash DJ and live percussion workouts. You can expect exuberant Afro-Latin grooves, Balkan-Beats, Global-Funk, Hi-Life, Salsa-Soul and so much more.

The grand finale, the last dance and a farewell to the brilliant participants from all four corners of the European continent. But not before the annual Awards Ceremony where our judges will be looking back to the packed week and choosing their favourite shows of the festival. Family Tree DJs will be playing a riotous yet soulful party mix to take you into the wee hours.

BAR OPEN FROM 8pm FREE ENTRY 31

Image: Andrew Fox

We are Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost new music ensembles. Over three decades weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve developed the music of today for the audiences of tomorrow.

Discover concerts, workshops and more at bcmg.org.uk 32

facebook.com/bcmgfans

twitter.com/bcmg @bcmg

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POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES IN DRAMA AND THEATRE STUDIES Expand your horizons at one of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading centres for postgraduate research in modern and contemporary theatre and performance. Benefit from our extensive resources and established links with world-class theatres in Birmingham and beyond. n Drama and Theatre

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Elements of Freestyle

APPLES AND SNAKES PRESENT

ISH Dance Collective

Mon 21 Sat 26 May From £18

Tue 29 May - Sat 2 Jun From £15

Fri 15 Jun & Fri 13 Jul From £5

Thu 14 Jun £15

The Believers Are But Brothers Javaad Alipoor

Tue 3 Jul Sat 8 Sep From £30

Tue 11 Sat 15 Sep From £12

Wed 10 Oct - Sat 3 Nov From £29.50

On S a Soon le

Thu 22 & Fri 23 Nov £15

ÂŁ5 off Selected Events

USE PROMO CODE BEFEST5

0121 446 3232

Midlands Arts Centre Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham , B12 9QH Registered Company no. 718349 | Registered Charity no. 528979

Valid on selected events between 30/04/2018 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 1/09/2018 Subject to availability, only valid on specific events. Only one application per customer. Not valid in conjunction with any additional offers. No cash value

macbirmingham.co.uk/befest5

BE Membership YOUR SUPPORT

BE FESTIVAL’s success is down to the support we receive, from the volunteers that enthusiastically run the festival bar to the hosts that welcome our artists into their homes each July. Bringing cutting edge and innovative performing arts from all over Europe to the heart of Birmingham wouldn’t be possible without your help. BE FESTIVAL is more relevant than ever in this post-referendum world and we need your support for our work to continue. Your support is what allows us to take risks and bring wonderful, heartbreaking and fascinating worlds to life. It also allows us to give much needed (and deserved!) assistance to the development of new work, and bring it to the UK.

How to support us

Fellow £25 per year

• •

An exclusive BE FESTIVAL pin A personalized thank you on our website

Friends of BE £50 per year

• • •

An exclusive BE FESTIVAL pin A personalized thank you on our website A free ticket to the Best of BE Tour

Associates £75 per year

•

An exclusive BE FESTIVAL pin

•

A personalized thank you on our website & on social media

•

A free ticket to the Best of BE Tour

•

A free ticket for one day of the festival

Members of BE - £100 •

An exclusive BE FESTIVAL pin

•

A personalized thank you on our website & on social media

•

Your name in our programme

•

An opportunity to visit a rehearsal of BE Next

•

A free ticket for one day of the festival

•

First access to participate in artist-led workshops at the festival

•

Annual donor lunch with the festival directors, with a sneak peak of the festival programme

Creative Donors - £250

Join the BE FESTIVAL community and become a BE Members of BE - £100 FESTIVAL Host or Volunteer for 2019! Who are the BE Hosts? Our BE Hosts are a network of local residents whowhere kindlyall help provide our visiting A special scheme theus money invested goes guests with somewhere to stay. As work: special supporters specifically towards creating new ofTwo the meetings festival, our are the welcome attend the per hosts year with festivaltodirectors to festival for free on the nightoftheir guest performs. discuss the development the work Becoming a BE Volunteer is you've a great opportunity to Visit a rehearsal of the work invested in meet people, learn about the festival and have a lot of Opportunity to see the show at the festival & have fun. Our with dedicated and thoughtful volunteer network dinner the artists involved makes a big difference in the experience and smooth Your name the programme & a thank you on running of theinfestival, for every person involved as our well aswebsite for the audiences who attend the festival. Want to find out more? Head to our website: www.befestival.org/get-involved

