Platform Shift+ Yearbook 2015

DIGITAL CHALLENGES IN THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES YEARBOOK 2014/2015

DIGITAL CHALLENGES IN THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES YEARBOOK SEASON 2014/2015

4 DIGITAL CHALLENGES IN THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES PLATFORM shift+ is a larger scale cooperation project announced by the European Commission under their European Culture Funding Stream Creative Europe.

The network of 11 partners from 9 countries was created to meet the new challenges of producing theatre for young people in the digital age. The partners have identified the urgent need to engage with digital technology in order to understand the target audience. They plan a major investment in the professionalization of theatre makers on an international level.

40 theatre productions, correlated to the reality of the digital age, will be developed. In more than 50 activities PLATFORM Shift+ will connect theatre makers with young people in an artistic dialogue.

An extensive programme of activities will encourage transnational exchanges of artists/artistic products and provide training in digital technology through Creative Forums.

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Pilot Theatre Company (York/Great Britain) ˇ ˇ South Bohemian Theatre (Ceské Budejovice/Czech Republic) Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione (Milan, Forlì, Florence/Italy) Emergency Exit Arts (London/Great Britain) Kolibri Theatre (Budapest/Hungary) Theatre Massalia (Marseille/France) Teatro O Bando (Palmela/Portugal) tjg. Theater Junge Generation (Dresden/Germany) VAT Teater (Tallinn/Estonia) Teatret Vårt (Molde/Norway) University of Agder (Kristiansand/Norway)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT Artistic Director Dirk Neldner

Youth Work Andrew Siddall (Emergency Exit Arts)

Literary Adviser Odette Bereska

Financial Administration Charles Moore (Pilot Theatre)

Project Coordinator Sven Laude

Financial Assistance Jackie Raper (Pilot Theatre)

Project Assistance Sophia Neubert

Support Project Administration Lucy Hammond (Pilot Theatre)

Education / Engagement Mandy Smith (Pilot Theatre)

Monitoring Gunnar Horn (University of Agder)

Creative Forum Marcus Romer (Pilot Theatre)

Website & Social Media Administration Sam Johnson (Pilot Theatre)

6 CONTENTS 8

Gunnar Horn “Attention! There is a PLATFORM shift”

12 5th Annual Encounter Programme 14 Preface Álvaro Balseiro Amaro, Mayor of Palmela (Portugal) 15 Preface Teatro O Bando 16 My Digital Addiction 17 Preface Dirk Neldner, Artistic Director PLATFORM Shift + 20 Lisbon Theatre and Film School (ESTC) 22 Digital Addictions 24 PLATFORM Shift + Creative Forum Creative Forum speaker / workshops 26 Dr. Kristin Alford 27 Sarah Ellis 28 Hannes Grassegger 29 Stephan Jürgens 30 Martin Zepter 32 Philippe Domengie 34 Friedrich Kirschner 36 Samuel Schwarz 38 My Digital Addiction

40 PLATFORM Shift + National Productions Introduction National Productions 42 Pilot Theatre Company (York/UK) ˇ ˇ 46 South Bohemian Theatre (Ceské Budejovice/CZ) 50 Emergency Exit Arts (London/UK) 54 Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione (Milan, Forlì, Florence/IT) 58 Kolibri Theatre (Budapest/HU) 62 Theatre Massalia (Marseille/FR) 66 Teatro O Bando (Palmela/PT) 70 tjg. Theater Junge Generation (Dresden/DE) 74 VAT Teater (Tallinn/EE) 78 Teatret Vårt (Molde/NO) 82 University of Agder (Kristiansand/NO) 86 Workshop Actor’s Conscience on Stage João Brites (Teatro O Bando) 87 Workshop Audience Development 88 Digital Addiction

PLATFORM Shift + Partners (Presentation & Reference Production) 90 Pilot Theatre Company (York/UK) ˇ ˇ 94 South Bohemian Theatre (Ceské Budejovice/CZ) 98 Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione (Milan, Forlì, Florence/IT) 102 Emergency Exit Arts (London/UK) 106 Kolibri Theatre (Budapest/HU) 110 Theatre Massalia (Marseille/FR) 114 Teatro O Bando (Palmela/PT) 118 tjg. Theater Junge Generation (Dresden/DE) 122 VAT Teater (Tallinn/EE) 126 Teatret Vårt (Molde/NO) 130 University of Agder (Kristiansand/NO) 132 Digital Addiction 134 World Assitej Advertisement 140 Timeline 142 Digital Addiction 145 Addresses 146 Imprint

7 | Table of Contents

136 PLATFORM Shift + Activities

8

“

Attention! There is a PLATFORM shift.

PLATFORM 11+ 2nd Annual Encounter Budapest (HU) 2010 Schoolyardcrossers

When Harry Potter takes the train to Hogwarts from PLATFORM 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station, he travels from one reality and into another. Now we have left PLATFORM 11+, let us bring along some of the experience we have gained, on our way into the digital world of PLATFORM Shift. We travel from the playground as we experienced it, to playgrounds characterized by other forms of communication. How far is it from PLATFORM 11+ to PLATFORM Shift?

"Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards" was the theme of the last round of PLATFORM. Are the stories about today's schoolyards significantly different from earlier ones?

In many European schoolyards we see youngsters with their eyes firmly fixed on mobile screens, busy communicating with each other, often side by side, the blue light of the mobile screen enthrals them. It's almost magical, like Harry Potter’s universe.

Everything can be something different from what it seems and everything is actually something else. Through the screen, the journey to Hogwarts is the easiest thing in the world. So much is similar, but so much is different.

Today’s playgrounds are characterised by youngsters’ use of digital media, and indeed it is a major part of their lives, in many ways significantly different than 10 to 15 years ago.

This is what we will examine through artistic and educational art creation.

However, are today’s young people so essentially different from the youngsters of 10 -15 years ago? They play, form relationships, experiment and adapt as they have always done. They talk to each other and relate to each other and to adults. They learn new skills. Perhaps they play outside far less, but they are constantly active, physically and mentally.

9 | Gunnar Horn ATTENTION! THERE IS A PLATFORM SHIFT!

GUNNAR HORN

Gunnar Horn Associate Professor Theatre, Director of Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Agder (Norway), storyteller, director and author with a special focus on Theatre for Young Audiences.

10 One major difference is the current diversity of channels for information and communication. Today’s youth have several means of acquiring information and more ways to communicate than ever before.

Many have in the past expressed concern about technological development and its influence on children and adolescents. Does it take away essential elements that are important for the development of their intellectual and communicative abilities?

There is one thing we can be sure of: Digital development will not stop; we are in the midst of a revolution that affects us all.

PLATFORM 11+ brought theatre people from very different parts of Europe together around artistic reflections on child and adolescent life in and around the playground.

We learnt that the artistic expressions around Europe are quite different, that the perception of what kind of theatre is suitable for children and young people are different, and that the perception of what good quality theatre for young people is different depending on the eyes with which we see it, culturally, socially, aesthetically or politically.

Is this technological revolution in the process of putting theatre on the sidelines?

The possibilities of digital creation and interaction have become so numerous and so easily available that theatre could be seen as unfashionable.

Youngsters are familiar with digital media and the Internet; they are creative and most take for granted that they can always be online. They prioritise images, sound and movement rather than text and are comfortable with multitasking.

But today's children and adolescents are not a homogeneous mass. There are large differences in how much time they spend online, what they actually do and their attitudes to technology.

In the landscape of theatre - the direct art form, the art form of presence will survive. The big challenge will be how the "analogue" and "digital" world can melt together, how new electronic media forms and expressions on the one hand, and the direct language of the theatre on the other can interact and fertilize each other. Those who see possibilities in new technological development will be in the forefront.

So, how are we going to use all the new forms of communication to tell important stories about adolescent life in 2015?

11 | Gunnar Horn ATTENTION! THERE IS A PLATFORM SHIFT!

PROGRAMME 6TH ANNUAL ENCOUNTER AND 1ST CREATIVE FORUM SUNDAY, JUNE 7 ARRIVALS 20.00 Dinner Lisbon MONDAY, JUNE 8 CREATIVE FORUM 10.00 Opening 10.30 TED like speeches by Dr. Kristin Alford (AU), Sarah Ellis (GB), Hannes Grassegger (CH), Stephan Juergens (PT) and Martin Zepter (GER) 13.00 Lunch break 14.00 Hands on Workshops by Friedrich Kirschner (GER), Stephan Juergens (PT), Phillipe Domengie (FR) and Samuel Schwarz (CH) 18.30 Closing Session 18.30 Shuttle to Setubal (hotels) 20.00 Dinner in Setubal

TUESDAY, JUNE 9 10.30 Welcome and walk to Teatro O Bando 12.00 Set up for the presentations of the national plays/ concepts (1) 14.00 Lunch 15.00 Set up for the presentations of the national plays/ concepts (2) 16.00 Presentations of the national plays/concepts 1 (each 30 min) 20.00 Dinner 21.00 Presentations of the national plays/concepts 2 (each 30 min)

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 Half Day off (including offer for boat excursion) 11.00 Advisory Board Meeting (only directors of the partner institutions) 14.00 Lunch 17.00 Evaluation, discussion about presentations of national plays/concepts 20.00 Dinner 21.00 Performance by Teatro O Bando

PROGRAMME 6TH ANNUAL ENCOUNTER AND 1ST CREATIVE FORUM TEAM 6TH ANNUAL ENCOUNTER TEATRO O BANDO Artistic Direction JOÃO BRITES International Relations RAUL ATALAIA General Coordination SARA DE CASTRO Stage Management FÁTIMA SANTOS Production Management MIGUEL JESUS Technical Direction GUILHERME NORONHA Training Coordination JULIANA PINHO Communication JOÃO NECA Audience Relation MARGARIDA MATA Treasury PAULA GATO Reception RITA BRITO Kitchen LUCIA RUS Assistant PLATFORM Shift+ MARGARIDA ANTUNES PLATFORM SHIFT + Artistic Director DIRK NELDNER Literary Adviser ODETTE BERESKA Project Coordinator SVEN LAUDE Project Assistance SOPHIA NEUBERT Technical Support BENJAMIN DAVID PUGH (PILOT THEATRE), KATRINE TORP (UNIVERSITY OF AGDER), TALE SOLFJELD (UNIVERSITY OF AGDER) Support Annual Encounter ELISA BRAUN, JOHANNA MALCHOW, NIENKE-MARIE TREIKAUSKAS ESTC Coordination ÁLVARO CORREIA, FRANCISCO SALGADO Production and PR Management PEDRO AZEVEDO Production Management CONCEIÇÃO ALVES COSTA

JUNE

THURSDAY, JUNE 11 11.00 Workshop for actors (by João Brites, artistic director Teatro O Bando) Workshop “Audience Development” 13.30 Lunch 15.00 Workshop for actors (by João Brites, artistic director Teatro O Bando) Workshop “Audience Development” 18.00 Presentation of the actors workshop in Palmela 20.00 Dinner 21.00 Presentation of the movie “The knife That killed me” (by Marcus Romer, artistic director of Pilot theatre FRIDAY, JUNE 12 Departures

14 PREFACE

ÁLVARO BALSEIRO AMARO MAYOR OF PALMELA, PORTUGAL In Palmela, we believe that networking is an important part of our development strategy. This is based on a deep conviction that we are stronger together.

Proud of our rich natural and cultural heritage – in which the Arrábida mountain range and the Sado river play an unmistakable role – the municipality is committed to the defense and promotion of the local ancestry, the memories, the unique know-how that is transmitted from generation to generation. This can be found in products such as wine, cheese or traditional pastries, in the handicrafts or in the activity of our secular philharmonic orchestras, our folk groups, our choirs and amateur theatre groups.

The relationship that we’ve been developing and solidifying with professional theatre company O Bando, over the last 15 years, has allowed us to broaden our horizons, taking the best we have to offer to new audiences and conquering the streets (a priviledged stage for the arts), opening us to the world, in a tapestry of different cultures and relationships that leave us richer in our diversity.

The PLATFORM shift+ project fits perfectly into the work and purposes we have defined, concerning our cultural policy, inviting the locals to participate and allowing us all to take a step further in sharing new experiences, new colors, and new artistic landscapes.

“

So, dear friends, we welcome you to Palmela and hope you feel at home!

PREFACE

Once again Teatro O Bando hosts another great Encounter. An Encounter that, like all the others before, is intended to be disquieting.

Disquieting because we still contend that only by confronting each other and by developing our critical sense may we strengthen our own artistic convictions.

The diversity of thoughts, experiences and projects that each one will share here, will certainly breathe new life into those that in their own countries, their own regions, their own communities, still defend the artistic work for a young audience.

We share with our European partners the belief that the Arts and Culture are

fundamental engines to free thought, developing perceptions, sensations, ideas, fictions and strengthening our capacity to expand our knowledge throughout life and society and to exercise that liberty of thought against grey, common place opinions.

We expect that the variety of artistic projects within Platform Shift+ may be the paradigm of the Europe we dream of, one that is alive, dynamic and diverse. We hope that this statement of differences may be explored to help build a many cultured map, and that this mixing and taking on of ideas isn’t just founded on an artificial gathering but also by a shared vision.

There are several training sessions, creative work presentations, meetings and collective meals planned so there will be enough informal occasions where the smiles and gazes will say more than words. Like in theatre, we believe that in these Encounters ideas allied with emotions have a truly transforming power.

We also know that concrete spaces define the nature of each Encounter and so, the spaces will be diverse. The ESTC (Theatre and Cinema College), the Arrabida hill, Palmela village…

And so, may this be a disquieting and inspiring encounter for all, The Team of Teatro O Bando

15 | Preface ÁLVARO BALSEIRO AMARO & TEATRO O BANDO

TEATRO O BANDO

16 MY DIGITAL ADDICTION “MY DIGITAL ADDICTION” IS GOING TO BE A COLLECTION OF SHORT TEXTS BY THE EUROPEAN ARTISTS, WORKING FOR PLATFORM SHIFT. WE ARE ALL IN A PROCESS OF SHIFTING – AFTER FOUR YEARS OF THE PROJECT OUR APPROACH TO DIGITAL POSSIBILITIES WILL HAVE CHANGED FOR MOST OF US. BUT WE OF COURSE ALREADY HAVE FAVOURITES, PASSIONS, ADDICTIONS AND EVEN OBSESSIONS IN TERMS OF THE CONNECTION WE HAVE WITH THE VIRTUAL WORLD. IT IS GREAT TO GET AN INSIGHT IN SOME OF THEM: I am a man from the stone age. It takes me a long time to get used to new things. I’m still not capable of using a touch screen, I need help to connect different devices or use new programs. Apple is a mystery to me – I can’t even find the internet button.

Although, I have found one good place online, a promised land – it’s called YouTube. Channels like Badge of Shame, TYT, What the Flick, Hishe, Fine Bros, ERB, College Humor and many more form a kind of comfort zone for even prehistoric men like me.

