Yearbook 2011 Platform 11 plus by Dirk Neldner

Yearbook 2010 / 2011

Platform 11+ Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards Season 2010 / 2011

PLATFORM 11+ – Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards is an artistic network in which 13 theatres from 12 European countries have joined together to collectively create new work for young people aged between 11 and 15 in both the Performing and Visual Arts. As the professional artists go about their work, the young people will be encouraged to express themselves artistically too. At the end of the four year project, PLATFORM 11+ wants to present a multi-layered portrait of a young European generation, whose presence at the beginning of the 21st century will be reflected in numerous works of art.

Partner theatres

Represented in the Advisory Board by

Associated partners

Brageteatret (leading org.) Norway | Drammen

Terje Hartviksen

ATINA Argentina | Buenos Aires

Divadlo Alfa Czech Rep | Pilsen

Tomáš Froyda

University of Agder Norway | Kristansand

Oulun Kaupungin Teatteri Finland | Oulu

Athi Ahonen

European Universtity Viadrina

VAT Teater Estonia | Tallinn

Tiina Rebane

Theater Junge Generation Germany | Dresden

Felicitas Loewe

Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione Italy | Milan

Stefano Braschi

Kolibri Gyermek – És Iljúsági Színház Hungary | Budapest

János Novák

Theater de Citadel The Netherlands | Groningen

Rob Bakker

Teatro O Bando Portugal | Palmela

Raul Atalaia

Theatre Institute Bratislava Slovakia | Bratislava

Vladislava Fekete

Pilot Theatre United Kingdom | York

Marcus Romer

Emergency Exit Arts United Kingdom | London

Deb Mullins

Junges Schauspielhaus Zürich Switzerland | Zurich

Petra Fischer

Germany | Frankfurt (Oder) Theaterstückverlag Germany | Munich

Platform 11+ Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards A collaboration of European theatre companies funded by the European Union under “CULTURE 2007– 2013“. Season August 2010 – July 2011

Project Management Artistic Director

Dirk Neldner

Project Coordinator

Sven Laude

Literary Manager

Odette Bereska

Education / Engagement

Mandy Smith (Pilot Theatre)

Visual Arts

Andrew Siddall (Emergency Exit Arts)

Performing Arts

Terje Hartviksen (Brageteatret)

Playwrights

Giuditta Mingucci (Teatro Elsinor)

Financial Administration

Marit Holtet, Elin Henninen (Brageteatret)

Website Implementation

Marco Tralles

Website Maintenance

Britta Schöffel

Translation/English Corrections Peter Scollin

Contents Schoolyard Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

What Light

Preface Dirk Neldner, Artistic Director PLATFORM 11+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

HELP!

Advertisement P11+ Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Beginning

(Pilot Theatre, York, UK & Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione, IT) . . . . . . . . 38 (Kolibri Theatre, Budapest, HU & VAT Theater, Tallinn, EE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 (Oulu City Theatre, Oulu, FI & Emergency Exit Arts, London, UK Schoolyard Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

& Teatro O Bando, Palmela, PT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Last First Week

Preface Felicitas Loewe, Artistic Director tjg Dresden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

(Junges Schauspielhaus Zürich, CH & Kolibri Theatre, Budapest, HU) . . . . . 50 Martín

3rd Annual Encounter Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

(La Factoria Teatro Santiago de Chile) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3rd Annual Encounter Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3rd Annual Encounter Look! A Sightseeing Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Schoolyard Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Coproductions

2nd Annual Encounter Palmela, Portugal

Thinking Time

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

(Brageteatret Drammen, NO & tjg.Dresden, DE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Introduction Plein Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Babel [Book of Errors 1–5] (Theater de Citadel Groningen, NL & Elsinor Teatro Stabile

Reflections Visual Artists

d’Innovazione, IT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Ilaria Ariemme (IT) & Stuart Childs (UK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Salto Mortale (kombat) (Theatre Institute Bratislava, SK & VAT Theater, EE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 pirat97&QueenOfLove (Alfa Theatre, Pilsen, CZ & Teatro O Bando, Palmela, PT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 6

Contents

Sabine Beyerle & David Reuter (DE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Michiel Johannes Jansen (DE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Marie Černiková (CZ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Zuzana Hudekova (SK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Contents Maude Vuilleumier (CH) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Junges Schauspielhaus Zürich (Switzerland) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Nuno Gabriel de Mello (PT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

University of Agder (Norway) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Inga Vares (EE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Europa Universität Viadrina (Germany) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Marianne Loraas (NO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

ATINA (Argentine) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Lőrinc Boros (HU) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Patrick Bullock (UK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Schoolyard Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Maija Tuorila (FI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Midsummer Night’s Theatre – A European Theatre Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Youth Encounter Tallinn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Schoolyard Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Schoolyard Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Platform 11+ Theatres & Associated Partners

Stepping Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Brageteatret (Norway) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 tjg.Dresden (Germany) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Teachers Meeting Palmela | Portugal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Kolibri Theatre (Hungary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione (Italy) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Meeting Advisory Board Oulu | Finland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Theater de Citadel (The Netherlands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Teatro O Bando (Portugal) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Evaluation Platform 11+ Gunnar Horn, NO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Theatre Institute Bratislava (Slovakia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Pilot Theatre Company (United Kingdom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Emergency Exit Arts (United Kingdom) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Oulu City Theatre (Finland) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Theatres: Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

VAT Theater (Estonia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Theatre Alfa (Czech Republic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Imprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Contents

Everybody remembers his or her time at school. We collected some of these memories, good and bad, from colleagues all over Europe and South America. Kristiina Jalasto Playwright, Estonia I spent the last three years of my schooldays in a school in the middle of the medieval centre of Tallinn. It was a really different place with rather informal relations between students and teachers. The emphasis was on the arts, theatre and music and it all sparkled with a Catholic touch. The warm and vibrant building with easy going but also hard working athmosphere almost represented a cultural and moral centre amongst the fancy hotels and restaurants around it. Even more, some of the churches, art galleries and cafes were combined closely with my school, and formed a mysterious and lively latin quarter which brought people together and radiated culture in every form. I remember one Christmas party which took place in a cafe very near to my school. The place was packed with people, there was hardly any air left to breathe but that did not stop anyone from having a good time. One could hardly tell the difference between students and teachers or the school staff and the parents - we were all so mixed but we all felt so alike. The program was packed with performances and hilarious sketches which amused both youngsters and the older teachers.