Creative Donors - £250

•

A special scheme where all the money invested goes specifically towards creating new work:

•

Two meetings per year with the festival directors to discuss the development of the work

•

Visit a rehearsal of the work you've invested in

A personalized thank you on our website & on social media

•

Opportunity to see the show at the festival & have dinner with the artists involved

Your name in our programme

•

Your name in the programme & a thank you on our website

An exclusive BE FESTIVAL pin

HOSTING and VOLUNTEERING

An opportunity to visit a rehearsal of BE NEXT or BE Mix A free ticket for one day of the festival

First access to participate in artist led workshops at the festival

To become a member please email ruth@befestival.org

Annual donor lunch with the festival directors, with a sneak peak of the festival programme

TEAM

Co-Directors Isla Aguilar & Miguel Oyarzun General Manager Sadie Newman Senior Producers Porl Cooper, Ruth Harvey & Atxarte López de Co-Directors Isla Aguilar & Miguel Oyarzun Munain General Selina Manager Sadie Newman Producer Losa Senior Producers Ruth Harvey & Atxarte Lz de Munain Butler Press, Marketing and Communications Producer Catherine

Volunteer Coordinator/ Assistant Producer Producers Porl Cooper & Selina Losa Jessica Barber Community Manager/Assistant Producer Alexander Earle Communications Producer Catherine Butler Production Managers Alex Boucher, Hannan Finnegan, Volunteer and Workshop Producer Jessica Barber

Chris Ball, Neil Parkes

Huge thanks to everyone at The REP and to our passionate team for their hard work and enthusiasm. Thanks to all the artists who come to the festival and Printer to allClarkeprint 1070 who sent us their proposals. And thanks to Jonathan Fuller-Rowell, Gagen, Ian Oaks, The Front Cover Image FraukeAlison Thielking Play House, María Delgado, Gavin Burns, Françoise BE FESTIVAL Board Proffit, JosephFadhila SeeligMas, OBE Jon (Chair), Gauffier, Marie Opie, Sam Frances Anderson, James Cook, Reichert, Jo Lee, all of the Skillings, Tim Hodgson, Josephine Stuart Rogers & and Sophia Tarr artists mentors finally to all the volunteers and hosts who are the backbone spirit of&the festival. BE FESTIVAL members Grahamand Lennard Sarah-Jane Watkinson BE FESTIVAL member: Sarah-Jane Watkinson

Social and Digital Content Producer Alexander Earle

BE FESTIVAL ENTRANCE THE REP - BACK ENTRANCE (CAMBRIDGE ST, B1 2EP)

Technical Manager Mick Diver

HUB Designer Elin Dowsett

Stage Managers Ruth Morgan & Laura Stone BE Next Producer Finley-Rose Townsend Bar Manager Yassine Hawawi

THE HUB & BE LATE STAGE

Interns EMILY HORN & NATALIA CATECHIS Caterers Marmalade

BE BOX OFFICE

Production Managers Alex Studio Boucher, Hannan Finnegan, Graphic Designers Pouvelle & David Martín de Juan Technical Manager Mick Diver Web Designer Jack Ratcliffe Stage Managers Ruth Morgan & Laura Stone Film-makers IMS Image Music Sound