Mihkel Seeder (Dramaturge VAT Teater, Tallinn, EE)

I am responsible for most of our theatre's social media connections so I am used to staying “connected” most of the time.

Outside of work it also gives me the opportunity to connect and check back in with everyday life and old friends from studying abroad (that are spread across the globe) during my lunch break. Since we had a great time together back then in New York I regularly catch myself digging deeper into everyday life there to stay somewhat connected to the place, even though I haven't been there for almost ten years. It may sound strange but this addiction is mostly about really banal things: Does the weather forecast suggest a good time for hiking the Catskill Mountains this weekend? There seems to be a difficult game ahead for the Binghamton Bearcats. OMG, there is a sale at the university bookshop on Thursday!

Norbert Seidel (PR, tjg. Theater Junge Generation, Dresden, GER)

iREVOLUTION A REVOLUTION IS A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN POWER ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES THAT TAKES PLACE IN A RELATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. DIRK NELDNER (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PLATFORM SHIFT+)

In the Industrial Revolution manual labour was replaced by steam machines. In the modern revolution the brain power of human beings is being replaced by

computers. For those of us involved in making theatre for young people it should go without saying that we must confront ourselves with such radical changes.

Theatre is an artistic medium that aims not just to portray social processes, but also to influence and shape the human debate and condition. In order to do this, theatre makers must continually examine the world to discover and understand the changing realities. Theatre aims to function fully in the real world, but real life is now increasingly experienced on a global level in a range of virtual spaces and platforms. The digital world is a reality. Theatre cannot

ignore it. The merging of analogue and digital reality into a new model of human society demands immediate and radical action from theatre. Theatre must shift as it has done many times throughout history.

The world has changed and theatre must change too.

This central truth is nowhere more important than in the field of theatre made for and with young people. We have a special responsibility to introduce young people to an artistic medium, which brings together real human beings in real time and place. We must inspire them to believe in theatre as a unique way of exploring

17 | Preface DIRK NELDNER

In my youth, I had a dream about being able to participate in a revolution in (West) Germany. Unexpectedly, the peaceful revolution happened “over there� in the other part of Germany.

After all this waiting, I am finally experiencing a revolution! A digital revolution that challenges us in very many different ways. The Digital Age has changed us and will continue to change us. Steve Jobs - the new Che Guevara.

18 European values and cultural legacy and sharing it globally. Our ability to meet this responsibility depends entirely on our ability to connect with the young people.

Adolescents look for artistic products that reflect the world they live in.

Today’s young people are digital natives, who naturally inhabit the virtual world.

The impact of digital technology goes much deeper than their everyday use.

It influences their behaviour in the ways they communicate and how they expect to contribute to the world.

The traditional model of theatre - as a specialist provider where a few people produce for a wide group of passive recipients - no longer matches the spirit of the times. New content and forms must be found. An aesthetic debate in theatre for young audiences has to be initiated.

If theatre made for young people does not acknowledge this new reality in its processes and products, young audiences will be lost today and future audiences will not exist.

Digital technology is not the enemy of theatre. It is the reality of modern life, but also a powerful tool we can use to renew theatre. The changed capabilities and expectations of the young users demand recognition. Young people are ready to play an active role in the creation and dissemination of theatre products. To stay with that image, theatre for young people must make its contribution to this digital revolution.

The key to change is real acknowledgement and deeper understanding of how the digital world (the revolutionary forces) operates.

We need to know how young people use it and the influence it has on their behaviour and thinking. We need to explore how it can be used to meet theatre’s objectives.

And we need to keep the unique nature of theatre as a live medium in the digital age.

The future is being constructed every day in the hands, minds and virtual activities of young people. Theatre can shift to be part of the world they build. It can provide the young people with unique artistic tools to examine and shape this world.

As real and virtual worlds became one reality for the young, theatre must, can and finally will shift. The challenges facing theatre for young people in the digital age will provide opportunities for audience development and engagement, artist professionalization, artistic exploration and the creation of ground-breaking new work. This is the belief of the partners from across Europe who have united to PLATFORM Shift+.

In order to approach the self-imposed goals PLATFORM Shift+ will organize an annual Creative Forum. The first forum will take place in Lisbon, in co-operation with the ESTC (Lisbon Theatre and Film School). In TED style talks and workshops, we intend to stimulate and provoke, to present new ideas, to discuss and above all we want to work

Children of the Revolution Well you can bump and grind And its good for your mind Well you can twist and shout let it all hang out But you won't fool the Children of the Revolution No you won't fool the Children of the Revolution Marc Bolan Over the next few years, in the numerous PLATFORM Shift+ productions, we will be able to see how European artists deal with this large and significant theme. I am really excited about this, but first and foremost, I am very much looking forward to our Creative Forum 1 and the PLATFORM Shift+ Annual Meeting, which will be the 6th Meeting if we include the PLATFORM 11+ Meetings.

In reference to the dreams I had as a young man: the choice of Teatro O Bando as host for this Annual Meeting is surely no accident.

The history of Teatro O Bando is tightly connected to the Portuguese Carnation Revolution in 1974. Through my many years of following the work the Artistic Director João Brites and his o bandos, I have learnt that one doesn’t have to give up one’s ideals as one grows older. With this youthful idealism, we will shape a platform for Theatre for Young People for the future.

May 2015

19 | Preface DIRK NELDNER

together on creating a broader acceptance for the digital revolution. This knowledge of the steps involved in the digital change (technical as well as sociological) is of vital importance to young theatre makers.

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LISBON THEATRE & FILM SCHOOL ESCOLA SUPERIOR DE TEATRO E CINEMA (ESTC) The Lisbon Theatre and Film School (ESTC) was born in 1983 and has its origins in the National Conservatory created by Almeida Garrett in 1836.

The ESTC has been integrated into the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon since 1985 and proceeds with its objectives in Theatre and Cinema studies, preparing students with a high level of professional qualification, research activities, experience, artistic production and community projects.

The ESTC has 2 departments: Theatre and Cinema.

Since the academic year 2006/2007, the Theatre Department has offered a Theatre Course (3 years) with the following branches: Acting, Costume and Stage Design and Production Management. In addition to this course, since 2007/2008 the department has offered a Masters in Theatre with opportunities for specialism in Directing, Costume and Stage Design, Performing Arts, Production and Theatre in the Community.

In the Cinema Department, there is also a course in Cinema covering the following subjects: Cinematography, Sound, Editing, Production, Direction and Screenwriting, and a Masters in Cinema Project Development.

All of the programmes include practical training and/or, an internal or external, final staging project, as well as a film production.

This structure permits a strong relationship with the professional venues and activities outside the school.

The ESTC is a full member of CILECT – Centre de Liaison des Écoles de Cinéma et de Télévision and GEECT – Groupement Européen des Écoles de Cinéma et de Télévision, and also a member of École des

Écoles, a special group of Theatre Schools in Europe. In 2007 the ESTC and the Universidade do Algarve created a Research Centre in Communication and Arts called the CIAC. It aims to develop applied research and research networks in arts and communication.

21 | Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema LISBON

The ESTC works with European programmes such as ERASMUS +, through bilateral agreements with schools in Europe outside the programme and with schools and universities all over the world, for students, teachers and staff exchanges.

22 MY DIGITAL ADDICTION At the moment, I’m captivated by Karen. It is an app by Blast Theory, developed in partnership with National Theatre Wales, which merges serialised narrative and interactivity through the intimate platform of your phone.

I also have Readability installed on all of my devices as it stores text from web-pages so that you can read articles offline.

“

UbuWeb is one of my favourite websites.

It is a fantastic and vast educational resource that archives and shares avant-garde materials freely online.

www.blasttheory.co.uk/projects/karen/ www.readability.com/ www.ubuweb.com/ Sam Johnson (Digital Officer Pilot Theatre, York /UK)

MY DIGITAL ADDICTION

“

On the other hand there is the possibility of adding a nice colourful filter to a picture so it ends up being the same as the memory.

Janek Lesák (Director, South Bohemian Theatre (Ceské Budejovice/CZ)

23 | My Digital Addiction

I never had time to write a diary but lately I have to take pictures of everything. Pictures taken with an iPhone look quite good and my picture gallery represents a sort of visual diary. This diary helps me to remember days I would otherwise forget. Therefore it feels like I experience more. At the same time a written diary records only what I write in it, while pictures preserve what really happened so that we don’t idealise it too much.

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CREATIVE FORUMS IN EDUCATIVE OPPORTUNITIES CONCERNING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY ARE DELIVERED THROUGH ANNUAL CREATIVE FORUMS, A MEETING WITH LECTURES AND TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES. PLATFORM shift + and lead partner Pilot Theatre (UK) bring the internationally acclaimed SHIFT HAPPENS conference model to a new transnational audience with a mix of global experts, seminars, practical demonstrations and participation. The Creative Forums will be attended by PLATFORM shift+ delegates and are also open to a local/regional public audience. Global audiences will be connected through digital channels.

In the first 3 seasons the Creative Forum takes place at a single theatre partner location. In the final season each theatre creates its own Creative Forum at its home location in 10 European cities.

In order to involve young people as audiences/participants in seasons 2 & 3 International Youth Encounters take place alongside the Creative Forums. In season 4 young people will participate fully as performers, co-creators and audience.

Each Creative Forum focuses on a different aspect of the theatre/technology partnership linked into specific phases of PLATFORM shift+: In Season 1 the title of the Creative Forum is shift/alt - Arts Learning Technology and is related to the implementation of the project and to the National Production.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PILOT THEATRE/UK The idea behind Creative Forums, these sharing and learning events, is based on the Shift Happens Conference model that Pilot Theatre has run since 2008.

These again were modeled on the TED and TEDActive format from the USA. Here speakers would speak for no longer than 20 minutes and prepare their talks as presentations for a live audience. Their focus was on technology, entertainment and design. It was in this format that speakers with great slides and images would tell compelling stories and present complex technologies or ideas in a direct and easily communicated way.

The purpose of this was to breakdown from a more potentially academic format into a more accessible and performative experience for a wider range of audiences. These TED talks were then shared online and have been used and seen freely all over the world, thanks to the translation and subtitling programmes that have supported them.

These ideas were developed into the Shift Happens programme, where the talks from speakers would be interspersed with presentations by artists, technologists, gamers, and theatre makers. An environment was created to allow crossover of conversation with food, drinks, social spaces and these talks to provide a creative and learning environment.

With our project PLATORM Shift + - we aim to develop these further and extend the reach with our live streaming and subtitling work, to allow for the talks and presentations to be shared across the web and to act as ongoing resource material for the project.

There will be workshop and learning sessions where the issues of the opportunities for creating work with, for and by young people utilizing the ideas from the emergent and existing new platforms and technologies.

25 | Creative Forums Introduction - Marcus Romer PILOT THEATRE/UK

MARCUS ROMER

26 CREATIVE FORUM – SPEAKER

DR. KRISTIN ALFORD There are five ways to see the future There are five ways to see the future, and most people only use one. They rely on what they know. If we are to open up new spaces for creativity and possibility, we need to look beyond our immediate circles, and beyond our hunches of the future, to imagine something new."

Summary on a 10 minutes speech: 1. Past Experience - our expertise, our networks. This is not necessarily narrow, it's just limited (1 min) 2. Distributed Present - what else can we see that we don't yet understand, that's happening now.

Moves towards citizen engagement (journalism, science, manufacturing), asynchronous, temporary and curated memory communication (e.g. Slack, Snapchat, Instagram) (4 mins) 3. Project Futures - high, low, medium, we've expanded a bit. How do we appreciate the ridiculous? (1 min) 4. Envisaged Futures - values, metaphors, desire (2 min) 5. Emerging Futures - social technologies for the Anthropocene (2 min) Dr. Kristin Alford will be joining us virtually from Adelaide, Australia.

Dr. Kristin Alford uses foresight and strategy frameworks to help organisations and individuals discover new insights. She established Bridge8 in 2004 following careers in engineering, human resources and product development across sectors including mining, R&D, aviation, agriculture and nanotechnology.

Kristin Alford holds a PhD in process engineering and a Masters of Management in Strategic Foresight. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fellow of the Governor's Leadership Foundation. She was recently a member of the Australian Government's Expert Forum on Enabling Technologies and served on the board of the Australian Network for Art and Technology from 20072012. She is the licensee and organiser of TEDxAdelaide.

SARAH ELLIS What are the new possibilities for culture in a digital age? As we develop new ways of working through digital possibilities, new roles are helping define how an arts organisation navigates the C21st.

Sarah Ellis is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s first Head of a Digital Development working on new arts partnerships and initiatives for the company.

She will share her experiences of working on the RSC's digital strategies to date. Sharing her work on previous programmes such as the online commissioning platform myShakespeare and the reinterpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream in partnership

with Google Creative Lab. Taking place over one weekend audiences were invited to participate by creating their own events, characters and content. Audiences could also engage by attending site-specific extracts of the play following its original time-line.

She will talk about the opportunities, challenges and the possibilities for the future.

27 | Creative Forum DR. KRISTIN ALFORD & SARAH ELLIS

CREATIVE FORUM – SPEAKER

Sarah Ellis is an award winning producer Currently working as Head of Digital Development for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2013 she was listed in the top 100 most influential people working in Gaming and Technology by The Hospital Club and Guardian Culture Professionals. In partnership with Google’s Creative Lab, she recently produced Midsummer Night’s Dreaming, which won two Lovie Awards for Innovation and Experimentation. In 2012, she produced myShakespeare, an online artistic commissioning platform for the World Shakespeare Festival. In 2011, she was the producer of the RSC’s new work Adelaide Road, which mixed live performance with an app and website map. As a producer, she has worked with the Old Vic Tunnels, Battersea Arts Centre, Birmingham REP and many others. She has been Head of Creative Programmes at the Albany Theatre and Programme Manager for Apples & Snakes, England’s leading performance poetry organisation. She is a regular speaker and commentator on digital arts practice.

28 CREATIVE FORUM – SPEAKER

HANNES GRASSEGGER We no longer own ourselves. We are digital serfs... It’s an old trick. They lure us with new land, ready to plow, with ‘platforms’, and in return they keep the harvest. Our thoughts and feelings encoded into letters and numbers.

This is the beginning of Das Kapital bin ich (I am Capital), a short pamphlet by Hannes Grassegger, angrily dubbed “capitalist MiniManifesto” by the German left. Das Kapital bin Ich describes what happens to us in the age of Semio-Capitalism – a world where our personal data has become “the new oil”.

Grassegger’s work unveils the shape of the new data capitalism that is currently revolutionizing our globalized business grid –

and starting to control our personal lives up to the most intimate situations. By analyzing the Terms and Conditions as the “law of the land” of the social platforms we now inhabit, as well as the investment strategies of “Big Data” companies like Google or Facebook, Grassegger lays out surprising analogies between historical feudalism and the new digital capitalism.