Schoolyard Memories

Tonda Šilar Stage designer and Visual Artist , Czech Rep. At school I had a huge crush on a girl who was a year younger than me. She was a little plump and didn’t have a huge number of admirers, but she was part of a ‘higher cast’. I was somewhere in the middle of the social ladder. But as far as women were concerned, my hydrocephalic brain and uncoordinated speech meant I had zero luck. At a disco at the end of a school field trip, another boy asked me who I’d like to dance with. I told him about the object of my desire. He assessed my chances as non-existent, but said that if I tattooed him with a permanent marker he’d put in a good word for me. I spent all lunch break, and a while after supper tattooing him. It was the best tattoo I could manage at the time. He seemed happy. I had a fundamental dislike of discos, but this one was bloody important. She didn’t even look at me all evening. I told myself that my tattooed friend must have forgotten about me. I’d have to manage myself. Then suddenly, there she was in front of me, saying

“Come on, then…” I began to shake all over. We started to dance, which was a first for me. All that happened was that I put my oversized head on her shoulders, and my two big sweaty hands on her backside, but I was in seventh heaven. I couldn’t see her face, however. “Look how happy I’ve made you,” my friend whispered. When the dance was over, though, she looked as if she’d been carrying a bucket of shit the whole time. As soon as she let go of me, she ran over to him and he threw something to her. It was some crappy knitted ball that he’d to taken from her and would only give back to her on the condition that she danced with me. I stood there with my oversized head, which was totally unable to understand the situation.

Belén Cherubini Director, Argentina I remember the case of a student named Juan. A few years ago, on the first day of class, I heard that some of the school staff was whispering that ‘the Brunette’s cousin’ was a student in ninth grade. ‘The Brunette’ was a teenager well known in Mendoza thanks to the media, for stealing whilst being dressed as a woman; my students followed his adventures of robbery and crime because for them he was their idol, they said that he stole to give something to the poor. He ended up dead in a house trying to escape through the roof. So, when I knew I had Juan ‘the Brunette’s cousin’ as a student my first reaction was to worry, but later I understood that I shouldn’t take too much notice of what other people said or because he ‘had the wrong face’. He was a very serious student, he almost didn’t talk he wore lots of piercings in his face and had long, dark hair. Next to the classrooms, at the back of the school, was also a shed where the city police store their bicycles… cops and thieves lived together under the same roof. One day I couldn’t start my car and my students were helping me by pushing it. At that moment I saw through the rear view mirror that the cops were pulling the students away in a very bad way, asking them who they were to be touching my car. I got out and tried to mediate, because the students got very violent at the

Tamás Mészáros Actor, Hungary

first mistreatment, and they had a reason. They were not doing anything wrong, on the contrary they wanted to help, but there is always prejudice and mistreatment first. Just in case, I explained to the policemen that I had asked the kids for help, so I didn’t need them, above all mistreating my students. When they left and my car starts, I approached Juan, who was nearby and shook his hand saying: -Thanks, you’ve saved my life. I will never forget the look on his face when I shook his hand, I can’t put in words that expression of surprise and joy that was reflected in his face. While I was driving I thought that maybe nobody ever thanked them for anything, or said to him that he was useful and not a social nuisance, as most of these teenagers from marginal urban areas feel, who feel like grown ups at the age of ten, they live on their own at the age of fourteen and have children, whose Mothers or sisters die because of illegal abortions or lack of medications. Prejudice is no good, there is no social class than can separate kids and teenagers. They all need to be heard and to feel themselves useful and necessary, and many times they need somebody to

The Red-Haired Guy When I was attending elementary school, in the seventh class, there were a few guys, that I was hanging around with. We were the most naughty guys in the class, we were bullying other guys and girls. One day, my best friend decided, that I will be the next to bully. As I had red hair, the guys began to mock at me, and called me ‘the Rizsij’ (the ginger-haired). In hungarian, it sounds rude, so this was hurting me very much, I felt stupid and ‘small’. Nevertheless, after a few days, I decided to pay no attention to it, and only laugh, when others nicknamed me. After a short time, they accepted me as a member of the team again. Thanks to that affair, I learned, how does it feel, when you are alone, bullying by others. The nice thing is, that the guy, who began to turn against me, is still one of my best friends, and thanks to him, later on, I met the girl, that I love.

‘give them a hand’.

Schoolyard Memories

Dear friends, the accompanying yearbook provides an overview of the European platform

produced by other theatres. The new plays certainly deserve to be put on

in which artists meet in order to exchange opinions and viewpoints about

many times again.

theatre for young people from the age of eleven years upwards. The main concern of the second year of the project was international co-operation. A

All eight of the new plays, all co-productions, from the Platform 11+ partners

number of theatres worked together to produce new plays, most of which

had world premieres in the second half of the 2010/2012 season. It was a

were co-written by groups of 2–3 authors. This is a remarkable venture for

complicated process, through which the artists got to know each other by

writers who are used to working alone in the sheltered privacy of their own

working on a shared artistic product.

home offices.

Different cultures, different artistic visions, and different working conditions

Eight plays resulted out of this unusual way of working together. They were

of these rather complex meetings, some of the artists may have wished that

made the rehearsals into very challenging experiences. In the middle of some about the daily life of young people in a modern, border-free Europe. Despite

it would all soon be over. This made the relief on the evening of the premiere

the lack of national borders, in the world of these young people, there are

even greater, when the results of the joint project were first performed for an

still things that divide: prejudices, language barriers, cultural barriers as well

audience. These working processes are clearly documented in the Platform

as social and ethnic differences. Through their contact with the authors, the

11+ yearbook.

young people are given a voice, a chance to air their opinions, to tell about their good times and their hard times, and to provide an insight into their hopes and fears.

All these projects were of a high artistic standard and prove that the top European theatres have gathered together for the Platform 11+ project. Without exception, all of these plays received positive feedback from both young peo-

These eight new, modern plays complement the other recently published

ple and critics.

book ‘New Plays from Europe and South America’, which presents all of the texts that were produced in the Platform 11+ project over the last two years.

plays will be presented. This is a unique opportunity to view the work of the

of the creative talent and power of this unique European co-operation, Plat-

colleagues and discuss to the productions in a constructive, collegial way. In

form 11+. Now that these plays have been premiered, they are waiting to be 10

In Dresden, during the 3rd Annual Encounter of Platform 11+, all of these

The thirty plays in this collection are an impressive and comprehensive proof

Preface Dirk Neldner

this way, Dresden will become the European capital for children’s and youth

I also want to attract the reader’s attention to the pages about the work with

theatre for a few days.

young people.

The tjg Dresden, one of the biggest theatres for young audience in Germany,

At the end of last year, in Tallinn, we had a successful Youth Encounter, with

and having the necessary technical possibilities, was the obvious location for

youth groups from four different countries. The youth groups spent more

this event. This is also a chance for the tjg to present itself as an example of a

than a week together in the Estonian capital.

German State run theatre for young people. A cultural institution exclusively for young people, with so many employees and such a broad scope doesn’t

All Platform 11+ theatres are intent on actively involving the target group in

exist anywhere in the world except for Russia.

the artist process in order to give the 11-15 year old Europeans a fitting plat-

Furthermore, in this yearbook we will take a look back at the successful 2nd

should play an active part in our cultural life was absent.

form. This project would never have taken place if the conviction that young Annual Encounter 2010 in Portugal hosted by Teatro O Bando. The photos will immediately remind all of the participants of the unforgettable event: a three week Plein Air, which left a dozen poetically powerful pieces of Art behind it; a magic night of theatre during which the sound of eleven languages rang out through the valley of olive trees. Under the light of the full moon, artists discussed and got close to one another, helped along by songs and music, good food and good wine. For all of those who couldn’t experience these inspiring and romantic days in Palmela, the book has a very good description of the event and together with the DVD reveals at least a part of the magic that European co-operation

Dirk Neldner

can have.