THE DOOR

Chris Ball & Neil Parkes

Programme Copywriting Duncan Ballantyne

POP UP RESTAURANT (MAIN STAGE) THE STUDIO

Photographers Alex Brenner Bar Manager Yassine Hawawi Printers Clarkeprint Caterers Marmalade Front Cover Image Pouvelle Frauke Thielking Graphic Designers Studio BE FESTIVAL Board Joseph Seelig OBE (Chair), James Cook, Frances Aux Designer David Martín de Juan Anderson, Jo Lee, Stuart Rogers & Sophia Tarr Programme Copywriting Duncan Ballantyne BEWeb FESTIVAL is an ArtsRatcliffe Council England National Portfolio Organisation. Designer Jack

REP FOYER

THE REP BOX OFFICE LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM THE REP - FRONT ENTRANCE (CENTENARY SQUARE, B1 2EP)

Filmmaker IMS Image Music Sound

TEAM

Photographer Alex Brenner

BE FESTIVAL is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

THANKS & SUPPORT

Supported by:

EMBAJADA DE ESPAÑA EN LONDRES

Thank you! Each year we receive invaluable support from many organisations and individuals for whom we are extremely grateful. We would like to start by thanking our BE Hosts and BE Volunteers for their generosity, passion and support. Huge thanks to everyone at The REP and to our passionate team for their hard work and enthusiasm. It is thanks to Arts Council England and the many supportive European embassies and cultural institutes all particularly committed to international work, that we are able to present a celebration of European arts. We would like to thank Jerwood Charitable Foundation for their continued funding, enabling us to deliver a UK Artists Development Programme in 2018/19. Finally a special round of thanks to Medicine Bakery, Norton Foundation, Baron Davenpor's Charity, Jonathan Fuller-Rowell, Alison Gagen, Ian Oaks, The Play House, María Delgado, Gavin Burns, Françoise Gauffier, Marie Proffit, Jon Opie, Peter Wynne-Willson and all of the artists mentors.

SUPPORTERS Produced in association with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and all its team.

CALENDAR TUE 03

FRI 06

7pm

Revolt AthenΣ by ODC Ensemble

8.15pm

Interval Dinner

9.30pm

P-Project by Ivo Dimchev

1.30pm

Networking Lunch Meeting

10.30pm

Lycio (LIVE)

3pm

Feedback Café

7pm

Take care of yourself by Cie. Moost - Marc Oosterhoff

10.30am

producing & tourING with J. Bowles & S. Wilson-White

WED 04 10.30am

Building a body without organs with Amy Russell

Tsunami by R14 | Julien Grosvalet

Theatre of the Polis with Elli Papakonstantinou

8.15pm

Interval Dinner

Politics in the Room with B. Lesca and N. Voutsas

9.30pm

aquí, siempre/ Here, Always by Poliana Lima

10.30pm

DJ Glynn Phillips Presents

12pm

Guided tour by Vladimir Tzekov

3pm

Feedback Café

7pm

Let’s dance! by VerTeDance

8.15pm

Interval Dinner

9.30pm

F.O.M.O. by Colectivo Fango

We’ve got each other by Paul O’Donnell

Three Rooms by Sister Sylvester

SAT 07 Sisyphus by New Perspectives

Control Freak by Cie. Kirkas 10.30pm

10.30am

The Brave Sons of Elijah Perry (LIVE)

1pm

Early Ideas with Tom & Ayla and the winner of the Presente/Futuro Festival

THU 05

1.30pm

LUNCH

3pm

Feedback Café

7pm

BE Next Curtain Call

Theatre - Fit with Sotterraneo In between invisible screens with K. Dietl & S. Müller Feedback Café

7pm

Someone loves you drive with care by Tom Cassani

8.15pm

Interval Dinner

Violent Event by Billinger & Schulz

9.30pm

Overload by Sotterraneo

8.15pm

Interval Dinner

8pm - 2am

Awards Ceremony & The Family Tree DJs

9.30pm

Levitations by Hannah De Meyer

10.30pm 40

The Cave by ODC Ensemble

3pm

This work about the orange by A.L.D.E.S.

Workshops (FREE)

Shows (TICKETED)

Smokin’ Pilchards (LIVE)

Discussions (FREE)

Music (FREE)

Visual Arts installations open from 3pm daily.