International Discussions

The international discussions were realized in cooperation with the partner theater companies and the associated partner in the project, “Senzorium” Theater, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The discussions were moderated by Milena Stanojevic and Gabriela Petrova, theater directors, performers and creative facilitators, part of the driving force of the Inner Theater Company.

With the participation of:

Erick Bernal - psychologist, director of “SensoGrowth” and Demian Lerma - artistic director of “Sensorama”; Gabriel Hernandez - lecturer, actor, deputy director of the company “Teatro de los Sentidos” and artistic director of “Navigators Sensorial Theater Research”; Iwan Brioc - artistic director of “Theatr Cynefin”, theorist and consultant in applied theater; Maria Imaski - set designer and Emanuele Nargi - artistic director of “Terre-Moto”; Martin Noev - actor and Katerina Kazakova - actress, theater director and artistic director of “Kambana Art”; Tsvete Yaneva - theater director, playwright and co-founder of Theater “Tsvete”; Barbara Pia Jenic - teacher, theater director, actress and artistic director of “Senzorium”; Ana Valcheva, Elian Arroyo, Sasha Hadjieva, Georgi Naldziev and Yanitsa Atanasova - part of the artistic team of “Inner Theater Company” that had participated in the project.

1. DISCUSSION : “Theater during a pandemic”, held on November 5, 2020

Unexpectedly for everyone, the pandemic settled among us and faced us with primordial human fears and anxieties. Perceptions, values, priorities are redefined and seek their new meaning. The theater could not stay away from these processes. Sensory, interactive and immersive theatrical forms are challenged with new difficulties and opportunities.

In this discussion, we will get acquainted with several leading Bulgarian and international organizations and their answers to the so-called new reality.

Link to the YouTube channel of Inner Theater Company and the video recording of the international discussion 1 https://youtu.be/P0oduNdPFm4

2. DISCUSSION : “Theater for digital environment”, held on February 26, 2021

Does theater change the digital environment or does the environment change the theater? Is direct interaction with the audience possible? How to create online sensory performances?

In the context of closed theaters around the world, all sorts of anti-epidemic measures and social distance, theater is looking for new solutions in the digital environment. But what does he lose and what does he gain? Is this symbiosis possible and does it give rise to a new kind of theater that will remain in time?

Link to the YouTube channel of Inner Theater Company and the video recording of the international discussion 2 https://youtu.be/y74EKuePu9M

3. DISCUSSION : “Symbiosis - theater in digital and physical environment”, held on June 24, 2021

Are new forms of theater possible? A kind of symbiosis between theater in the digital and theater in the physical environment? Encounter, intertwining or incompatibility between different realities?

How do digital performances affect physical ones? And do we see a change in aesthetics, approach or themes? Is the audience more engaged and involved in the immersive and sensory forms or vice versa?

Link to the YouTube channel of Inner Theater Company and the video recording of the international discussion 3 https://youtu.be/U3lL9F07jEM

CONCLUSIONS OF THE DISCUSSIONS:

Initiating a series of three discussions with Bulgarian and international experts and partners, we created conditions for international cooperation, exchange of experience and sharing of our artistic searches. The unpredictable situation has put all of us who work in the field of sensory and immersive theatrical practices in front of common challenges, questions and searches for new ways of expression. How do we approach our knowledge in order to develop new ways to use this digital “wave” to work for us in a direction in which we remain true to the essence of our theatrical practice? In this created space for exchange, we have reached extremely valuable conclusions, as well as questions that continue to move us forward. We all have and share the same direction of research, each theater company works in its own way, but our direction of research is one: how to create an experience that transforms, how not to abandon our own vulnerability by sharing it with the audience, and not to lose our ability to be amazed.

Through amazement, we open space for others to enter into curiosity about the vast mystery of life and the moment here and now. One of perhaps the most valuable things we discovered during this research, exchange and our performances in the digital space is that we can go beyond constraints, beyond technology and create conditions in which we continue to build personal contact with the audience, to share a sense of togetherness and emotional connection with the other and with oneself.

To keep our imagination alive is the ultimate act of our resistance!

In the Sensory Labyrinth Theater the traditional convention “audience-artist” evolves out of its typical frame of reference by empowering each participant to embark on an individual journey through a variety of unique environments, sensory experiences and interactions with the artists. The artistic narrative perceived by each of the participants is being shaped to a large extent by their subjective emotional reactions throughout the journey as well as their personal ability and willingness to openly associate with others and their inner selves.