Artistic Director Platform 11+

Preface Dirk Neldner

Other PLATFORM 11+ products, which can be ordered at the theatres

Yearbook 2009/10

Documentation DVD 1st Annual Encounter Budapest / Hungary, August 2009

Documentation DVD 2nd Annual Encounter Palmela / Portugal, June 2010

The book, including the CD with the complete texts of 30 plays, can be ordered from all theatre companies or from odette@platform11plus.eu

Documentation DVD “Handbook of your life” - Youth Exchange “Shared Stories from Schoolyard”, Tallinn, Estonia, October 2010

2nd Annual Encounter, Palmela, Portugal

Maija Tuorila, Set designer and Visual artist Oulu, Finland I think I have always been ‘a good girl’, but every now and again I did do things my way. We used to live in a nice small town in the country and the school journey was about 10 minutes. The old beautiful wooden school building had become too small and the Principal’s family lived at the other end of it now. I never had any pets, so I thought it was nice that they kept a ram. My class room was in the new stone building, not very pretty nor cosy.

Rodrigo Ures Playwright- Argentina- Buenos Aires ‘My Schoolyard(s)’, actually was a corridor that linked all the classrooms of the secondary school I went to. We form very early in the gym and then walked in a sleepwalking parade straight to the classroom. Two hours of class and a break in the corridor, with some quick escape to the bathroom… that was also in the corridor. When we had permission (hardly ever… but we always figured out

In those days the atmosphere at school was very authoritarian, but sometimes it also nice. For example we had been given our own modeling clay to keep in our school desks and we were allowed to take them out during art classes. I got so excited about the clay that I took it home with me. And of course next time we had arts, the clay was at home. The teacher was very angry with me and told me to go and get them. I would have gone with less noise and trouble, but I got so crossed that I beated myself on the nose all the way home until I got a nose bleed! At home I told everyone I came because my nose started bleeding. So they felt sorry for me and I was put to bed and covered nicely under a duvet. After a while I was fine of course and spent a nice afternoon playing next door. Next day we had s substitute teacher, for our teacher had got ill. After returning, she didn’t ask me where I had disappeared. At that moment I liked her. And I think I had already got my own punishment, literally, and that maybe she realized having been too hard on me. Remembering the ram living on our school yard and that old story about the clay, I think that sometimes stubbornness is fine characteristic in a good sense, in rams and people.

Schoolyard Memories

a way), the break was in the classroom… and the classroom was a World. Let’s discover it, then! And with the doors closed (with rotating guardians) the classroom turned into yard, hiding place, hide out, field, love nest… When the bell rang, or when the cost was clear (mostly of nuns)… the classroom was again a classroom, and the corridor, a corridor. Two more hours of class and the last bell rang. At last the real break started. Mateˇj Samec Dramaturge, Czech Republic We’d always had a big wish – me, my brother and cousin – to have our own mobile phone. We always loved to borrow it secretly from our parents, we always loved to read their text, where we could have seen them in their real life, in their real world, without any censorship. To get rid of this censorship was to first thing, we was always looking for. Once we stole our father’s mobile phone and had great fun reading his texts. There were loads of texts posted by ‘Ája’, and this sms was very strange. Somthing like ‘Good evening. So I’ve just had a shower, it was exciting. I’m going to the golf. So much sweet kisses for you. Your little love.’ Huge amount of texts by ‘Ája’, all of them like that. We decided to make her feel nervous so we ring her from my aunt’s phone and finally my cousin sent her a text: I’m gonna kill ya, you motherfucker, wait for me at golf.’ Ten years after, our father told us he was going to have a baby, he was going to leave our family and getting divorce with our mother. It took me a long time to realize that the name of his new wife Alena was similar to ‘Ája’. Actually my brother found that out.

ˇurcˇová Katarína D Management Theatre Institute, Slovakia Synchronized swimming verzus Schoolyard During my schooldays I used to be very very busy every day after school. I was attending so many different afternoon group activities – I played flute, I was doing classical dance, modern dance, synchronized swimming, I was riding horses… All my free time was occupied by my active hobbies. My schoolmates and friends from the block permanently gathered after school at our schoolyard. Whenever I had free time I was running to the schoolyard to join them and to spend my whole afternoon with them. I didn’t want to miss any gossiping, talking, playing ball games and I didn’t want to miss the basic fun the most. I started envy and be jealous on my friends who could be together every day at the schoolyard either I saw them during the school time. Once I decided to change (for me) the unfair situation. I pretended to my mum I was going to the swimming class but actually I went outside to meet with the group at the schoolyard. I took my bag filled with the stuff needed for swimming throw it to the one corner at the schoolyard and having fun but not forgetting to watch the time to be at home at the same time as I usually got home from the swimming. When I got home I greet very loudly and run to the bathroom to hang the ‘wet’

swimwear up. Of course I had to be very fast I had to wet the swimwear before my mum will notice. I was very nervous for the whole evening hoping no one notices. Next week I did it again. I skim swimming. And then again. Three months later my mum ask me if I think she did not noticed that I’m lying about my swimming classes! Oh, gosh! Of course she knew! I almost forget mums always know everything… I was red in my face, barely crying and then she said with the stone face: Katarina, you are responsible for yourself, do what you want! Half a year later I won second place in the national competition of the synchronized swimming. At the end to be honest with you I loved to be at the schoolyard also for another reason: doing nothing serious at the schoolyard attracts my attention. Very often I had to struggle with my laziness when I supposed to attend my afternoon group activity and I’m lazy bone till these days… ☺

Ahti Ahonen, Theatre Director, Finland I was on the 4th grade at grammar school when my best friend got a portable Philips reel-to-reel tape recorder for his birthday. Cliff Richard and The Shadows were in, and a worldwide Beatles mania was beginning. Rock was also coming to Finland. At the end of the spring semester we had an outdoor activities day, and we decided to take a walk around the surrounding islands. Wanting to be the cool guys, we wore our new basketball trainers and fashionable American sweaters. With a snack to eat in our bags, the magnetophon player, some batteries and a couple of spools of music we begun our trek. But the sun shone and our steps started to feel heavy. At half point we took off our t-shirts. The music player was already running on the spare batteries and started to weigh like a brick load. Our winter-white skin was roasting in the sunshine. The trek went on. The batteries ran out. We didn’t feel that rock’n’roll any more. The sneakers weren’t made for trekking and especially our toes were suffering in the heat. The pair of us that begun our trek so courageously, returned to school exhausted with sun burnt skin and blistering feet. The silenced magnetophon’s value was only in weight. When we had nearly fought to take our turn to carry the thing at first, our turns were exactly five minutes long during the last few kilometers of our walk. We went singing into war, but returned considerably feeble. The trip is still in my memory after 50 years.