But moreover, Grassegger is optimistic.

He envisions a move forward: a capitalist proposal for overcoming the current feudal power structures of data-capitalism. His presentation will show how the personal data-based semio-capitalism works – and deliver insights into the technological strategies that Silicon Valley is using for this.

Hannes Grassegger will be joining us virtually from Zurich, Switzerland.

Hannes Grassegger (1980) is a Zürich based economist and author of Das Kapital bin Ich (Kein & Aber, 2014). Grassegger is obsessed with the financial aspects of the current digital disruption processes and the emergence of a world where our identities are part atoms, part bits. He is probably the first Post-Internet-Economist. Grassegger is an associate with W.I.R.E., a think tank founded by Collegium Helveticum of ETH Zürich and the University of Zürich. He writes for leading German-language magazines such as Die ZEIT Magazin and SZMagazin.

CREATIVE FORUM – SPEAKER & WORKSHOP

New Digital Tools for the Creative Process and Beyond Have you ever experienced one of those magical moments in a rehearsal and later found yourself unable to recuperate it for the final version of the stage performance?

Currently many professionals in all areas of the performing arts debate passionately how to document such precious moments in rehearsal in an unobtrusive way and retrieve vital information from hours of video recordings in an efficient way.

The author of this presentation is a choreographer and theatre interaction designer who was invited to collaborate with a team of researchers towards the development of a novel video annotation tool supporting the creative process in the performing arts. He will use examples from his own artistic practice to introduce possible applications of this recent methodology both in more conventional and experimental productions of theatre pieces.

Stephan Jürgens holds a Ph.D. in Contemporary Choreography and New Media Technologies. His research interests concentrate on designing creative strategies for live performance involving interactive systems. He has been teaching movement research, interdisciplinary choreography and interactive system design in many different learning environments and institutions. He collaborated on several international research projects. As a choreographer, he has presented several works supported by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture. www.sjurgens.net

29 | Creative Forum HANNES GRASSEGGER + STEPHAN JÜRGENS

STEPHAN JÜRGENS

30 CREATIVE FORUM – SPEAKER

MARTIN ZEPTER Theatrale subversion’s EPNOTIA and the use of theatrical structures in video-walks through public space as a key to augmented reality.

In 2014 the artist collective theatrale subversion created a video-walk in a district of Dresden that is currently threatened by gentrification. As the visitors were sent on a walk through the neighbourhood individually, guided by a video on smartphones, they met three main characters inside the video who were discussing the benefits and negative consequences caused by gentrification.

These figures were part of a fairytalelike background story that we developed to get a more distanced view on the topic and to give our discourse further validity.

There was a wizard who saw business opportunities everywhere and magically turned run-down areas into cash cows. He obviously represented the investors. His counterpart was a young anarchistic girl and her friends who represented the alternative community of the district. And in between was a lady called Miss Cityplania, who represented the community trying to

moderate the process and smooth down differences.

In my workshop I will first introduce the participants to the way we shaped the project. In the second part we will develop new ideas in a moderated group devising process.

Here is a link to a short scene of EPNOTIA: http://theatralesubversion.de/epnotia-arbeitstitelpremiere-mai-2014/

In 2009 he managed the PR for the international theatre and performance festival Transeuropa in Hildesheim. Between 2005 and 2010 he was executive director for Theaterhaus Hildesheim e.V. Since 2010 he has mainly worked as a developer for projects between arts, education, politics and society, mixing art forms like performance art, street art, installation, video, and theatre. The best known example of this work is X pe d/t itions (2012-2014), a two year Dresden based, federal funded, artistic research project with theatrale subversion. www.theatralesubversion.de email: m.zepter@gmx.net

31 | Creative Forum MARTIN ZEPTER

Martin Zepter (1976 Ansbach/GER) is a director, performer, and producer for independent art projects. He studied English, German, and philosophy in Wuerzburg, directing at Rose Bruford College in Sidcup (Greater London) and theatre, arts and media in Hildesheim. In 2004 he founded the artist collective “theatrale subversion�.

The collective develops new productions that aim to find experimental approaches for political issues.

32 CREATIVE FORUM – WORKSHOP

PHILIPPE DOMENGIE Green screen A green screen is just that, a green screen, but without Chroma Keying it is not much use. Chroma Keying is the process by which a specific colour element (Chroma) is removed from a video scene and replaced (keyed) with a different element. Essentially, it’s the way video producers remove one background and replace it with another. You will have seen hundreds of examples of this in films, such as superheroes flying in the sky, and on TV, as it’s the process used when you see someone presenting the weather in front of a moving map.

Green or blue screens have become the industry colour standard for Chroma Keying since it was invented in the 1940s. Unlike other bright colours such as Yellow and Red, neither are found within any skin tone and this is very important. For effective Chroma Keying, the distinction between what you want to keep (the presenter) and what you want to remove and replace (the green background) has to be made. Therefore using a green or blue screen means there is no chance of the background mixing with the skin tone of the subject.

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At the same time, lighting the subject must be made to match the lighting of the scene in which the performer will be keyed as much as possible.

All that said, we will talk about adapting this studio technique to live stage.

From my experience, the main skill in the art of achieving a perfect Chroma Key effect is lighting. Powerful lights are needed to increase the intensity of the backdrop to give a strong consistent colour to work with.

www.lenomadevillage.com www.facebook.com/lenomadevillage contact@lenomadevillage.com

33 | Creative Forum PHILIPPE DOMENGIE

Philippe Domengie (42) left his maths and physics studies in Lyon for a Jazz School. He then played guitar in many bands before he arrived in Grenoble, where he found himself at the controls of a recording studio and crossed paths with Sinsemillia, Gnawa Diffusion and Barbarins Fourchus. Then, in love, he discovered Street Art in Annonay.

Living above a printing house, photography and video became part of his daily life. Depressed by the weather, he settled in caravans near Aix en Provence to join a contemporary circus. He produced the first album of the singer Anais, which became a platinum selling album. Then, in love again, he moved to Marseille and collaborated with many artists as musicians, actors, directors, and dancers. He founded the collective Le Nomade Village, whose mission is to collect all these universes. Since then, he has become a dad, a director and a producer. He works on various projects including the companies L’Entreprise (François Cervantes), Dynamo Theatre (Joelle Catino) Dehors / Dedans (Claire Lasne Darcueil). He was the artistic director of the first digital creation Overclock Festival edition (May 2015) and will realise a multimedia installation for the national museum Le MuCEM (Marseille) in 2016.

34 CREATIVE FORUM – WORKSHOP

FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER Performing Videogames What happens to screen based games when we transfer their rules and conventions to the real world? To what extent are screen and gamepads just vehicles that make it okay for us to play, a sort of technological excuse? And how can they be emulated and/or exchanged with everyday objects?

Friedrich Kirschner is a theatre director, animator and software developer. He re-purposes computer games and real-time animation technology to hybrid narratives and interactive performances.

His work has been shown at various international animation festivals and exhibitions, including the Laboral Game world exhibit in Gijon, the American Museum of the Moving Image in New York, the Ottawa international Animation festival, the Seoul Media Art Biennale, the HAU Berlin, and Berlin concert hall.

He was the director of the Machinima Filmfest in New York in 2008. Friedrich is currently Professor for digital media in Puppetry at the University for Performing Arts "Ernst-Busch" in Berlin.

35 | Creative Forum FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER

36 CREATIVE FORUM – WORKSHOP

SAMUEL SCHWARZ Polder – Transmedia Experience Escapism, internet addiction, burnout syndrome and off-line longing are topics that are currently generating great concern for people. There are almost no conversations that do not revolve around the desire for dissociation from the flow of data.

Terrible events such as the attacks in Norway (2011) - also associated with psychopathic escapism, conspiracy theories of internet mania, and malicious fantasy– made clear to us, that it is time for a transmedia story that reflects these issues.

For us, the most interesting aspect of The Polder is the ambiguity of the digital cloud, the fascination with it, and its dangers.

People today are fascinated by the narrative possibilities of the digital world and by the option to share and link their individual fantasies with those of other people. At the same time the focus always lies in the portrayal of the dangers of these escapist parallel dimensions. The Polder is a dystopia, a counter-utopia, a fictional futuristic story with negative outcomes, infused with lust and imagination. We are interested in gathering these topics in a genre plot that engages with our archaic fears. Inspired by the originality of Japanese genre cinema like Ringu and The Grudge, I mix in the

philosophy and concepts of The Polder with topics from western society.

The transmedia approach - a film, an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) and online platforms - is the essence of the whole project entitled The Polder. The narrative grows from only one seed of a story and uses it for all platforms. To be able to use current smartphone technology for narrative strands is crucial for the ARG. The ARG lets people take advantage of current technologies, but it also brings them together in real urban spaces through theatrical events and interactions. In 2013 we realised three theatrical ARG. Of course we had a special target group in mind, these were young people, techies, gamers, and

In the workshop we will discuss the chances for theatrical and storytelling forms like Polder. Polder was funded with public and private money – and this aspect will be discussed in the workshop, because the funding institutions from Zurich and state (Pro Helvetia) supported the project because of it’s critical potential (analysis of big data, internet-addiction), but private partners like Samsung supported it because the project for them was an ideal platform for branding.

The project has to balance this complex issue and is still doing so, as we are in middle of the release of the Polder movie. We are confronted with the problem that the partner doesn’t want the same thing from The Polder project. We use this conflict in a proactive way, we use it for the content of the storytelling... but is that a solution?

Samuel Schwarz (1971) lives in Zurich. He trained at the Schauspielakademie Zurich and worked as an actor with Schauspielhaus Zürich (in performances of B. Besson and P. Palitzsch, an important BrechtImpact). He founded his own theatre-group 400asa in 1999.

He has worked as a director with big theatres in Bochum, Hamburg, Basel, Berlin (Maxim Gorki Theater) and Maribor. In 1999 he directed the film Eden (with R. Signorell) and Aufstand der Unanständigen in 2002 (400asa/3Sat with Ch. Kohler). In 2003 he produced Ein Tor für die Revolution (400asa/SFDRS). Schwarz founded Kamm(m)acher Ltd in 2006 as the cinematic arm of 400asa. Since then he developed the company towards transmedia-productions.

In 2010/11 he produced and directed Kamm(m)acher’s first film Mary & Johnny.

2013 - 15 he created Polder, a transmedia experience. www.derpolder.com

37 | Creative Forum SAMUEL SCHWARZ

people who use the big brands like Google, Facebook, and Apple. In 2015 we will release the movie of Polder and will mix the movierelease with other ARGs.

38 MY DIGITAL ADDICTION I love taking pictures with my phone, and I take a lot of them. Over the last few years I have been experimenting with many different apps for photo editing. Apps that give me possibilities for combine photos creatively with text and emoji to make collages. Apps that with using slide bar adjustments or automatic one-touch fixes let me make better looking pictures. Cut and paste apps, which give me options to rearrange more photos in one. And apps with templates, stickers, borders and photo corners I can edit onto my pictures. To investigate how I can totally shift the atmosphere in a picture, refocus, zoom in and make playful looks, is something I spend a lot of time doing. Just by operating my phone I can now make a birthday card, invitations, photo books, programs, theater posters and so on.

Lots of the photos I also post on Facebook and Instagram. Photos have become my main way of sharing on social networks.

Marit Wergeland-Yates (Professor University of Agder, Kristiansand, NO)

MY DIGITAL ADDICTION Every morning and throughout the day I read Netvibes.com, a news aggregator you can personalise with RSS feeds that you choose. I have 5 dongles with 5 to 10 websites each: News, Video, Computer, Sciences, Art and Design.

I have Facebook with a pro account for Collectif Le Nomade Village, it is used for 2 purposes: to promote the Collective and read news from other sources.

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I use the Internet frequently to learn about new techniques and gear: tutorials!!!

My favourite devices: I pad, Hackintosh, and my digital camera.

And everything on Arduino world!! I ‘m obsessed by most powerful computer graphics cards, as it’s very useful for video computing.

Philippe Domengie (Digital Artist, Collectif Le Nomade Village, Marseille, FR)

39 | My Digital Addiction

I always use my emails and read a lot of Wikipedia.

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In order to develop our audiences we must produce work for them.

Theatre is a real life manufacturer of practical work; the creation of new artistic products is at the heart of our artistic vision.

This is reflected in the central place the creation of new work has within PLATFORM shift+. We believe in the unique nature of theatre as a live medium. We do not intend to replace “real theatre” by theatre on the Internet, but as a means for us to discover new

ways to portray young people’s reality live on stage. Everything we learn about digital technology and discover from European colleagues and young advisors flows back into the creation of artistic products.

As part of the project plays/ concepts/ (co-) productions will be developed by all theatres on a national, bi-national and international level. Within the four years each theatre guarantees the production of at least four shows.

The PLATFORM shift+ - production programme started with an Artistic Kick-Off meeting in Budweis (CZ) to bring together writers/directors/theatre makers/video artists from each theatre for a common briefing on the processes for the National

Each theatre has the freedom to adopt its own approach within different themes.

PLATFORM shift+ focuses on the creation of short plays/concepts (20-30 minutes) to maximise the range of work that can be practically achieved. This will also make experiments with digital technology more possible.

Since November 2014 11 new developed short plays/concepts, based on research among young people, were developed.

They will be presented at the 1st Annual Encounter in Palmela (PT) in June 2015.

Each company will choose from the pool two more plays/concepts to integrate them in the own National Production.

They complete show will be produced in the season 2015/16 and partly presented at the 2nd PLATFORM shift + - Annual Encounter in Budapest (HU), June 2016.

41 | Concepts for National Productions

The National Production is in the focus of the first project period.

Production. The artists were required to engage with young people to gather themes for new plays/concepts in new aesthetics. New performative models were encouraged alongside the traditional text-based play to reflect the growing importance of non-written, conceptual work in contemporary theatre. Opportunities to merge these new aesthetics with digital technology will be supported. Site specific -, public space - and other innovative theatre will be explored to discover artistic links with the open and participative nature of digital technology.

Running on the Cracks Jessica Henwick (credit John Johnston)

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We see the child laughing on the video, but it is not her laugh, it has been stolen from another time. The child is no longer here.

PILOT THEATRE COMPANY (YORK/GREAT BRITAIN)

Running on th e Cracks Jessica Henwick (credit John Jo hnston)

GREEN / AMBER / RED Amber is stuck in her room. She is stuck there like insects in sap as the fluid slowly oozes round and traps them. She is 21 and lives her life in this room. She is different things to different people, and we see and hear different voices as she reacts and responds to the chatter and messages that bombard her on screens, on phones, and in her head. She has different identities and knows when and how to use them. She knows how to operate in this space.

Together with Amber, we piece together the threads from the diverse stories and conversations, the texts, the selfies, and videos that she collects, shares, and plays.