Schoolyard Memories

Networking Live It’s fascinating to witness how events connect, how ways of life intersect, how

in a heated public debate about which perspective we adult theatre makers

people are brought together, how ideas are spun at a certain time and then,

should take when working in theatre for young people.

some time later, the threads of the ideas are picked up again and realized.

Two years ago, we met again in the Platform 11+ project. We wove our en-

Many many years ago, I was sitting with Odette Bereska, in her office in the

sembles together, and now, fully reconciled, we will open the Platform 11+

carrousel Theater an der Parkaue, and we were going slightly crazy, trying to

Festival with the German-Norwegian co-production ‘Ferne Fremde Liebe’

work out what plays we would put on in the next season. Back then, Odette

(Thinking Time). Colleagues from 14 theatres, from 13 different countries, will

was the head of the literary department at the theatre. We had just come

find their way to Dresden. Here they will be networking about their different

to the conclusion that there were hardly any good plays for young people

cultural experiences. They will make contacts, express ideas, and use the net-

aged between eleven and thirteen and that children’s and youth theatres are

work as a basis for dialogue.

mostly the only place where kids in this age group can find an activity which

The tjg. theater junge generation works hand in hand with many schools and

suits their particular age group.

children’s institutions and because of this, 250 young people from Dresden’s

We came up with the idea of commissioning authors to write stories which

Bürgerwiese Gymnasium and the colleagues from the tjg will be the hosts for

were centred around schoolyards, the schoolyard being the place where

the Platform 11+ Festival.

problems and worries, hardships, dreams, aspirations and desires of a specific

We are happy to be receiving guests from all over the world and we will do

age group could be ideally woven together.

everything we can to ensure that new contacts and connections will be

Many years ago Dirk Neldner and Odette Bereska picked up this idea again

made, that new dreams will

and made it the uniting thread of their international project. Now this idea

be dreamed, that new webs

has come back to me and to Dresden. Dirk Neldner invited the tjg. theater

will be spun and new friend-

junge generation to become a German co-operating partner in the Platform

ships will be formed.

11+ project.

A hearty welcome!

Yet another connection: A while ago, the Norwegian theatre association asked me to make a speech about children’s and youth theatre at a meet-

Felicitas Loewe

ing of its members. I got to know Brageteatret in Drammen at this meeting,

Artistic Director

and, in particular, its artistic director Terje Hartviksen. Terje and I got involved

tjg Dresden Networking Live

Organisation Team 3rd Annual Encounter Platform 11+ Artistic Directors

Team Look! A Sight Seeking Tour Armin Beber, Benjamin Graul (intern), Katrin Jung, Ina Klose,

tjg Dresden Felicitas Loewe

Ulrike Lessmann, Steffen M端ller, Bettina Seiler

Platform 11+ Dirk Neldner Partner School B端rgerwiese Headmaster Jens Reichel

Team tjg Dresden

Project Management Silke Petermann , Antje Biener

Assistent to the Artistic Director Heike Zimmermann Coordination Anne S. Schmid

Team Platform 11+

Technical Direction Lutz Hofmann Visual Concept and Layout Ulrike Kunze, Maria Wallrabe,

Project Coordinator Sven Laude

Friederike Winter (intern)

Literary Manager Odette Bereska

Head Box Office Dr. Marianne Veijtisek

Coordinator Visual Arts Andrew Siddall (Emergency Exit Arts)

PR Manager Norbert Seidel

Festival Management Johanna Malchow, Elisa Braun

Youth Event / Workshops Armin Beber, Ina Klose

Intern Nienke Marie Treikauskas

With the support of the CULTURE Programme 2007-2013 of the European Union

Organisation Team 3rd Annual Encounter Platform 11+

Programme 3rd Annual Encounter Dresden 2011 Wednesday, 15 June

Thursday, 16 June

Friday, 17 June

Saturday, 18 June

10 – 14 Workshop with Young

10:00 Excursion

People at School 18:00 Welcome (Buffet)

People at School 10:00 Look! A Sight Seeking

19:00 Thinking Time Studio

Brageteatret / TJG

Tour 10:00 Meeting Playwrights

19:00 Press conference

13:00 Lunch

20:30 Opening

14:30

Meeting Final Production

21:00 Thinking Time Studio

16:00 Beginning Main Stage

Brageteatret / TJG

22:00 Beer & Late Night Talks

EEA / Teatro O Bando / Oulu

People at School

Elbe Sandstone Mountains

10:00 Advisory Board Meeting

by coach and boat

10:00 Last First Week Small Stage

16:00 Youth Event

Kolibri / Schauspielhaus

17:00

Martin Small Stage

Teatro La Factoria, Chile

Zürich 10:00 pirat07&QueenOfLove

18:15 Youth Performance

Studio

19:00 What Light Main Stage

Alfa / Teatro O Bando

Pilot / Elsinor

18:00 Last First Week Small Stage

13:00 Lunch

20:30 Help! Studio

Kolibri / Schauspielhaus

14:30

Zürich

16:00 Babel Main Stage

Dinner

Theater de Citadel / Elsinor

18:00 Salto Mortale (Kombat)

20:30 Beer & Late Night Talks

19:15

20:30 pirat07&QueenOfLove STudio

Meeting Final Production

Small Stage

Theatre Institute / VAT

21:30 Beer & Late Night Talks

19:15

(Thinking Time & Beginning

20:30 Help! Studio

& Pirat07 & Last First Week)

VAT / Kolibri

21:30

Beer & Late Night Talks

(Babel & Help! & Salto

Alfa / Teatro O Bando

Dinner

VAT / Kolibri Martin Small Stage Teatro La Factoria, Chile (What Light, & Martin) Farewell Party

Sunday, 19 June

Departures

Mortale (Kombat)) Programme

Look! A Sight Seeking Tour Whoever comes to Dresden as a tourist will definitely have a look at the Frauenkirche and will probably stroll through the area of the Dresdner Zwinger. One should also stand in front of the impressive Semper Opera House and enjoy the wonderful view of the old city of Dresden. A very different kind of sightseeing tour will be put on by the pupils from the Bürgerwiese Gymnasium for the international guests during the Platform 11+ Festival. The guests are invited to take part in an adventure in Dresden, an adventure featuring the kids’ voices and the sounds of Dresden’s streets. Based on many different street-artactivities, the kids will show the visitors their favourite places in a special way. They won’t be surprised to see that a skaters’ area has become a 3D Kino, and they’ll get to know about a mouse, named Michael, who tries to find true love in a tall, anonymous high rise apartment block and how the Antelopes find their balloons. The Gymnasium Bürgerwiese is the partner school of the tjg, theater junge generation in the Platform 11+ project. The theatre sightseeing tour is one part of the intensive cooperation. The pupils from the 6th classes worked the theatre professionals in a series of intensive two weeks sessions to ‘recapture’ the city. Through this the pupils saw their city in a fresh, new way and surprised the inhabitants of Dresden with street Rehearsal for a flashmob

performances.

action at the city’s train

Julia Amme, Armin Beber, Antje Biener, Elisa Braun, Berit Görlich, Benjamin Graul, Alex

station with students

Hanicke, Katrin Jung, Ina Klose and Silke Petermann worked with the school students

delivered in plastic bags.

on the project.

Performative “hanging

Thursday, June 16, 2011, 10 pm

around” in the schoolyard Look!

Coproduction Brageteatret (Norway) & tjg.theater junge generation Dresden (Germany)

Thinking Time

Når du får (Norwegian) / Ferne Fremde Liebe (German) by Liv Heløe (NO) Somewhere in Germany: Nina really needs to get to her date. But her great-grandmother Ruth is dying and reminiscing about her homeland and her life in Norway during the Second World War. As a young woman she fell in love with a German soldier named Werner. Ruth made him a promise and thereby made a decision that changed her life. Nina has also made a promise. She needs to meet Moreno. “You will not come”, he had said to her. Nina wants to go. But will she? She can’t tell her mother. Her mother does not know that Moreno is not a German boy. Germany and Norway. Dresden and Drammen. Theater Junge Generation is one of the largest children’s and youth theatres in Germany. In Norway Brageteatret is one of the very few theatres which works exclusively for children and young people.

Together, they created a production that will be played in both theatres and which will be included in the repertoires of both companies. The team led by the artistic directors Felicitas Loewe and Terje Hartviksen decided clearly in favor of staging a new-written play. The first challenge we had to face was: What would be interesting to see on stage both in Dresden and in Drammen for our audience? We began talks with the questions: What do the Germans think about Norway and the Norwegians? And how is the perception of Germany, what do Norwegians think about the Germans? The Second Wold War might still influence our Line Heie Lallen (Ruth)

perceptions, but to the young people have the same perspective? Clearly not. We wanted a young main character in the same

Gregor Wolf (Werner)

age as our target group. Thinking Time

After reading something about the German-Norwegian history, especially about the Second World War, we spoke about a lot of themes. A spirited communication started. The life of the Roma people seemed to be interesting, because the Roma people traveling and living in European countries has been a theme at all times for both original inhabitants and authorities. Since 2007, when Romania joined EU, the Âpolicy and the rhetoric towards the Roma people has become tougher. The playwright Liv HelĂ¸e created the main character Nina, who meets Moreno, a young Roma, and ended up telling two parallelle stories about making choices: Do we choose by emotions or by being rational? Which consequences and responsibilities do we have to face when having made our choices? In the first story a great-grandmother makes her choice by letting her emotions decide. The main character in the second story (the great-grandchild) is faced with a choice to which we do not get the answer, but the audience will have to make their decision after the play is over. We are now in the midst of the rehearsal period. It is exciting work, and we get to test our differences, regarding working methods and our philosophies when it comes to target-groups and artistic work. It is easy to assume that German and Norwegian theatrework is very similar. In a couple of months we will be able to draw some conclusions about this. It is certainly very instructive, and the goal for both partners is to become a better theatre after this collaboration. We believe that together we will create a play that none of us could have done alone, and which the audience will appreciate!

Thinking Time

Director Philippe Besson (DE)

Cast Isabell Giebeler (DE), Line Heie Hallem (NO), Ines Prange (NO),

Stage/Costumes Yngvar Julin (NO)

Gregor Wolf (DE)

Music Bernd Sikora (DE)

Target audience 13 years+

Dramaturg Ina Klose (DE)

1st Opening tjg.theater junge generation, Dresden (DE), May 21, 2011

Coproduction Theater De Citadel (The Netherlands) & Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione (Italy)

Babel [Book of Errors 1–5] Babel [Boek der Vergissingen 1-5] By Bouke Oldenhof (NL) The Citadel decided to cooperate with Teatro Elisinor from Milano for the co-writing project. It is difficult to see such a project in any other way than in a European context. The longing for unity and cooperation. But what does that mean, and what is the position of youngsters in that idealism, not aware of the war that was the beginning of the European experiment? There is a technical problem as well, in a bilingual cooperation. How do you handle the two languages? I don’t like the solution of actors speaking English, it would diminish their strength. Suddenly I recalled the first bilingual situation: the Tower of Babel. The parallels with Europe are quite obvious. The flooding of Noah is our Second World War. The growth of Noah’s family in Babel is the European Wirtschafts Wunder (Economic miracle), and the building of a tower to improve unity and avoid wars is the European Union. How then did I write the play? I was looking for modern attitudes to unification, and turning the attitudes into characters in Babel. The striving for unity is an adult desire. I invented the idealist Haran, the rebellious Sem and the decadent but desperate Whore of Babel of course. The king of Babel Nimrod is a politician, knowing that conflict could destroy everything built up carefully. No one is right. And of course you need a God, but in the very beginning of the Bible, God is far more human than later on. I was not concerned about plot, I just wanted to create a way of telling which one could compare to the stories at the beginning of Genesis. Big steps, not too much psychology. Important for us was the way that the characters could speak out. Their positions should be as clear as possible. The suggestions of Rob Bakker for new scenes and improvement of scenes weren’t about the dramatic structure, but about sharpening the positions of the characters in the play. Of course I added some style. The way Nimrod speaks follows his intentions. My God should speak as a God of Genesis. Haran Babel [Book of Errors 1–5]

speaks naively and optimistically. I hope Babel [The Book of Errors 1-5] is completely different from Winter damage. In September 2010 Rob Bakker, Sjoerd Meijer and Lies van de Wiel went to Milan to rehearse for the coproduction Babel book of Errors 1-5. They stayed there for ten days to make the first arrangements for the play. Babel book of Errors 1-5 is a play for 12-14 year-old kids. It deals with the struggle between the longing for understanding and unity on the one hand, and the eternal mistrust and developing individual identity on the other. Humor and bitterness are alternating in the playful fantasy on the Biblical story of Babel. Although the play is performed in two languages, the Dutch and the Italian audiences can understand every word. Director Rob Bakker (NL) Video designer Boris Stokman (NL) Technician Frodo Bosma (NL) Cast Stefano Braschi, Giuditta Mingucci (IT), Lies van de Wiel, Sjoerd Meijer (NL) 1st Opening Theater De Citadel Groningen (NL), April 13,Â 2011

Babel [Book of Errors 1â&#x20AC;&#x201C;5]

Coproduction Theatre Institute Bratislava (Slovakia) & VAT Theatre (Estonia)

Salto Mortale (kombat)

By Michaela Zakuťanská (SK) and Kristiina Jalasto (EE)