We see, hear, and contribute in live conversations with Amber, discovering why she is still in the room, why she is intent on revenge, and why she can no longer listen to the sound of children’s laughter. She just needs to wait for the right call. The right contact. She needs to hear his voice one more time.

Blood and Chocolate (credit John Saunders)

43 | Pilot Theatre YORK, GREAT BRITAIN

WITH NEW TEXT WRITTEN BY ROY WILLIAMS / EMTEAZ HUSSAIN / MARCUS ROMER

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LIVENESS The timeline is live. Amber is live. The drama will unfold in real-time, therefore the conversations are also live and we can bring characters into the space from both within the building or beyond via live streaming.

We want to examine and explore what it is like to be in that ‘liminal’ space between on and offline, between real and virtual, and to play this out as part of the story. As part of this, Amber is also online via a cam connection so that she can receive live information from people watching both online and on TV.

These are messages which we can scroll through and monitor, and she can choose to interact with them within the drama’s narrative framework. We will build in an airlock of time where these can be brought centre-screen to be replied to, ignored, deleted, or blocked. Some of these can be planned and timed and some can be random questions and answers. The drama will unfold as per scripted narrative and some backgrounds and locations can be swapped or replaced depending on the activity.

All of this will develop in real-time, merging an innovative exploration of form and technology with an engaging and relevant narrative to produce a unique cross-platform event.

This is not a whodunnit - it is a ‘whydunnit’ where we can discover through the threads of conversations, the shards and fragments of the past, how we can rebuild the narrative back together with the help of Amber, her friends, and her online community of friends and past enemies.

The Knife That Killed Me (credit Stuart Ord)

45 | Pilot Theatre YORK, GREAT BRITAIN

Image taken from shutterstock.com

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HUMANS FROM SOKOLSKÝ ISLAND We approached a group of high school students from Ceské Budejovice (all knew each other through a school theatre class) and asked them if they were interested in working on a production that would be part of the repertoire in the next season. The assignment was: the content and form of your production is exclusively up to you. We will put into effect whatever you come up with or we dream of. During the staging of the production our theatre will be in your hands.

After a few sessions the team of young creators stabilized to a group of 6-7 students aged from 17-18 years old. Though it was not intentional, it should be said, that it was the older students from the original group that came to form the team. Proposals for acting workshops or activities during which the students themselves would become actors weren’t popular. They saw themselves much rather in the position of authors/ dramaturges/ philosophers.

ˇ ˇ 47 | South Bohemian Theatre CESKE BUDEJOVICE, CZECH REPUBLIC

SOUTH BOHEMIAN THEATRE (CESKÉ BUDEJOVICE/CZECH REPUBLIC)

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The first part of the brainstorming focused on the topic “theatre I would really like to see” revolved around the external form. The students searched for examples of productions that had fascinated them in one way or another. We discussed the division of stage and auditorium space, improvisation, engagement of the online world, life screening, digital devices etc.

We found inspiration on the Facebook page “Humans of New York” (humansofnewyork.com), which was established by a photographer who takes pictures of random people in his city. These pictures along with answers to some - often quite personal - questions become individual

posts on the page. We decided to use this concept and to apply it to our town. In the middle of Ceské Budejovice, there is the Sokolsky (Eagel) Island park, the centre and meeting point for our town’s young generation. On an almost daily basis, the students surveyed their peers who spent their free time there. They explained our project to everyone, and asked for permission to take his/her picture, and have a conversation. They aimed to learn something personal about the individual that he/she doesn’t commonly reveal. If a person didn’t want to publicly link a piece of information with his/her picture, it would not be published. The purpose of the project is to use the collected material and create a theatre collage of the young generation living in Ceské Budejovice and people who regularly spend their time on Sokolsky Island.

We are fascinated by the idea that we could come to the theatre and hear our own story on stage, even if in just a few sentences. We are also considering whether to stage the production on the Sokolsky Island. It would be a production by teenagers for teenagers, from Sokolsky Island on Sokolsky Island.

This is the current state of the project.

We are collecting material and having conversations with the young generation of our town on the territory they occupy.

Half a year of work is still ahead of us.

ˇ ˇ 49 | South Bohemian Theatre CESKE BUDEJOVICE, CZECH REPUBLIC

The outcomes of the debates had one common denominator: we came to describe it as “the highest ability of the spectator to influence the production process.” We established this as the goal that every group member would sign off on. We will specify this task in more detail later. From the beginning we had little success in breaking down personal boundaries and getting the students open up to tell us something personal. Therefore, we made the decision to give them the role of documentarians rather than objects of the documentary.

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Elsinor has been working, these last few months, on several theatre workshops, in different cities, with different kinds of processes. Some were oriented towards creating performances, others to develop plays. From these works, there emerged stories of bullies, fake marriages on the beach, first experiences of flying, horror movie-like scenes in cemeteries, imaginative rewritings of classic stories...

Among others: #suddenlyIcanchoose Like an eternally repeating movie, the story of Romeo and Juliet has been told in the same way again and again for centuries. One day, though, something goes wrong (or finally right?) and the Shakespearian heroin is free to choose her own destiny. That's the difficult part: freedom puts us in front of big responsibilities, first of all to our own selves and the responsibility of building up our life – exactly what happens when we pass from

childhood to adulthood and the age to make decisions for our existence. #whatsapp&discordia Following a pattern that has generated many images on the web, Whatsapp is investigated as a microcosm where dynamics that are typical of interpersonal relationships are reproduced. Our mythic story is set in the modern day, and is used to show how these ways of communication work. Directly from Homer to us, “Turn off your mobile phone and fight, you coward!”

51 | Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione MILAN, FORLÌ, FLORENCE, ITALY

ELSINOR TEATRO STABILE D’INNOVAZIONE (MILAN, FORLÌ, FLORENCE/ITALY)

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#lostinthewoods A group of youngsters get lost in the woods, but their smart phone tools happen to be a great help in finding the right path – as long as the phone battery is charged... The group getting lost is also an opportunity to develop and change the relationships among the participants on the journey. #awayfromhere Unhappy with his social life, a boy takes refuge on the web, replacing real relationships with virtual ones. The web is not a bed of roses though, and can hide unwelcome surprises that can pass from digital to real life.

#thewhiterose A series of workshops outside of our national borders became the starting point for the creation of a show that saw the alternation on stage of real scenes and videos. The audience that wanted to watch the class groups were not there during the trip but the groups wanted to show their work when they arrived back home, the result showed a part of what happened in the places where the scenes where created. #alightfromtheshadowsshallspring Images as a starting point for creating – both text and physical actions. Trust, conflict, beauty, search, obligation, sharing, betrayal, respect, sacrifice: these were the topics extrapolated by the participants from the

series of frescos in the beautiful Cappella Farfense, that were translated into words and movement.

The texts were devised by the group sharing material on Facebook, whereas the physical actions were created in the 'real world' workshop.

The work is still in progress and it will be the base for the concept of the production that will be created in the Spring of 2016.

53 | Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione MILAN, FORLÌ, FLORENCE, ITALY

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THE STREET ARTS ACADEMY The Street Arts Academy is a performance ensemble made up of participants aged 13-19. EEA runs weekly laboratory workshops that combine visual and performing arts to make unexpected art moments, events, performances and installations happen in the spaces where the participants live, learn, work and play.

In the past the group has devised and performed for public events and festivals in streets and open spaces for passing audiences. In these circumstances the

group has responded to a brief or a theme for the event such as the Tall Ships Festival in Greenwich, London, last summer.

This term the focus of the Street Arts Academy has been to explore what digital means to young people in a technological world. Lead by Associate Artists Alex Evans and Lisa Hayes, the group has explored their use of the internet. We have discovered that our young Londoners feel that Facebook has become irrelevant and most of their social

networking is achieved via speedier more instant programmes. We know the group well and some of them have been members of our young company for over six years.

They attend the sessions for a variety of reasons – it provides both a creative and a social outlet and some are prepared to travel across London to attend on a regular basis.

It wasn’t surprising therefore that they were prepared to share some of their personal and sometimes negative experiences on social networks.

55 | Emergency Exit Arts LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN

EMERGENCY EXIT ARTS (LONDON/GREAT BRITAIN)

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This led to several short improvised narratives being explored about cyber bullying and engagement with adult sites.

However as an outdoor arts company we asked our young people to explore how we might use digital media for engaging the public in street performances. Some of this was explored through physicalizing the Internet and becoming human search engines.

through holding videos on mobile phone screens of talking mouths or eyes onto their faces. Pre-recorded conversations take place between the participants wearing the digital masks. The group have started to use this form on the environment and inanimate objects, which has opened up various possibilities of applying digital arts to their work in public outdoor spaces.

In addition to this the Street Arts Academy has been playing with projection and live streaming, looking at the interactivity of technology and the aesthetic it creates.

Emerging from this playful. Improvisatory process the group has started to streamline their ideas into specific areas of interest, the first being digital masks that are created

The devices allow the landscape to be animated and create opportunities for promenade performance where the audience discovers narrative through the use of the technology as the key to unlocking the next chapter of action.

Currently the group is re-telling familiar children’s stories, such as Grimm’s Hansel and Gretel, and contemporising the narrative. The Gretel character leaves home in search of her Internet ‘friend’. Her journey leads her into danger but along the way she leaves a ‘digital’ trail of messages, videos and emoticons that help us to find her.

57 | Emergency Exit Arts LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN

The playfulness of this led to several humorous sketches. The group has recently been producing narratives and exploring succinct storytelling using a series of short videos through a phone app called Vine.

Exploring the world of Vine has given the group opportunities to see the work of international artists and some have been inspired to create artistic responses.

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˝ (teacher and I. Katalin Gyori playwright): 34 students have started working on the project, and their short films will be done by the beginning of May 2015. They have also created an Internet “dictionary” together.

Project sheet – Part 1 Choose one of the four developed scenarios. Write an opening dialogue in English (minimum 2, maximum 3 A4 pages) using the given characters, as if it was the first scene of a film. Don't write any instructions or director's notes, JUST the dialogue.

Project sheet – Part 2 Create a fake Facebook page for your character IN ENGLISH (with as many details and info as you can), and send me a friend request.

Project sheet – Part 3 Choose two other people from the group (one of them will be the director and the cameraman, the other will be the actor or actress), and shoot ONE out of your three scenes. Make it as professional as you can.

Please list all the participants of your film.

Hand in your film on a memory stick.

Do not forget to back up your work!!!

59 | Kolibri Theatre BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

KOLIBRI THEATRE (BUDAPEST, HUNGARY)

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II. Sári Oláh-Horváth (playwright, stage director) – Péter Horváth (playwright, dramaturge): Sári started working with young people in Targu Mures (Romania), who are editing the Youth program of the Transylvanian Radio station. Their topics were: how to make a radio-program, what it means for them to be part of an ethnic minority (Hungarians in Romania) and communication on the internet.

The theme of her play, 'Hamlet's Breakfast' was invented based on their ideas (manipulation, identity, loneliness on the internet) with the help of Péter.

Hamlet (16) is about to break into the world of rappers and break-dancers. He uploads his latest video on YouTube.

Soon after that, he is injured badly in a motorbike accident and is now disabled.

Ophelia (18) finds his song on the internet and hopes to save her declining X-Factor career with him.

She is trying to get in contact with Hamlet but to no effect...

III. István Tasnádi (playwright) – Gyuri Vidovszky (stage director, drama pedagogue) The work started in a Budapest secondary school (Nemes Nagy Ágnes) with 30 students at the beginning of 2015. After their first meeting, the students created a Facebook Group page to share their ideas and themes for the project.

The story is about a cyber-relationship between a deaf Hungarian girl and an Albanian refugee. The story – which is packed with twists – is about a relationship in which the characters can only show their true personalities through the Internet. The show would use different techniques including interactive image and sound projection to express how it feels to be deaf.

IV. Márton Kiss (playwright and director): Márton is working on the topics of TeenSafe and Cleverbot.

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Decisions about the presented themes will be made by Artistic Director János Novák, dramaturge Péter Horváth and György Vidovszky, director of the national play by mid May, 2015.

61 | Kolibri Theatre BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

The topic of their potential play came from different sources, but it will be tested and developed together with the students and a deaf friend of theirs.

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THEATRE MASSALIA (MARSEILLE/FRANCE)

We gathered seven teenagers for the project, most of whom were around 15 years old and arranged workshops with them about once a month. The first of the workshops were lead by the writer Karin Serres.

In our first workshop, Karin proposed some exercises in order to ‘wake up’ the group’s imagination. The group became like a writing laboratory where personal drafts and writing were spoken out loud, discussed and shared.

Everyone there had to play by the workshop

rules and share, including Massalia’s team.

The main idea was to get to know each other by doing different things around the words, in order, step by step, to find a possible common territory.

We also chose small objects Karin had brought, to write about a character composed from the objects: Whom could they belong to? He / she had to have a super-power which we had to imagine.

Karin showed us some pictures she had taken in La Friche at night; we chose the ones we felt a connection with to write a story, focusing on sensorial details. Some of the short stories were poetic, others were fantastic or funny.

After that last writing exercise, we looked at some petrol platform pictures Karin had brought, and began to discuss as a group what they could look like in a story. Most of the young people found them very inspiring as bases for fantastic, futuristic stories.

63 | Theatre Massalia MARSEILLE, FRANCE

THE GIRL FROM PLATFORMS

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At the end of the first workshop, we shared the short play-lists of the young people’s own culture.

The elements were as diverse as our young team: Kipling, mangas, Fra Angelico, a joke book, different songs... This was put in our common territory too.

One month later, we held a 2nd workshop which developed on the characters we had imagined the first time. We begun by reading some stories or poems written by the young people, then we went outside and made chalk drawings of our heroes on the walls.

We also read and discussed the first draft of Karin Serres’ text, from its form to its story.

The young people were very fond of it, especially the fact that the characters weren’t named (so far).

They enjoyed the mix of mystery, real life and fun they had asked for, and the title.

We also talked about the posts on Facebook Karin aka Diego de la Vega had been doing from Day One, as an attempt to create fiction with her real life. Karin sent them by e-mail, 5 by 5, some of the young people read them regularly and sometimes all together, which changed the perception they had of it.

At the same time Karin Serres had been writing a text based on all we had shared with the young people, entitled “The girl from platforms�.

It introduces a group of teenagers talking about a mysterious girl, coming from a platform in the sea, who has spent some time with them, and suddenly disappeared.

Is it a lie or is it true? Is she real or virtual?

What proves her presence?

The Production is being discussed between Philippe Domengie and Karin Serres. It will mix young people and professionals on and around the stage. It will use digital devices to create an environment for the group of characters. Autumn 2015 will be dedicated to new workshops with the young people and preparing the production.

65 | Theatre Massalia MARSEILLE, FRANCE

After talking about the next steps, we decided to use realtimeboard.com to share pictures, sentences that we liked and all the elements we were going to create. It became our main tool to keep connected, but the workshops also went on, mainly with Philippe Domengie.