After last year’s successful site-specific production ‘Once it hit me’ by the author Michaela Zakuťanská, the Theatre Institute Bratislava continue this season with a cooperation with VAT theatre from Tallin. Two young playwrights, Michaela Zakuťanská (SK) and Kristiina Jalasto (EE), worked together during the year, they spent some creative time together, either in Slovakia or in Estonia. As a result of their discussions the playwrights decided to keep their own individual writing styles but to make up mutual characters and storyline. From this close cooperation two separate texts were written with the same title (Salto mortale) plot and characters. To help differentiate between the two versions, the Slovak play has added an extra word to the title (kombat). Studio 12 in Theatre Institute Bratislava staged the Slovak playwright’s version ‘Salto Mortale (kombat)’ in April 2011. Opening for the second version of ‘Salto mortale’ written by the Estonian playwright is scheduled for October 2011 in VAT Theatre in Tallin. The partnership with Estonian VAT theatre became even deeper during preparation for the productions ‘Salto mortale’ on both sites. Theatre Institute invited the young Estonian director Kati Kivitar for one month to Bratislava to come and work with the Slovak artistic team. Slovak director Júlia Rázusová will be a guest of the Estonian partner in Autumn 2011. ‘Salto mortale (kombat)’ is a play about a friendship between Walter and Oskar, two youngsters from the families who are running funfair businesses. They live their whole life on the funfair circuit. Walter, his younger sister Anna and a new assistant named the Bear, because o his size, all start to spin the wheel of a merrygo-round of their relationships, their desires to find their place on the planet, their feelings of love and hate. Falling down from dangerous merry-go-round could be very painful and wounds may not heal for an entire lifetime.

Salto Mortale (kombat)

Director Kati Kivitar (EE) Dramaturgy Juraj Hubinák (SK) Visual artist, costume designer Zuzana Hudeková (SK) Asistent Marko Tiusanen (FI) Production Katarína Ďurčová (SK) Set + Costumes Zuzana Hudeková (SL) Cast Elena Kolek Spasková, Ludwig Bagin, Ľubo Bukový, Juraj Loj (all SK) 1st Opening Theatre Institute, Bratislava (SL), April 29, 2011

“Salto Mortale (kombat) – the first international co-production for me: quite difficult, but so interesting in many different ways. Working in foreign language made it possible to rediscover one of the beautiful elementary simple theatre secrets (key) – beauty of the game. During the rehearsals we played through all possible options instead of talking or analyzing in a language (English) the nuances of which we didn’t know. After all, none of us could speak English perfectly. Everything was worked out through playing and rehearsing, because the language of the theatre was the clearest and most understandable language for us to explain even the most detailed idea. Theatre is play, theatre is game :) And it all was so much fun. The month in Bratislava trained my stomach muscles so well - we laughed like crazy. Slovak sense of humour is in a class of its own.“ Kati Kivitar (Director)

Salto Mortale (kombat)

Coproduction Alfa Theatre (Czech Republic) & Teatro O Bando (Portugal)

pirat07&QueenOfLove A comics-style story about one fateful meeting that had to take place twice. By Petr Vodička (CZ) and the collective of actors

Rehearsing pirat07&QueenofLove – Director’s notes Assignment Work started for me with a simple assignment. Besides the fact that both the play’s target audience and source material were children aged between 11 and 15, all that was clear to start with was the casting. It was my task to create a production with two Portuguese and two Czech actors. Choice of subject, genre, style – co-workers After discussions with our Portuguese partners our source of inspiration for the production became the internet and comics as a stylistic element. The theme of the production became the phenomenon of communication and fantasy on the internet, and the related danger of addiction. In terms of narrative method and artistic concept, I decided to try and create a comic book on stage. This is seen both in the way in which the production is divided up, and in the emphasis on metaphor and hyperbole during the narration. I thus asked Jan Bažant, a well-known comics artist and also set designer, if he would work on the project. I also addressed the musical duo Dalibor Mucha and Tomáš Vychytil, whose theatre work is mostly inspired by contemporary music. Rehearsal preparation The set designer and I tried to create a kind of ‘playground’, a place that would have its own rules and would allow us to work without a firm text. We agreed that (partly for reasons of mobility), the set would consist of a simple proscenium with two pirat07&QueenOfLove

white boxes as universal â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;furnitureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The chief versatile element would be a projection on to the background. Roles other than those of the children and their parents would be created using flat masks, as if cut out of paper. In this way we created a kind of 3minus1D theatre technology, which provided sufficient universality. Raul Atalaia and I also tried to create a source of material that could be drawn on during our work without a set text. Without letting ourselves be limited by the main subject of the production, we collected material relating to children aged between 11 and 15. We collected various motifs and information covering such things as their relationship with authority, awakening sexuality, sense of justice, their relationship with their parents and issues relating to the absence of one of the parents at this age. Before starting to rehearse, on the basis of this material and the cast, I prepared the basic situation from which the play would develop. This was the existence of two incomplete families, one Portuguese and one Czech. The text could not be available in advance, and so I drew up at least a synopsis of the story, on which rehearsals could be based. Rehearsals At the start, we had to work out how we were going to communicate. There were two possible ways: English, as a universal language, but one which not everyone knew equally well, and French, which three of the five people involved knew. In the end, French appears in the production, as well as English, Czech and Portuguese. Rehearsals included not only acting work, but a large degree of authorship. The whole story had to be built, in a certain way that I had explained at the first meeting. This occurred by means of the collective creation of short pictures, placed one after another in film style, or rather comics style, rather like the different pages or pictures in a comic strip. This comics-style perception of and reworking of reality did not come naturally to everyone, and it was not always easy to orient oneself in it. I thus wanted to create a model section that would help the actors to adopt a style and working method that was a little more specific, and would require greater authorship in the sense of the creation of the whole story, not 36

pirat07&QueenOfLove

just its narration. This work was slightly more technical, but it required the whole production to be sufficiently well workedout beforehand, since the masks and other props were made as we went along, and above all we needed to get the whole projection part ready. After this stage, I think, the actors realised that they were the co-authors in its wider sense, and the rehearsals became a combination of thinking up specific stage action and the polishing of pictures that were already there. The result was a production lasting about fifty minutes, made up of self-devised performances by all the participants. Reactions to it have been positive, from adult audiences and above all from the schoolchildren who have seen it in Pilsen. It appears to deal, in a sufficiently entertaining form, with issues that are experienced not only by children but also by their parents. Petr Vodička Cast Blanka Luňáková (CZ), Marta Abreu (PT), Raul Atalaia (PT), Milan Hajn (CZ) Direction Petr Vodička (CZ) Set Jan Bažant (CZ) Animation Vojta Marek (CZ) Music Tomáš Vychytil & Dalibor Mucha (CZ) Choreography Ludmila Čermáková (CZ) 1st Opening Theatre Alfa, Pilsen (CZ), March 14, 2011

pirat07&QueenOfLove

Coproduction Pilot Theatre (United Kingdom) & Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione (Italy)

What Light

By Richard Hurford (UK) with Giuditta Mingucci (IT) It’s 2061 and a whole different world for fourteen year old Sid and Nancy. No shops, no TV, no Internet, no school, no houses, no friends, but it’s the only life they have ever known. They live in isolation in a desolate wasteland, kept apart by their eccentric grandfathers with their crazy stories of the old days when wonderful stuff fell out of the sky or grew on trees. The old men hate and fear each other and have taught Sid and Nancy to do the same, but the two young people join forces to discover the truth about the past, what really happened to their dead parents and the reason for their grandfathers’ feud. The seeds of it all lie in 2011 when the old men were boys and best friends before the global economic crisis changed the world forever.

What Light examines the world today’s teenagers have grown up in, what attitudes and influences they have been shaped by and how this might affect the world they will soon be in control of. It is a dramatic fantasy about an ugly future inspired by the present. It imagines the world in fifty years time based on certain realities of the world now. It is a play about responsibility and change and the importance of understanding both the consequences of our actions and the dangers of doing nothing. What Light is a dark vision of a future that could happen and a call to the coming generation to act together now to make sure it never does.

‘Co-Writing’: A Chat with Odette Bereska Time: March 2011 Place: The scenes change – a restaurant in the sky with view of Berlin; the theatre cafè in York; a wooden room in Finland with a stuffed reindeer; the lobby of a hotel in Tallin; a schoolroom in Milan; a rehearsal room in Pilsen; the garden of a school in Budapest… Characters: Odette German literary manager Giuditta Italian playwright Richard British playwright O Dear Giuditta, dear Richard, (they kindly smile at her) the processes of all P11+ co writings are so different, it is great if the reader gets some information about it. (The two playwrights nod) So please let us know: What was the starting point of you two coming together? (The two playwrights look at each other, Richard lets Giuditta go for first) G I think everything began in Berlin, at the first playwright meeting. The second or third evening we were all together at dinner, and Richard and I were sitting beside each other by chance. R Actually I planned it. G Did you? R No, but it makes me sound like a more interesting character. G Anyway we had a long talk, about books and about life, about the sea. R Moby Dick. I knew I could work with Giuditta when I met her again in Budapest two months later and she’d read it. GM ay be the books were an intermediary to talk about life, and the sea was the theme running through it. I don’t know. I had a great time. The rest came naturally. What Light

O Great. And then, how did you experience the co writing process? G I’m used to co-writing, but I usually do it with colleagues of my company. We understand each other very easily (I don’t mean the language), we share a way of working and we can spend a lot of time together. Nothing of that was possible in this case! R We already connected personally, intellectually and artistically, but that was instinct. Now we had to find out how we worked and a way to combine our methods and our voices. That all takes times – more time than we expected. There was a lot of learning through trial and error, but you have to go through that process before finding a real understanding. O Do you see cultural differences between the two of you? Or are the differences just individual related? G Yes, I think there are differences. I didn’t feel this at the beginning, and then it was very important to discover it. ‘Cause we started from the things we share, we have in common; then – at least I – discovered what is different. Set Design by Ilaria Ariemme

That’s an important moment, I think. R Yes. For me it became important that both our voices, our individuality was apparent in the text. I didn’t want it to feel like “mud” created out of mixing us both together, but

What Light

something new created by placing our work side by side, but you could still see there were

Cast Chris Towner-Jones, Sean Wildey,

two writers at work. It’s also about finding out what language you can work in together –

Daniel Cameron, Lynsey-Anne Moffat (all UK)

and I don’t mean Italian and English, though that is obviously an issue given that I speak no

Director Katie Posner (UK)

Italian, though Giuditta’s English is excellent.

Designer Ilaria Ariemme (IT)

G No!

Lighting Designer Alexander Morgan (UK)

R We do argue about some things… But it’s not about linguistic issues, but about finding a

Music arranged by Christopher Madin (UK)

shared artistic language. That’s how we communicate as artists and in the final drafts of

1st Opening York Theatre Royal Studio May 11, 2011

What Light, it was actually Giuditta bringing La Dolce Vita into the mix that brought it all together for us, that combined us as writers and brought Italy and the UK together in the text. O And what did you miss, what would you do different if you could repeat this process? G I’d love to have more time like in Oulu – I remember a fantastic afternoon at work in a big room; all the playwrights at work. In pairs, but at the same time and in the same place. R Obviously living in different countries makes that difficult, but now I would plan more blocks of time spent together. Perhaps that would have been useful right at the start – so we could get to know each other as writers and people and each other’s countries and cultures. O One last question: could you join the rehearsals for the production? G Unfortunately I will be in Italy... RB ut I will be in rehearsals throughout the process. And I’ll be there representing Giuditta too. It’s not perfect, but I’ll be in touch with her by email and phone regularly. G I’m looking forward to see the play done! O Thank you very much for this nice chat. G & R Thanks to you, Odette.

What Light

Coproduction Kolibri Theatre (Hungary) & VAT Theatre (Estonia)

Help!

by Péter Horváth (HU) / Aare Toikka (EE)

BUDAPEST Cast Nóra Sallai, Attila Pomlényi (HU)

To be honest, at first I couldn’t imagine that the co-writing work would be possible. Two writ-

Direction

ers from different countries, different cultures, different emotions and different ways of work-

Péter Horváth (HU)

ing… No chance. But when I met Aare Toikka and looked him in the eye I knew that it would

Music János Novák (HU)

work. No. I didn’t know but I felt a strong sense of trust and hope. Aare is a good man, a good

Set & Costumes

friend and also a good writer. We are nearly the same age, have similar problems and similar

Inga Vares (EE)

things make us happy, we think similarly about life, literature and the theatre as well. But of

Opening Kolibri Theatre,

course there are several things we think differently about. That is also nice, because both of us

Budapest (HU) April, 25,

are open to new knowledge, new impressions – the adventure. We like to live.

2011,

Peter Horvath TALLINN

VAT Theatre Production

Working together with Peter Horvath, to create the play, named ‘Help!’, has been a great ex-

Cast Marilyn,

perience for me. Actually I did not have any plan to participate in this project as a dramaturg. I

Meelis Põdersoo (EE)

expected I would participate as the artistic director of VAT Teater. But when we Peter and I met

Directors Aare Toikka,

in Oulu and started to speak we suddenly had the idea for play. All later activities have been

Margo Teder (EE)

just fun and matter of writing technique.

Designer Inga Vares (EE)

It have been pleasure to work together with Kolibri Theatre.

Music Janos Novak (HU)

Aare Toikka

Opening VAT Theatre Tallinn (EE) , May 9, 2011

Help!

It has been great challenge to work with Aare Toikka from VAT Teater and Petèr Horvàth from Kolibri Szinhaz with their cowritten play ‘Help!’ A simple story with some secrets and lot of inspiration. It forced me to rethink about role of stage and costume and storytellers again and again. Solutions were sometimes from opposite directions. How can we find a balance between story, space and form? Leaving silence to speak… .…all you can do is to find each other. Inga Vares There are lot of things that connect Estonians and Hungarians. The common Finno-Ugriac language family, our history, the regime transition after the fall of the wall indicates a lot of parallels, even if we belong to different regions of Europe. Our theaters have had important roles in our own countries in the reformation of theaters for children and youth. I have picked up on a performance of VAT Theater in 1999 in Tromsø at the ASSITEJ Worldcongress. During a study trip in Sweden I made acquaintance with Aare Toikka. Although my English knowledge at that time was very basic, we could all understand each other without words. Thanks to Platform 11+ and Péter Horváth that a co-production, a common work was born from this connection! Janos Novak

Rehearsals in Budapest with director Péter Horváth

Help!