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TEATRO O BANDO (PALMELA/PORTUGAL)

We no longer wait. In the moments where nothing is happening, a button emerges and a screen turns on.

After carrying out workshops with young people from the Drama Club of the Secondary School of Palmela, our counselors in digital technology and artistic research, we thought that Communitary Theatre Group As Avozinhas (The Grammas) were the perfect ally to help us think about this digital world. With them we began questioning how teenagers and elders interact, questioning

our dependence of technology, questioning our amusement, our needs, our will to mumble and to scream. What if we could knit through a keypad? What if we could send everyday text messages inside bottles?

The clash between different generations leads us to an aesthetic idea of absurdity and humour. And what if we have white sheets of paper inside our cell phones?

We no longer wait. Waiting for the bus to come, waiting for the store to open, waiting for the school to burn. A button emerges.

What if all of this was possible? What if possible and impossible mingle and dissolve?

What if the wave appears? What if the big fire rises? What if technology dies from natural death? Did we fear it so much that we ended up desiring it?

67 | Teatro O Bando PALMELA, PORTUGAL

TEAM BUTTON

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“

The first workshops, attended by young people aged between fourteen and sixteen years old, tried to analyze the content of the messages sent and received in different social networks that the students used.

We no longer wait. But here, in Vale dos Barris, Palmela, we await you all, with our open stages and our open hands, looking for an Annual Meeting that can be an important stop in this path of ours, helping us and deepening our future work. We no longer wait. A button emerges.

69 | Teatro O Bando PALMELA, PORTUGAL

Then, we tried to divide and classify this content into different categories and crossed it with content derived from the workshops with women aged between sixty and seventy years old. This brought us new information and new ideas. Are we always saying the same thing? Will we think differently in fifty years? How did those thoughts crossed our minds for a moment?

How can you look behind us, look ahead of us, and still find ourselves?

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I’m sorry that I’m telling you by WhatsApp, but I have decided to concentrate only on me, the school, and sports in the next few months.

A PROJECT ON THE BREAKUP IN THE DIGITAL AGE (WORKING TITLE) Breaking up hurts. It hurts for both people, for the one who is confronted with the conclusion as well as the person that ends the relationship. Breaking up has reached a new dimension in the age of digital media and social networks.

Until a few years ago, the one who ended a relationship by SMS was pictured as an insensitive lout. Today the German Knigge Society gives it a green light on social networks.

Even though someone says "It's over", it is usually far from over. How fast can you change the relationship status without offending the ex-partner? Does "Let’s be friends!" apply for Facebook and WhatsApp as well? How do you get the ex-partner to clear the photos from their timeline? In school you can avoid them, but online it is difficult to lose sight of each other.

Social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram have changed the way we communicate.

Whether we laugh out loud (LOL: Loughing out loud), are horrified (OMG: Oh my God) or apologize (Sry: Sorry) - there is a suitable standard abbreviation for the range of our emotions.

A growing army of smileys illustrate our feelings and indicate whether we are in love, sad, or just tired.

71 | tjg. Theater Junge Generation DRESDEN, GERMANY

tjg. THEATER JUNGE GENERATION (DRESDEN/GERMANY)

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“

We want to examine how these forms of communication affect our relationships and what is the best way to break up in the jungle of social networks. We will do this with “A project on the breakup in the digital age. Susanne Zaun, Director

Together with our PLATFORM shift+ schools, we will explore what theatre in the digital age could be, what digital media offers contemporary theatre, and how can you use it to negotiate personal issues.

Together, they will develop and research texts, and collect videos. The results will be incorporated into the development of the play "A project on the breakup in the digital age”.

At the start of this three-year partnership, the young people share their professional expertise and experience about digital media and relationships. They will question what relationships exist on the web, how they are maintained, and how they are terminated.

In parallel, the young people are working on a video-based three-year future research project. In interviews, the students ask questions to their own future self. As part of the PLATFORM shift + Festival 2018, the young people will face their own questions and create platforms for answers, further

questions, and discussions with the help of theatre and digital media.

Julia Kuzminska, theatre educator

73 | tjg. Theater Junge Generation DRESDEN, GERMANY

74

VAT TEATER (TALLINN/ESTONIA)

To find the most burning issues, VAT started visiting schools to have meetings and deliver workshops with students.

We combined already existing educational workshops (Playwriting, Storytelling, Forum Theatre, Media in Our Life, Youngsters in Virtual World) with new ones to give the students different possibilities for engaging themselves in the topic of the internet.

For example, the workshop “Youngsters in Virtual World” took place with a group of

students discussing different aspects of the internet and their connection to it.

After that, they had the workshop “Playwriting”, where we looked at the ways that they could translate their feelings and ideas about the topic into a dramatic form.

The workshops took place from March to April 2015. We met with some groups once, but two school groups had continuous workshops and we plan to further our cooperation with them in the future.

As expected, the interest of the students varied on a broad scale. Still, one theme emerged again and again: a rumour about the existence of a particular Web Demon.

We created a Facebook group “Veebinaudid” (Astronauts of the Web) to exchange these ideas with the students. We played through some of the situations when this demon emerges (e.g. in viral posts or chain mail), but we never got really close to the core of this anomaly – some invisible force kept us away.

75 | VAT Teater TALLINN, ESTONIA

VAT TEATER AIMS TO SOLVE AN ANCIENT WEB-MYSTERY

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We found it especially interesting that they had no answer to the question “Who did they sign the pact with?” Was it the parents who nowadays use web-time as a new currency with their children? Or friends, who increasingly demand to interact primarily through the internet? Was it the web itself?

But what or who is the ‘web’? Or are they too embarrassed to tell us? But why?

So it seems to us that finding out who this Web Demon is, helps us to clear out a lot of questions about the relationships we have with and on the internet. For that purpose, we deiced to provoke this faceless entity by putting it inside a story - there is a saying in Estonia, that when you once have been put into a song, you never get out.

And we even raise the stakes by starting a manhunt on the Web Demon inside the story. Two investigators, Armadillo and Penguin, are assigned to solve a dreadful murder and every sign points towards something intranatural (the supernatural online). Even though Penguin seems skeptical, Armadillo is intrigued right away and starts a quest into the lowest layers of

the web with a growing obsession to prove to the whole world that the Web Demon does exist – even when everybody else tries to convince him of the opposite.

This story is a mix of film noir, Angry Birds, Lion King, and classical teen angst.

Mihkel Seeder (dramaturge)

77 | VAT Teater TALLINN, ESTONIA

The youngsters themselves didn’t have clear answers either. A lot of them felt that they had signed a pact with someone, when they first came into contact with the internet and are now in a way chained to their phones and laptops – and an attempt to run away always ends with a punishment.

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1) Creating a character/ characters in an interactive process.

2) Reaching out to youth and creating a digital path leading to the theatre.

3) Using local “urban legend” as framework.

79 | Teatret Vårt MOLDE, ÅLESUND, NORWAY

TEATRET VÅRT (MOLDE, ÅLESUND/NORWAY)

80 PROLOGUE: In 1904 the entire city of Ålesund burned down. A blazing fire consumed the picturesque city of wooden houses in a single night, and at the break of dawn the sun rose to one of the biggest civil catastrophes of modern European history.

It was Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany that initiated an international collection to rebuild the city.

And after only 15 years a new city was built according to the latest fashion in architecture. Today the city of Ålesund is on the UNESCO world heritage list as the largest homogenic jugendstyle urban location in the world. One of the stunning Jugendstyle houses is built as a peoples’ palace and today houses Barneteatret Vårt.

In over 100 years the people of Ålesund have laughed, danced, and fallen in love in this house and their lives and stories are part of it. It is a quirky house, with dark corners

and creaking floors. Is someone tiptoeing through the corridors in the night time? ...

CAN YOU FEEL ME? You just feel it. Something is wrong. Old postcards keep falling out of books in the library. Strange scribbles all over them. They smell of smoke and fire, and there is a chill running down your spine when you discover that there is some kind of system there. That someone is reaching out to you, calling for your help. Something looks like a webaddress. You type it into a computer, just for the fun of it, and get goose bumps all over when this mysterious website with burned pages offers just one clue to take you further down the line of discovering and befriending…who?

CAN YOU SEE ME? One clue leads to another and soon you are solving small puzzles or running around in your village trying to find exact coordinates

that contain further clues. You find more and more codes that enable you to see more and more pages in the burned family album on the website. Soon pictures appear. It is a girl of your age. But she is coming from another time. IT IS A GHOST. She lives at a theatre.

CAN YOU HEAR ME? Eventually more and more pictures appear.

And suddenly small films and sound files are accessible. You are getting to know this character’s voice. You and your friends are spending afternoons gathering codes and filling in answers on the website. Your feedback seems to direct the development of the character in this or that direction.

CAN YOU MEET ME? You’ve solved the mystery. Like many other groups of kids all over the region you have spent your time finding out about the ghost and her whereabouts. You’re a success. And you are invited to a great performance at the house of the Ghost.

“

Eventually more and more pictures appear.

And suddenly small films and sound files are accessible. You are getting to know this character’s voice.

81 | Teatret Vårt MOLDE, ÅLESUND, NORWAY

CAN YOU TALK TO ME? You reach the next level. You get an appointment with the ghost. A live Skype meeting to get your final instructions.

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“

The theatre students say: When we first got together we decided that we would start an Instagram account so that people could see what we were working on. However, before we could open an Instagram account, we had to come up with a name for our little theatre group. We all agreed on Alveol, a name for the place in the body where blood meets oxygen.

UNIVERSITY OF AGDER (KRISTIANSAND/NORWAY)

One of our first tasks was to meet with a class of 17-year-olds and talk with them about the use of technology. During the session they were asked to hand in their phones. Then, when they had a quick break, they wanted them back and asked “But what are we going to do now? Do we have to talk to each other?” We later discovered that this question would inspire us a lot.

We started thinking about things that you can’t do over the Internet, like touching, and from here we started working physically to

explore how we could communicate with our bodies or without words. This is when we started exploring acrobatics, and since we’re not exactly acrobats, we got help from our teacher.

In the following days we did a lot of different exercises, like making each other laugh without words. We did this to observe how people reacted to body language and facial expressions. One exercise that we used a lot was improvised movement to music were we reacted to each other and

had a simultaneous growth in energy.

This helped us connect with our bodies without words.

We all agreed that we didn’t want to have any clear character or roles on stage. We wanted to portray the people as a whole instead of as individuals. But there is a scene that’s in a kind of different style. It is the only one where we speak and it’s also partially improvised.

83 | University of Agder KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY

SAFELY DETACHED

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Everything that is projected on the screen, the floor or us, has different purposes and effects. One of the films on the screen is there to amplify what is happening on stage, while another is there to create fictional additional space. In the start we have a compilation of sounds and images to portray how fast and hectic our modern digital communication is, and then at the end when we have removed all of the technology and stimuli we show how vulnerable and exposed we are without our technological shields.

The multimedia students say: As the technical part of Alveol we have been working alongside the theatre students from the beginning. We did research on what kind of media or technical devices we could use in the play. We’ve been testing different things, from light and sound controlled by the actors’ movement, to filming live, using pocket projectors and fogscreen. There was a lot of trying and failing, and while the play was evolving we decided to use GoPro, Wirecast and pocket projectors.

The play has six scenes that each have a technical input. While the theatre students were making the content, they would present ideas that they thought would be suitable for each scene, and we would work on it and see if it was possible.

We’re aiming to find out how the actors react when we take away their technology bit by bit.

We are always on the stage in a ‘technician’s booth’ where we work with light, sound, and video, but we also sometimes interact with the actors on stage.

Randi Sofie Gundersen Elin Sørli Marte Ø. Knutsen Jenny Drevland Katrine Breievne Torp Tale Futtrup Solfjeld Artistic Leadership Marit Wergeland-Yates and Merete Elnan

85 | University of Agder KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY

We wanted to have a scene where we felt the audience could breathe a little, since the rest of our play is more abstract.

86 ANNUAL ENCOUNTER - WORKSHOP

ACTOR’S CONSCIENCE ON STAGE

BY JOÃO BRITES (TEATRO O BANDO) O Bando's theatre training offers a way of sharing knowledge and experience with practical and theoretical reflections. It is also an answer to the growing demand from acting schools, professional actors, and audiences, for a creative methodology that enhances their own creativity and training methods.

The course is a pedagogical result of 40 years of O Bando's artistic vision. It is built on a theoretical foundation that reflects the actor’s capacity to exercise, in real time, the domain over the expression plans (interiority, orality, corporality), enhancing awareness over technical possibilities, artistic virtuosity, and recurrent characteristics.

Building a specific theatrical language within the actor’s work has been João Brites’ labour for over 24 years. As founding member and artistic director of Teatro O Bando, he was also an Actors Teacher at the Lisbon Theatre and Cinema College, where he was able to bond concept and learning techniques to methodology, methods and pedagogical sensibility.

The course is based on systematized speech supported by a theoretical and practical consistency and does not endeavour to become a specific aesthetic format. The full training is 175 hours long and composed of 7 modules (25 hours each) organized sequentially: Theatricality; Time-Presence

Dilation; Expression Plans; Graduations; Intermediate Character; Building a Character; Automatism; and Management.

In the training session within this PLATFORM Shift+ Annual Encounter we will be working on the Graduation of the Expression Plans.

The actors will be challenged to test their already built characters by applying different grades of expression to them. Can one control a character's grade of expression so that a theatre built character may seem coherent in a cinema screen? Can a realist style character exist in a grotesque street play?

ANNUAL ENCOUNTER - WORKSHOP

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT IS...

•

Creating opportunities for participation and engagement with the arts

Increase the amount of content made available to our audiences digitally to expand reach, encourage participation and enhance audience experience

Developing relationships between artists, arts organisations and audiences

•

PLATFORM shift+ will be exploring, sharing and developing how we, as arts organisations and artists across Europe, committed to working with and producing work for and by young people

•

How can we better understand how our audiences engage with us

•

What are the innovative ways we can research and develop our engagement with audiences

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How do we creatively respond to the shifting and changing patterns of behavior in our audiences

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Increase the number of people, particularly young people, we reach through our work

And we will be •

Commissioning and programming new work and texts

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Working in partnerships with each other to realize a shared artistic vision and values to our identified and target audiences of young people

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Offering and developing participatory programmes and digital outreach to increase access and deepen relationships with our audiences

•

Working across a range of online socially networked platforms, creating new models for touring and delivery of work so inspiring and reaching more people

Engage with diverse and new audiences

Through our work we will be asking

Mandy Smith (Producer Pilot Theater)

| KolibriEncounter Theatre BUDAPEST, HUNGARY 8787| Annual - Workshops

Inspiring and reaching more people

88 MY DIGITAL ADDICTION Youtube is my digital Achilles heel! I keep being sucked down a never ending tunnel of recommendations. I tend it use it as my personal juke box. It’s a music utopia, any artist, any song, any genre. When I’m cooking in the evening, YouTube provides my soundtrack.

Ross Bolwell-Williams (Youth Arts Producer, Emergency Exit Arts, London / UK)

When we asked teacher students how their teaching in the intern period had been, they too often answered “OK”. Then we started to use the iPad as a tool for observation. We asked their fellow students to take films, photos and write comments on the iPad, and send it straight away to everybody in the group. It has made a great difference! There was suddenly a lot to discuss and comment on, and they had lots of good questions to ask. “This is what you did, and look at this kid, what she is doing” Gunnar Horn (Professor, University of Agder, Kristiansand, NO)

MY DIGITAL ADDICTION

Spotify – www.spotify.com Two Dots – App Store Guardian Film - theguardian.com/film Deadline Hollywood - http://deadline.com/ Tate Shots - http://www.tate.org.uk Lucy Hammond (Company Administrator, Pilot Theatre, York /UK)

89 | My Digital Addiction

I cannot live without Spotify. Dancing in the kitchen is just not the same without it. I love how it creates your own radio station from the music you like. I am obsessed with the game Two Dots. It’s great for a long train journey and beautifully designed. Guardian Film and Deadline Hollywood are my addiction. I’m always looking for new film trailers and reviews. I want everyone to watch Tate Shots, art is so important and these give you so many new perspectives.

Pilot Theatre in De Grey Rooms (credit Allan Harris)

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PILOT THEATRE COMPANY Pilot Theatre is an international touring theatre company based in York, UK. We devise and develop projects with particular focus on working for and with young audiences. We also work across platforms to produce and distribute work digitally, run training conferences, livestream events and performances, and provide a wide range of online educational resources.

We work with established artists, leading practitioners and diverse teams alongside nurturing young and emergent talent to develop our practice across all our platforms of delivery.

The audiences and communities we aim to reach are reflected by the diverse teams who make and deliver our work across all our platforms of activity.

“

We have delivered a wide range of work over the last few years, including the six-camera livestream of the York Mystery Plays for the Space and specially commissioned plays including Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Running on the Cracks, Blood + Chocolate and more recently the new adaptation of Antigone by playwright Roy Williams.

91 | THEATRES Pilot Theatre Company YORK, GREAT BRITAIN

(YORK/GREAT BRITAIN)

Antigone (credit Robert Day)

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Gamba Cole, Sa vannah Gordon -Liburd (credit Robert Day)

Antigone is Pilot’s reference production for Platform Shift +. It is a modern interpretation of Sophocles’ classic play, written by acclaimed playwright Roy Williams, that transports the story to the underworld of urban London. Directed by Pilot’s artistic director Marcus Romer, the show’s design and direction included the use of digital live-feed projection.

Accompanying the show were a series of post show discussions, workshops for both young people and teachers and extensive online education materials.

Cast Doreene Blackstock, Gamba Cole, Savannah Gordon-Liburd, Luke James, Mark Monero, Sean Sagar, Frieda Thiel, Lloyd Thomas, Oliver Wilson

The final performance was subsequently webcast free of charge. The playtext is available from Pilot, published by Bloomsbury.

Director Marcus Romer

More information on the production can be found at www.pilot-theatre.com/antigone

Sound Designer Sandy Nuttgens

Designer Joanna Scotcher Lighting Designer Alexandra Stafford

Associate Director Tom Bellerby

93 | THEATRES Pilot Theatre Company YORK, GREAT BRITAIN

BY SOPHOCLES ADAPTATION ROY WILLIAMS

South Bohemian Theatre (Small Theatre)

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(CESKE BUDEJOVICE/CZECH REPUBLIC) Small Theatre in Ceské Budejovice is part of South Bohemian Theatre, which consists of four groups. Throughout its history the work of Small Theatre has been focused on young audiences and the various forms and shapes of puppet theatre (not only classical puppetry, but also theatre of objects, masks, physical and street theatre, etc.). In addition to adaptations of classical fairy tales (The Sinful Village of Dalskabáty, Forgotten Devil, Hansel and Gretel, The Animals and the Robbers, Cinderella) and famous works of both Czech and world literature for children and youth (Quixote!, Ronia, the Robber's Daughter, Tom Sawyer, White Fang), more and more original productions have been making their way to the stage in recent years (Etiquette for Rascals, Gulliver’s Travels,

How I was Cyrano, A Hundred Years’ Vacation, About One Little Hedgehog).

In terms of art, the work is always in an unmistakable and distinct style, placing a great emphasis on the components of music and movement within the production. Small Theatre gained great popularity through the project Punch in the Roll: Baby Punk - a musical theatre project that has made a lot of Czech children and their parents go crazy - in the positive sense of the word - over the last six years. Punch in the Roll has produced three separate cabarets and a concert show, released three CDs, and a TV broadcast, performed at a number of important festivals and sold out leading stages including the New Stage of the National Theatre.

During the summer season Small Theatre is going to produce a set of open-air performances (Puss in Boots, A Journey Around the World, Punch in the Roll: We're going to have fun!, Fox Zorro, Baron Munchhausen) in front of the Revolving auditorium in the gardens of the Baroque chateau in Cesky´ Krumlov.

The Revolving auditorium (not "stage!”) ranks among the rarities of the world's theatre architecture.

Since 2014 Petr Hašek has been the artistic director and Janek Lesák the main director of the theatre.

ˇ ˇ 95 | THEATRES South Bohemian Theatre CESKE BUDEJOVICE, CZECH REPUBLIC

SOUTH BOHEMIAN THEATRE

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REFERENCE PRODUCTION

The FILMMAKERS, a production by Small Theater, is designed for audiences from the age of 13+. It gives them a tour through the world of film and film technologies. A tiny, but perfectly equipped film studio is created on stage to show spectators everything that a big movie screen can do. Is it possible to create a high-budget film without cameras and post-production technologies?

The Filmmakers was created as a collective improvisation without a script based on a concept and idea. Each member of the actors’ team is a co-author of the whole production.

BY JANEK LESÁK AND COMPANY

You will see a short, single story on stage.

But you will see it six times as it transforms in film history. Starting with silent movies over to Alfred Hitchcock’s horrors, western movies in sepia, misery of war, sitcom couch, and all the way to space sci-fi.

Cast Denisa Posekaná, Lucie Škodová, Bartolomej Veselý, Jan Hönig, Jan Vejražka, Petr Hubík

In our film-theatre lab you will look under the hood of where all big movies in the world were created. One musician operates the sound design of the whole film history of the world, five actors perform in dozens of roles, 40 costumes with more than a hundred sets and props are used in front of a 2 meter film screen and all completely in 3D!

Music Petr Hubík, Jan Ctvrtník

Director Janek Lesák Set / Costumes Kamil Belohlávek

Animations Tomsa Legierski Dramaturgy Petr Hašek

97 | THEATRES South Bohemian Theatre CZECH REPUBLIC

ˇ FILMAKERI (THE FILMAKERS)

Teatro Sala Fontana, Milan

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(MILAN, FORLÌ, FLORENCE/ITALY) The theatre is a centre of theatrical production and performances. Elsinor specialise in plays and children’s theatre, as well as organising theatrical seasons and training laboratories. These are carried out in three regions which are considered highly influential for Italian theatre: Lombardy, Tuscany, and Emilia Romagna.

Elsinor is represented by Teatro Sala Fontana in Milan, Teatro Cantiere Florida in Florence, and Teatro Giovanni Testori in Forlì.

Elsinor’s driven commitment is focused on the exploration of contemporary theatrical prose, and the exchange and synergies inspired by traditional and new approaches.

“

By diverse forms of collaboration between artists, local governmental institutions, universities and schools, Elsinor offers theatrical training, workshops and special events all over the national territory. An important example of this is the festival of youth theatre “Platform Milano”, created and hosted in Teatro Sala Fontana since 2011.

In collaboration with Teatro del Buratto, Elsinor organizes “Segnali”, one of the most important children’s theatre festivals in Italy.

99 | THEATRES Elsinor Teatro Stabile D’Innovazione MILAN, FORLÌ, FLORENCE, ITALY

ELSINOR TEATRO STABILE D’INNOVAZIONE

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THE LEARNED LADIES

BY MOLIÈRE

The young Clitandro, rejected by Armanda, daughter of Crisalo and Filaminta, wants to marry her sister Enrichetta but Crisalo, who's in favour of the marriage, is under the thumb of his wife Filaminta, a lover of culture and science, who wishes her daughter to marry a "scholar" and mediocre poet, Trissottani.

This man is adored not only by Filaminta but also by the other two 'learned ladies' of the family: Armanda and aunt Belisa.

The contrast between father and mother’s opinions resolves when Aristo, uncle of the girls, falsely announces that Enrichetta’s family is financially ruined.

Trissottani, only interested in marrying a rich heiress withdraws his advances, leaving the way open for Clitandro to pursue Enrichetta.

A satire on academic pretension, showing how “culture is power, and ignorance as well; the learned person is power, and the servant too; tradition is power and innovation is power; the male is power and the female too: because power has no place nor face, it changes aspect and position depending on the one who owns it.” (Cesare Garboli)

Cast Maria Ariis, Stefano Braschi, Marco Cacciola, Federica Fabiani, Miro Landoni, Angelica Leo, Roberto Trifirò, Carlotta Viscovo Director Monica Conti Set/Costumes Domenico Franchi

101 | THEATRES Elsinor Teatro Stabile D’Innovazione MILAN, FORLÌ, FLORENCE, ITALY

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

Emergency Exit Arts in Rothbury Hall

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EMERGENCY EXIT ARTS Emergency Exit Arts creates exciting, theatrical interventions in unexpected places setting the audience and performer free from the constraints of formal or paid for arts. Our way of working leaves space for invention, improvisation and interaction. It is a space where surprise is sought and anything is possible - moments that are shared in the instant and are completely unrepeatable.

Since 1980 we have made culturally diverse work that has engaged thousands of people across the UK in spectacular, celebratory events. Our recent productions include Teavolution, a two person street show

celebrating 100 years of feminist campaigning and Colossus Awakes, a three part fable inspired by scientific innovation featuring pyrotechnics and large scale mechanical puppetry.

Over the past three years EEA has been working with six London venues to deliver Circulate, a three year programme of new circus, dance and live art performances and installations in outdoor public spaces. Our own ‘musical on the move’, Spin Cycle, took the essence of competitive games shows into a performance on the streets and in town centres.

The story tracked a team of competitors on an extreme shopping spree that ended with a challenge to confront our consumerist world.

As part of the Circulate outdoor arts programme across London we nurture new talent and support emerging artists to produce their own productions. As part of this remit we provide a team of creative practitioners from our Street Arts Academy who facilitate opportunities to young people to create their own responses to the annual productions.

103 | THEATRES Emergency Exit Arts LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN

(LONDON/GREAT BRITAIN)

Colossus Awakes; Gravity Fields Festival

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REFERENCE PRODUCTION

In 2015 Imagining the Future… has given EEA and associate artist Alex Evans the opportunity to work in collaboration with digital artists Hellicar & Lewis (www.hellicarandlewis.com). Young participants, age 13 – 17, have been creating content for an interactive experience for the general public. The theme is “the future” and the participants have been imagining what the year 3000 and beyond will look and feel like. Combining visual arts, performance and computer-generated sensory input (Augmented Reality), participants have been inventing characters that they believe could inhabit the future.

These characters and scenic backdrops will be downloaded onto large screens in town centres, shop windows and venue foyers and will appear as a surreal digital reflection of anyone who interacts with the screen.

Unveiling the installation in each area will be our Street Arts Academy performance ensembles who will be animating the public spaces at each installation, creating participatory moments that will entice the public to interact and play with the digital worlds they have created.

Creation by Hellicar & Lewis in association with Alex Evans (EEA) Producer Ross Bolwell-Williams Associated Artists Arji Manuelpillai, Lisa Hayes, Louise du Foremont, Maddi Kludje, Poppy Kay Design & Cast Students from The Albany, Tara Arts, Waterman’s Arts Centre, The Artsdepot, Millfield Arts Centre and Harrow Arts Centre

105 | THEATRES Emergency Exit Arts LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN

REMEMBERING THE FUTURE

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KOLIBRI THEATRE Kolibri started as an alternative puppet theatre in 1992 following the separation from the State Puppet Theatre. Subsidized by the City Council of Budapest, it operates with a permanent company, in which the puppetry and prose sections have become equally important. This is the first children’s theatre in Budapest where each age group can find a performance suitable for their interests and development.

Three venues await the audience each with a particular profile and independent artistic program, thus complementing each other.

The rich repertory is characterized by a variety of genres and responsiveness to what is new.

Ever since he founded Kolibri in 1992, János Novák has been the executive and artistic director of the company.

János Novák is a cellist, composer and director. He produced his most well-known fairy play, Auntie Pepper in 1981. Since then, he’s directed the play in several Hungarian theatres. In December 2014, Kolibri Theatre for Children and Youth will have been performing it for 20 years.

Owing to János Novák’s inventive initiations, Kolibri is a pioneer in establishing new genres in Hungarian children’s and youth theatre by introducing live music on stage, theatre for babies and toddlers, classroom theatre, youth plays, operas, and new adaptations of novels for screenplay and stage.

107 | THEATRES Kolibri Theatre BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

(BUDAPEST/HUNGARY)

108

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

BY SÁRA OLÁH-HORVÁTH

BY HOLGER SCHOBER TRANSLATION KRISTÓF KOVÁCS

The adolescent siblings (a girl and a boy) stay with their mother after the divorce of the parents, so the protected “fourquadrant” family becomes a “three-quarters” single-parent family. Why and how did the split happen? Who is “in charge”? The children and the mother are trying to process the trauma- caused by the divorce – separately. All three of them blame themselves. What does the father think about what happened? He is already absent.

Prize-winning play of Kolibri Theatre’s drama competition shows the personality shaping effects of daily events through truncated scenes.

How does an orphaned boy acquire a family for himself? If he is a good boy and lucky, he will be adopted. If he is not lucky and not even a good boy, he adopts father, mother and sister. Can we be so miserable that we require the pretence of love? Hope dies last – right after the father.

The production – two one-act play which were presented on the 21st of March, 2015 – “Three-quarters” by Sára Oláh-Horváth and “Father Mother Boy Girl” by Holger Schober.

Both plays are suitable for audiences from the age of 14.

Cast Melinda Megyes, Gábor Krausz, Zsófia Boróka Molnár, Tamás Mészáros Director József Tóth Music lead Szilveszter Bornai Dramaturge Péter Horváth Literary consultant Ákos Németh Costume Melinda Megyes Leading technician István Farkas

109 | THEATRES Kolibri Theatre BUDAPEST, HUNGARY

THREEFATHER MOTHER QUARTERS BOY GIRL

110

THEATRE MASSALIA Massalia is situated inside a huge (35 000 m) former tobacco factory in La Friche Belle de Mai, a former industrial wasteland. The office of Massalia is located on the site among 70 different structures and the theater shares five stages with other producers.

The Theatre was created in 1987 and first programmed puppet theatre. It is now dedicated to young audiences. The main activity is programming 20 to 25 shows per year from all artistic disciplines including drama, puppets, dance and circus. Young artists and digital arts are the special focus of each season.

As well as shows, the theatre also delivers educational and artistic activities in schools and the wider community.

Massalia supports other artistic teams in their work with three to four productions developed each year with other producers.

“

Lectures, conferences and workshops are provided for the adults, so they can get familiar with the aesthetics for young audiences.

Massalia works regularly with others cultural structures in Marseille and around.

The theatre also develops an education program for adults, in order to help them in their roles as teachers, social workers, parents etc. to go with children to the theatre, to communicate or to work on artistic topics.

111 | THEATRES Theatre Massalia MARSEILLE, FRANCE

(MARSEILLE/FRANCE)

112

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

LE BRAQUEMARD DU PENDU Alexandre Denis, a circus artist, and Timothé Van der Sten, a technician, invented an exciting new tool for circus two years ago: the wood shoring. This play introduces two characters and uses this new wood shoring tool.

Circus is made using the constant repetition of simple and successful movements. Here it looks like rituals, nonsense rituals. There is no more space and time, no goal, no reality.

It may be a dream or a nightmare, or both...

The two characters don't have any name, past or future. No one knows why they are here. Questions are useless.

Only presence and actions count, for the audience’s enjoyment.

The play is amazing. Sometimes it is slow, because balancing on wood shoring involves a lot of attention to space and rhythm. It is also absurd and of course funny.

It was presented at the end of February in La Friche at theatre Massalia. The young audience liked it a lot and the adults did too: they had fun but they could also see metaphors of some real life situations.

The artistic team also held workshops with two classes of primary schools.

The children were happy to discover some circus techniques and to talk about the show. The performance has two versions, a longer and a shorter performance. We presented the longer show, but the short version has also been very successful and toured both in the south of France and the whole country.

113 | THEATRES Theatre Massalia MARSEILLE, FRANCE

BY LA MONDIALE GÉNÉRALE WITH ALEXANDRE DENIS AND TIMOTHÉ VAN DER STEN

114

TEATRO O BANDO Active since 1974, Teatro O Bando is a major professional traveling theatre company based in Portugal. O Bando is a group that has elected a transfigurative theatrical representation as its aesthetic line, applying it to its art and the way that it relates to society and the community.

The dramaturgic work is also very important: based mainly in works by Portuguese authors (most of the time these are nondramatic works), a written text is subject to the various theatrical forms and languages (scenography, music, actors work, light design) providing it with new meanings and perspectives.

Having created more than 100 performances, O Bando has presented around 4,500 shows to over 1.5 million spectators.

The company goes on seeking for the singularity of their creations, aiming to achieve more daring and unexpected art works. This is the result of a collective methodology, where an expanded artistic direction demands the difference, the interference, the collapse, and the collision of points of view.

Rural or urban, adult or child, learned or popular, national or universal, dramatic, narrative or poetic – these are the borders that Teatro O Bando routinely transcends.

Throughout their journey, the group has been involved in multiple national and international projects, and the touring investment continues to present several shows throughout the country.

After several homes, O Bando is now settled at a Farm in Vale dos Barris, Palmela, where unexpected potential stages can be found.

There, O Bando is waiting for you, always with soup, bread and cheese, Muscatel, and a cosy chat next to the fireplace.

115 | THEATRES Teatro O Bando PALMELA, PORTUGAL

(PALMELA/PORTUGAL)

116

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

EM NOME DA TERRA (IN THE NAME OF THE LAND) The show is directed by Miguel Jesus, a member of O Bando’s board and part of the team for about 10 years. For the latter years he has been directing or co-directing (with João Brites) several of O Bando’s shows.

Travelling along Vergilio Ferreira’s homonymous novel, the actors debate the balancing difficulties before time’s inexorability, galloping over bodies covered with an evil emotional nudity: old age. A show with a strong visual impact, happening outside, where the memories scattered into falling objects and images, sliding on an inclined plane towards the void and outside ourselves.

Em Nome da Terra is a story of love and disintegration. “We are naked from the beginning, with no prior shame. A primitive nudity that we won’t know. Then we will dive on the river’s water. And we will gaze at the clear sky and with no stars. I will lower myself and with cupped fingers. I’ll carry water in my hands. And I will say for all future history: I baptise you in the name of the Land, the stars, and perfection. And you will say: It’s time!”

Dramaturgy/Direction Miguel Jesus With Rui M. Silva, Ana Lúcia Plaminha, Rita Brito, João Neca Scenography Rui Francisco Support to Sceneography Fátima Santos Music Jorge Salgueiro Costumes Clara Bento Light design João Cachulo, Guilherme Noronha

117 | THEATRES Teatro O Bando PALMELA, PORTUGAL

FROM THE HOMONYMOUS NOVEL BY VERGÍLIO FERREIRA

118

(DRESDEN/GERMANY) The theatre operates on three levels, i.e. tjg. acting, tjg. puppet theatre and tjg. theatre academy. It presents over 600 performances every year, making it one of the largest theatres for young audience in Germany.

Since its founding in 1949 tjg. presents performances for children, youth and families on several stages, indoor and outdoor, to about 93,000 visitors each season. Since 2008, the theatre has been successfully led by its artistic director Felicitas Loewe, and is now facing a major challenge in 2016, when it will move to a new site.

Along with other cultural institutions, tjg. will be transforming “Kraftwerk Mitte”, a historic power plant, into a place to be.

The city’s puppet theatre amalgamated with the tjg. in 1997, and celebrated its 60th birthday in 2012. The tjg. theatre academy was founded in 2008 and functions as a research laboratory for theatre educators, as an experimental workshop for children and young people and as a further education centre for teachers and kindergarten teachers.

The festival "Theatre from the Beginning", artistic involvement with the “Theatre for the Youngest Audience”, extensive work of

the tjg. theatre academy, further development of theatre with children and young people, the PLATFORM shift+ partnership and the cooperation with the State Youth Theatre in Hanoi (Vietnam) represent several projects that reflect the ethos of the tjg. The broad assortment offered by its various branches enables tjg. to integrate current trends, such as dance and performance, into its productions in a contemporary way. The cooperation between different cultural institutions and artists, that are active outside of children's and youth theatre, also play an important role.

119 | THEATRES tjg. Theater Junge Generation DRESDEN, GERMANY

tjg.

THEATER JUNGE GENERATION

120

“

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

CASPAR DAVID FRIEDRICH. CONTEMPLATING THE MOON Close your bodily eye so that you see your image with the mind's eye first. Then urge to light what you see in the dark, that it may react upon others from the outside inwards. Caspar David Friedrich

The Atelier. The view from the window.

The picture is created: fog, trees, rocks.

Characters turn their backs on us and look to the nocturnal distance. The painter Caspar David Friedrich, who lived in Dresden from 1798 to 1840, constructed his image landscapes from individual elements of nature.

Director Jo Fabian disassembled and newly composed Friedrich’s painting in his new staging. With his team of eight artists he examined the romantic worldview and invites the spectator via an individual approach and perception of a theatrical image to explore the own inner landscape.

Director, Set, Video, Choreography, Music and Sounds Jo Fabian Costumes Pascale Arndtz Cast Nadine Boske, Erik Brünner, Nahuel Häfliger, Sara Klapp, Iris Pickhard, Ulrike Sperberg, Susan Weilandt, Gregor Wolf

FIRST CONTACT The first time meeting the most important person in your life, without knowing it. The first time coming into a new class and not knowing anyone. The first time meeting your own mother and asking yourself “Who is this woman?” The first time looking into a pair of eyes and knowing that you are in love.

Initial contacts can be properly understood only in retrospect, when we know the lived stories that have emerged from them.

Were we really in love or was it just a brief infatuation? But first encounters throw us back on ourselves, let us understand ourselves better and get to know ourselves in a new way.

This biographical production with young people from tjg. theatre academy, accompanied by two professional actors, gathers stories about first encounters and first contact, in real or in the digital world.

It also deals with the failure of such moments, with misunderstandings and unforeseen consequences of digital communication. Finally, it seeks contact with the audience, because also in the theatre space players and audience meet each other for the first time in this constellation.

Directed by Tabea Hörnlein Sets/Costumes Ulrike Kunze Music Matthias Pick Dramaturgy Ulrike Carl Cast Iris Pickhard, Hanif Idris (actors), Nico Dietrich, Marie Göhler, Lena Höhlich, Theresa König, Jacky-Mathilda Madlung, Julia Metzner, Kristin Richter, Vincent Schober (students)

121 | THEATRES tjg. Theater Junge Generation DRESDEN, GERMANY

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

122

VAT TEATER Formed in Tallinn in 1987, VAT Teater is the oldest independent theatre in Estonia. It has developed its own minimalistic aesthetics.

Their work can be described as theatre minimalism due to their adoption of the principles of epic and physical theatre. VAT follows the simple principle: to do all that is necessary as concisely as possible.

“

VAT stages performances at the National Library Theatre Hall, as well as in other performance venues and cultural institutions. Each year VAT shows approximately 200 performances for more than 20,000 spectators.

VAT is a unique mixture of artistic freedom and social sensitivity. Fifteen people work there, with additional designers, performers, musicians, directors and writers.

The performances have taken the company across the whole of Europe, to Japan, Zimbabwe, USA, and across the polar circle and to the other side of the equator.

VAT is a member of Theatre Association, Association of Performing Arts Institutions, ASSITEJ, Union of Non-profit Associations and Foundations and Association of Free Education in Estonia.

The theatre is led by Executive Director Tiina Rebane and Artistic Director Aare Toikka.

123 | THEATRES VAT Teater TALLINN, ESTONIA

(TALLINN/ESTONIA)

124

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

ESTONIAN HIKIKOMORI

BY TIINA LAANEM

You exist. You cannot help it.

You exist. No one asked you, why? All you can do is somehow justify your existence.

Others expect that, every day. But how to do it... ...if you don't want to leave your room any more because there's no place for you out there. If you are like wallpaper that no one even notices. ...if you live in a country of beautiful people where it's shameful to be ugly, but you are just plain looking, one could even say a little bit ugly, but not ugly enough to seem interesting.

...if you must get your act together but lack the willingness to fight, to break through, to work crazy hours and to burn out by having to surpass yourself on a daily basis. ...if an ancient Estonian fear lives inside you: the fear of making a fool of yourself in front of others. That fear makes you give up on things and rather not try them than to feel the shame brought on by failure. ...if you feel disappointment over not being in control of your destiny; maybe someone else is in control but it is definitely not you. ...if you don't have any plans, not even the tiniest one. Everyone has a plan but you don't.

And yet you considered yourself to be somehow special. They always said you will probably end up as a scientist, a writer or a statesman because you were so sharp and so clever. All the roads were indeed open for you.

Target group: 14+ Director Margo Teder Set/Costumes Liina Unt. Lightning designer Triin Hook Video Artist Rivo Laasi.

Cast Kristiina-Hortensia Port, Martin K천iv and Meelis P천dersoo Premiere March 24, 2015

REFERENCE PRODUCTION

“

A ballet from the beginning of humanity.

The story is one the most renowned creation myths: God creates the man and bestows him the ideal home. Soon God realizes that the man is unhappy in his loneliness and creates him the woman. Their blissful life could last forever, but they overstep the only boundary and taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This is the birth of the first sin, and God is forced to exile the man and the woman from paradise.

This simple and well-known story raises many burning questions. What does the ideal life mean? Would it be a world without sins?

How about responsibility and judgment?

VAT sets off to investigate this story as a ballet. Along with other questions we want to ask what can a drama actor offer to ballet and vice versa?

Director Tanel Saar Choreographer Marge Ehrenbusch Composer Madis Muul Set/Costumes Pille Kose.

Dramaturge Siret Paju Lightning designer Sander Põllu Cast Kristiina-Hortensia Port, Liisa Pulk, Tanel Saar, Ago Soots, Meelis Põdersoo, Martin Kõiv Premiere May 19, 2015

125 | THEATRES VAT Teater TALLINN, ESTONIA

ADAM AND EVE

Teatret V책rt in Plassen in Molde

126

TEATRET VÅRT Since 1972, Teatret Vårt has been one of Norway’s most well respected and influential regional theatres. As a state funded theatre, we aim to produce both modern adaptations of classical drama and newly written Norwegian and European plays, in an attempt to present social responsibility in the modern Norwegian society.

“

In 2009, as a result of our work with children and young people, we were funded to open our children’s theatre, BarneTeatret Vårt, that is now producing work exclusively for children between 2 and 15. The children’s theatre is located in the listed jugend-style building Arbeideren, in Ålesund.

It is our clear vision that the children’s theatre should always investigate various ways of engaging children and young people in all aspects of theatre making.

We are the regional anchor point, telling stories that reflect regional identity as well as providing a window towards Europe that showcases theatre as an art form.

127 | THEATRES Teatret Vårt MOLDE, ÅLESUND, NORWAY

(MOLDE, ÅLESUND/NORWAY)

Heksejagt (The Crucible)

128

CO-PRODUCING

MEETING ON ALL LEVELS Heksejagt (The Crucible) was initiated as an experiment, where professional male actors from Teatret Vårt participated in a production with high school drama students.

The young untamed energy of the “witches” in the play was met with the rigid patriarchs representing the law and the church. The rehearsal period also included meetings with the professional marketing department in Teatret Vårt and the students. The professional theatre makers were listening and learning from the young students.

A fresh look on things (workshop) Whilst preparing the performance Århundrenes Legende (La legende des siècles), the director and stage set designer developed a “tool box” consisting of technical equipment and low cost materials.

Their vision is that the professional actors are producing large landscapes on stage during the performance. We arrange workshops for young people that encourages them to use the same “tool box” to create their landscapes for the same text.

In 2012 we opened a new theatre in Molde.

We now reside in an architectonical regional landmark, where we coexist with 4 of the most important cultural institutions in the region: the communal library; the Regional Centre for Artists, Bjørnson Festival; the Norwegian Festival for International Literature; and Molde International Jazz Festival.

129 | THEATRES Teatret Vårt MOLDE, ÅLESUND, NORWAY

TEATRET VÅRT ENGAGE YOUNG PEOPLE IN THEATRE PRODUCTION IN TWO DIFFERENT WAYS:

130

UNIVERSITY OF AGDER The University of Agder (UiA) is situated on the southern tip of Norway and has locations on two campuses, Kristiansand and Grimstad. It has approximately 11,000 students and 1,000 academic and administrative staff members. It is one of the newest universities in Norway, but its history goes back to 1839.

Students and academic staff from The Theatre Section, as well as from The Multimedia Section, are involved in the PLATFORM shift + project.

The Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts offers bachelors and masters programmes in Drama and Arts education as well as a PhD

programme in “Art in Context�.

The theatre activities have a special emphasize on theatre for young audiences.

Most courses are taught through hands-on drama and theatre work, emphasizing creative performance through various dramatic modes of expression. Most of the work is done in the drama and theatre halls located on campus. Student ensembles tour extensively in a range of settings throughout their studies.

The faculty's academic staff are characterized by a twofold competence, encompassing both artistic and scientific skills. Artistic performance is the key focus

area for many staff members, while other faculty members have a strong expertise in didactics and education.

The Faculty of Fine Arts has a special responsibility for developing a good environment for education and research in the fine arts at the University of Agder. The Department of Scenic and Visual Art deliberately seeks to relate many of its activities to the community and aims to involve and include other cultural institutions in the Agder region, in Norway, as well as internationally in its research and artistic activities.

131 | University of Agder KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY

(KRISTIANSAND/NORWAY)

132

MY DIGITAL ADDICTION

Videos shared have a ‘loop count’ so you can see how many times that particular Vine has been seen. My Vine account is an online space to share my drawing process from my studio. It is uncluttered of daily life and advertising, focused on the interplay between sound and image and shares the clear aesthetic of my detailed geometric drawings of cities.

I have a modest following but I am confident that people follow me because they are genuinely interested in the art I am making, rather than what I ate for lunch. I am not overly interested in my loop count, rather I wish to curate an online space that spreads the experience of making my art and explores the potential interplay between drawing, film and performance.

The Vine community is founded on creativity and positivity. There are some very skilled Viners across the world who are constantly pushing the limits of the format. What emerges is a creative and exciting platform where people get to curate moving images they like into online libraries of sources and inspiration and where the potential to collaborate with creatives across the globe feels limitless and exciting. You can check out my work here: https://vine.co/Alex.Evans.Drawing Alex Evans (Street Arts Academy Lead Artist, Emergency Exit Arts, London / UK) 133 | My Digital Addiction

Since 2013 an ever increasing number of people have been making Vines - 6.4 second looped videos, which are uploaded onto personal and professional accounts. Users can follow, reVine, like or comment on the content (currently totaling 40+ million registered users).

136

ACTIVITIES OF

With three meetings having already taken place since November 2014, PLATFORM shift+ has taken off and the project is underway.

1. Inaugural Meeting in Winchester (UK), 20 – 23 November 2014 The leading institution in PLATFORM shift+, Pilot Theatre (York, GB), invited the network to Winchester, a beautiful town in the south of England, for the inaugural meeting.

Representatives from each of the partnering institutions were given the opportunity to see the touring production of Antigone, directed by Pilot Theatre’s artistic director Marcus Romer.

For three days, artistic and administrative directors from the 11 partner institutions got to know each other.

Artistic director of PLATFORM shift+ Dirk Neldner (GER) presented the details of the project and the participants were given a deeper insight into the artistic concept and financial conditions of the large-scale EU cooperation.

The meeting aimed to answer two key questions: •

•

How can a young audience be meaningfully involved in the research and production of theatre productions?

How can theatre stay attractive for a generation of spectators that have grown up with the influence of the internet?

How can digital and social medias be integrated in theatre productions as an artistic and aesthetic solution?

Each partner was invited to report about the development of their national production and their experiences with engagement work. Examples of best practice were given: Tabea Hornlein, head of the Theaterakademie at tjg Dresden (DE), gave an insight into their production Erstkontakt (First Contact). With youthful energy, students invited by Veronika Riedlbauchová, professor in Prague and educator of the South Bohemian Theatre, presented their idea of a perfect theatre performance.

Director György Vidovszky from Kolibri theatre (HU) introduced us to Cyber Cyrano, an award-winning production made as part of PLATFORM 11+. Video Artist Philippe Domengie (collectif d’ártistes of Marseille, FR) shared his working approach with the European colleagues.

As well as discussing the opportunities and challenges of the upcoming process, the participants began playfully experimenting with digital technologies, especially social media. During the meeting the participants started to communicate through Facebook and Twitter.

This was stimulated by a practical exercise, instructed by Mandy Smith from Pilot Theatre under the title of “Social media as a source to inspire narrative“.

The participants of the meeting also got to know more about the partnering institution, South Bohemian Theatre. Director Lukáš Prudek gave us a tour through the theatre, ˚ which has been operational since 1919 and consists of 3 companies (theatre, dance, opera), and has recently undergone a modern building extension. On the trip to ˇ the baroque town and garden Ceský Krumlov, the partners visited the revolving stage, a very special part of the Bohemian theatre and the unique baroque theatre.

The partners saw the production The sinful village of Dalskabáty or The forgotten Devil, directed by Petr Hašek, artistic leader of Small Theatre - the department for young audiences, which provided an insight into their work.

137 | PLATFORM Shift + Activities

2. Artistic Kick-off Meeting in Budweis (CZ), 15 – 18 January 2015 The development of the National Production is the focus of the first period of the project.

Hosted by the South Bohemian Theatre, artists of different professions and disciplines met in Budweis for 3 days to inspire each other with different inputs about this process and to generate a stimulating initial exchange.

138

3. Advisory Board Meeting in Ålesund / Molde (NO), 10 - 13 April 2015 The heads of the 11 partner institutions met to exchange their starting points for the National Productions. During the presentations it appeared that the conceptual ideas are very varied and already quite thought out. The conditions and requirements for the first Annual Encounter, including the presentation of the concepts of the National Productions, and the Creative Forum were also discussed.

Thomas Bjørnager, artistic director of the hosting Teatret Vårt, invited the participants to its two facilities: Barneteatret Vårt, the department for young audience, located in an historic building in Ålesund and to Plassen, the newly built, highly modern venue in Molde, where Teatret Vårt has been based for 3 years.

At Barneteatret Vårt the partners watched Mannen in pappesken, a production by Andy Manley (GB) for children aged 5+ and family audiences.

The partners were given an idea of the long distances and the isolated little towns that Teatret Vårt has to reach as a regional theatre as they were sailing on a ferry through the fjords from Ålesund to Molde.

139 | PLATFORM Shift + Activities

NOV 2014 APR 2015 SEP 2015 FEB 2016

CREATIVE FORUM 2 BUDAPEST, HU

7TH ANNUAL ENCOUNTER BUDAPEST, HU CO-PRODUCTION EACH THEATRE

DIRECTORS’ WORKSHOP MILAN, IT

YOUTH ENCOUNTER FORLI, IT

NO BOUNDARIES - SHIFT HAPPENS MANCHESTER, UK

NATIONAL PRODUCTION EACH THEATRE

6TH ANNUAL ENCOUNTER PAMELA, PT

CREATIVE FORUM 1 LISBON, PT

ARTISTIC KICK-OFF-MEETING BUDWEIS, CZ

ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MOLDE, NO

INAUGURAL MEETING WINCHESTER, UK

140

JUL 2016

DEC 2016 MAY 2017 OCT 2017 MAR 2018

MID TERM EVALUATION KRISTIANSAND, NO

YOUTH ENCOUNTER MARSEILLE, FR

ACTORS’ WORKSHOP FORLI, IT

FINAL PRODUCTION TOURING IN EUROPE

CREATIVE FORUM 3 TALLINN, EE

EVALUATION MEETING MARSEILLE, FR

CREATIVE FORUM 4*11 11 CITIES IN EUROPE

NEW PARTNERSHIPS LONDON, UK

ADVISORY BOARD MEETING BERLIN, DE

8TH ANNUAL ENCOUNTER DRESDEN, DE

YOUTH ENCOUNTER TALLINN, EE

141 | Project Timeline

AUG 2018

142 MY DIGITAL ADDICTION I’m a huge fan of the singer Evelinn Trouble. I check out her website to see, if she is performing nearby or if she releases a new record. Two years ago I met her in Zurich. A friend of mine introduced me to her and I immediately exclaimed: “You are Evelinn Trouble! Thank you for your music!” She took a step back, and said: “Uhha – yes”. Sometimes it’s better when a fan and an artist just meet at a concert. Since then I have only seen her through evelinntrouble.com and that’s fine.

Hanif Idris (Actor, tjg. Theater Junge Generation, Dresden, GER) Addiction? I just like checking it from time to time: almost every evening, during the weekend to look at the ideas I have collected all through the week. I use it like a board where I can pin images as a reminder of the artistic works I like, DIY projects I plan to do, and inspiration to have in mind when I carry out my plans… It also helps me discover smart ideas and design stuff…

Well, maybe I’m a bit addicted! At least, it takes up less space than my non-digital collections!

Nathalie Dalmasso (PR Théâtre Massalia, Marseille, FR)

MY DIGITAL ADDICTION

The time of record collections is over and now I should examine all my external hard drives and delete everything besides the baby pictures of my children.

We once started building skyscrapers because air didn’t cost a cent.

Now we can upload all our music into the same free air.

Yes, dear collectors, better stick to your butterflies and stamps – music has travelled into the clouds.

Margo Teder (Actor/Director VAT Teater, Tallinn, EE)

“

When I was a child I loved to drag my mother to all the shops of the city searching for a new T-shirt or the umpteenth pair of shoes. When I grew up my mother decided that I was old enough to go shopping alone.

One day while I was loosing time on Facebook, I saw an advertisement about an online shoe shop. I clicked on it and a long page full of pictures of boots and sandals appeared. “Free delivery and returns! It’s gorgeous!” – I thought - At the end of the first month my bank account was empty and my fridge too but my apartment was full of shoes!

Martina Parenti (PR, Teatro Elsinor, Milano,Firence, Forli, IT)

143 | My Digital Addiction

“Do you listen to good music?” – It sounds like an absolutely normal question. To answer it nowadays I could say: “Yes, check my list on Spotify

144 MY DIGITAL ADDICTION My I Pad is my connection to the whole digital world. And it contains everything digital I need, from my addictions to my passions.

3 years ago I started to work with screen recording and web cam recordings on Jing. That changed a lot.

My biggest addiction is, surprisingly, Facebook. I don’t have Twitter.

Thank God!

When I am asked to comment on a text I often answer with a small film or a screen recording, particularly if it is in a foreign language. It takes much less time to give a spoken reaction to a text than to write comments. And the students are satisfied - they find it more personal: “It feels like I am in the room”, and they can listen to it several times if they want or need to.

I tried to quit once. I was doing pretty well for about three months.

I really hadn’t touched it. And no withdrawal symptoms at all :) But then I logged back in because of my job. It was necessary to stay connected. Now I accept Facebook as my daily routine. And as my passion!

There are a bunch of great music Apps! Synthesizers! Loop stations!

Techno machines! I Love it! I have spent a lot of time with these apps.” ´ (Actor, South Bohemian Theatre ˇ Vesely Bartolomej ˇ ˇ (Ceské Budejovice/ CZ)

Gunnar Horn (Professor at University of Agder, Kristiansand, NO)

Jihoceské divadlo ˇ ˇ Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic Director: Lukáš Prudek Doktora Stejskala 424/19, CZ-370 01 ˇ ˇ Ceské Budejovice www.jihoceskedivadlo.cz Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’ Innovazione Milan, Florence, Forlí, Italy Artistic Directors: Giuditta Mingucci, Gianluca Balestra, Rossella Lepore Via Boltraffio 21, IT-2059 Milano www.elsinor.net Emergency Exit Arts London, United Kingdom Artistic Director: Deb Mullins Rothbury Hall, Azof Street, GB-London SE10 OEE www.eea.org.uk

Kolibri Gyermek – és ifjúsági színház Budapest, Hungary Artistic Director: János Novák Jókai tér 10, HU-1061 Budapest www.kolibriszinhaz.hu

VAT Teater Tallinn, Estonia Artistic Director: Aare Toikka Uus 5, EE-10101 Tallinn www.vatteater.ee

ACGD Théâtre Massalia Marseille, France Artistic Director: Emilie Robert, Friche Belle de Mai, 41 rue Jobin, FR – 13331 Marseille cedex 03 www.theatremassalia.com

AS Regionteatret I Møre og Romsdal Teatret Vårt Molde, Norway Artistic Director:Thomas Bjørnager Gørvellplassen 1, NO-6413 Molde ww.teatretvart.no

Teatro O Bando Palmela, Portugal Artistic Director: João Brites Vale dos Barris, PT-2950-055 Palmela www.obando.pt

Universitetet i Agder Kristiansand, Norway Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts: Per Kvist, Gimlemoen 25, NO-4604 Kristiansand www.uia.no

tjg. Theater Junge Generation Dresden, Germany Artistic Director: Felicitas Loewe Meißner Landstrasse 4, D-01157 Dresden www.tjg-dresden.de

ADDRESSES

145 | Addresses

Pilot Theatre Company York, United Kingdom Artistic Director: Marcus Romer c/o York Theatre Royal, St. Leonhard’s Place, York Y01 7HD www.pilot-theatre.com

146

DIGITAL CHALLENGES IN THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES YEARBOOK SEASON 2014/2015 Publisher Dirk Neldner Editor Odette Bereska Layout & Design www.spacecreative.co.uk Printed by Druckhaus Köthen (Germany) | www.koethen.de English Corrections Sam Johnson, Lucy Hammond Picture Index Pille Kose, Siim Vahur, Margo Teder (EE), Allan Harris, Stuart Ord, John Johnston, Giles Smith, Robert Day, John Saunders, Lucy Hammond (UK), Patrick Boyer (FR), Øystein Flemmen (NO), Filippo Venturi (IT), Dorit Günter, Norbert Seidel, theaterakademie (DE)

© PLATFORM shift+ PLATFORM shift+ Digital challenges in theatre for young audiences is a European Theatre Network supported by the European Commission.

The views expressed in this publication are only the views of the authors. The Commission cannot be held responsible for any use, which may be made of the information contained therein.

Contact: Odette Bereska | odette@platshift.eu Head Organisation: Pilot Theatre Company | York, United Kingdom Artistic Director: Marcus Romer | c/o York Theatre Royal, St. Leonhard’s Place, York Y01 7HD | www.pilot-theatre.com Office: Kalkseestrasse 7 A – D-12587 www.platformshift.eu

DIGITAL CHALLENGES IN THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES YEARBOOK 2014/2015

PLATFORM shift+ is a larger scale cooperation project announced by the European Commission under their European Culture Funding Stream Creative Europe.

Particpating Theatres Pilot Theatre Company (York/Great Britain) ˇ ˇ South Bohemian Theatre (Ceské Budejovice/Czech Republic) Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione (Milan, Forlì, Florence/Italy) Emergency Exit Arts (London/Great Britain) Kolibri Theatre (Budapest/Hungary) Theatre Massalia (Marseille/France) Teatro O Bando (Palmela/Portugal) tjg. Theater Junge Generation (Dresden/Germany) VAT Teater (Tallinn/Estonia) Teatret Vårt (Molde/Norway) University of Agder (Kristiansand/Norway)

www.platformshift.eu