Production VAT Theatre

Production Kolibri Theatre

Help!

Coproduction Oulu City Theatre (Finland), Emergency Exit Arts (United Kingdom), Teatro O Bando (Portugal)

Beginning Based on an idea and texts by Rui Pina Coelho (PT), Jukka Heinänen (FI) and Arjunan Manuelpillai (UK) Developed by the cast under the direction of Alex Evans (Emergency Exit Arts, UK) The writing process The journey started in February 2010 when Jukka Heinänen, Arjunan Manuelpillai and Rui Pina Coelho met in Oulu to start writing a play together. Ideas about mythology and creation flew back and forth across Europe until August when Arji submitted a first draft of 45 pages. By November the play had clear structure and characterization, and the production and marketing were ready to begin in Finland. Teams and Rehearsals Oulu City Theatre was in charge of the staged production of Beginning as the show was going to be part of the theatre’s spring 2011 repertoire. Emergency Exit Arts sent director Alex Evans and set and costume designer Patrick Bullock to Oulu in November to meet the cast and production teams. The rehearsals began in January. Throughout the rehearsal process the crew formed a close-knit company by working collaboratively within diverse forms of theatrical play and discovery. They explored their own adolescent memories and worked on the thematic possibilities of the original text though improvisation and devising methods. Alex’s commitment to his team

Beginning

and passion towards the production saved the test show for friends and family and thus the Premiere, when he heroically took to stage after some last minute problems with the cast had surfaced. The Hunters of Lost Thought exhibition, produced by Maija Tuorila, Patrick Bullock and Andrew Siddall together with young people, spread the themes of Beginning beyond the stage. Snow sculptures of heads, ears and mouths outside the theatre building, ‘The Wall of Ideas’ where messages and thoughts could be shared, all invited audiences to enter the mind of youth. Content: Beginning is a stunning fusion of theatre, improvisation and puppet theatre exploring the joy of play, the difficulty of collaboration and the challenges which face us as we make the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Within the depths of a growing mind three unnamed characters attempt to begin a mythological play about the creation of the world that draws on three contrasting myths combining Finnish, English and Portuguese histories. Set inside the mind, the characters in Beginning confront the difficulties and joys of growing up, meet the challenges of storytelling and discover the importance of imagination. They are actors in a play. They are childhood friends. They are characters from the dawn of mythology. They are also stuck… The storytellers are trapped in an idea, and only one goal drives them forward… to begin. As the actors tell and retell the story of the play, creating the world over and over again, their struggle to work together sends each back into their childhood memories. Hidden truths, imaginary friends, first kisses and moments they wish they could forget resurface and collide with the present day and change the story in ways that they could never have imagined. 48

Beginning

Direction Alex Evans (UK) Set and Costume design by Patrick Bullock (UK) Set, Costumes and Property Production, Graphic Design and PR by Oulu City Theatre (FI) Performance by Oulu City Theatre, FI : Matti Helske (Light design) Antti Kairakari (Actor) Mikko Korsulainen (Actor) Annina Rokka (Actress) Olli Paakkolanvaara (Sound design) Elina Terho (Stage Manager) Project Management Sari Tanner (FI) Andrew Siddall, (UK) World Premiere 22 February 2011 Oulu City Theatre Age recommendation: 11+ Duration: 1 h Language: Finnish, English, visual and nonverbal 足communication

Beginning

Anna Pabst, Ă kos NĂŠmeth, Lorenz Langenegger 50

The First last Week

Coproduction Kolibri Theatre (Hungary) & Junges Schauspielhaus Zürich (Switzerland)

The Last First Week By Anna Pabst (CH)/ Lorenz Langenegger (CH)/ Ákos Németh (HU) Summary An old, abandoned school. The summer break is not yet over. But why is Armin going to school everyday anyway? And what is Mr. Fiedler still doing there? He retired before the summer break. At first Armin is scared when meeting the seemingly neglected Mr. Fiedler. But as he overcomes his shyness they become friends. Mr. Fiedler, at first upset by the young mischiefmaker, then starts enjoying Armin’s company, too. But the next intruder is already on her way: Joëlle is spending her holidays with her father in the village. She lives in the city and is used to constant entertainment. Her father, however, doesn’t have time to care about Joëlle. For him, the village is an investment project. He’s planning to build new houses, whatever is old, has to go. Out of boredom, Joëlle is lingering around the old school. But she is by far not the only one: A police woman is guarding the school during the holidays. She doesn’t like it when children are hanging around in places where they shouldn’t be. The skeleton from the biology class has been in the school for ages and knows stories about when Mr. Fiedler was a child and the cactus a delicate plant in a flower pot. The two sparrows under the roof are observing what is happening in and around the house. And then it all goes haywire: Mr. Fiedler is delivering a speech in the empty auditorium and talks about parallel universes. Joëlle sticks to her guns. Armin tries to learn more about the school from her. And the police woman has to escort Mr. Fiedler, the man who used to be her teacher, out of the school building. The play will be produced as a Hungarian-Swiss coproduction in autumn 2011. The coproduction will be also presented at the 20th Anniversary of Kolibri Theatre in Junuary 2012.

The Last First Week

La Factoria Teatro Santiago de Chile La Factoria Teatro is a Physical-Gestural Theatre Company, founded in 2002 by Marcos Belmar and Paulina Flores in Santiago de Chile. Both are graduates of the Escuela La Mancha, which follows the guidelines of L’Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France. The style of staging of this company is based on gesture and image as essential tools of expression, in which audiences can easily identify with the thoughts, emotions and feelings expressed in the scene, regardless of age, social class or intellectual ability. The company has conducted seminars with the techniques of Gesture and Physical Theatre in Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires. It has also put on performances in Argentina and Spain and will perform soon in Germany.

Productions Hijos de la Noche (2002 Chile, 2008 Argentina) La Leyenda de Lu (2003 Chile) Urbano (2004 Chile) Sinfonía (2005–2007) *Winner Play in Encuentro Internacional de Teatro ‘OTOÑO AZUL’ VII Argentina edition 2006: ‘Best Show by Audience Vote’ *Winner Play: First Place in VI Festival Internacional RADIO CITY Valencia – España 2006 Los Albornoz. Delicias de una familia argentina (By Banda Teatral Los Macocos, 2008 Festival Internacional Iberescena, 2010 Chile) Martín (2011 Chile, Alemania, Argentina – Inspired ‘El Che Guevara’ by Gabriel Fernández Chapo) factoriateatro@gmail.com http://lafactoriateatro.blogspot.com 52

La Factoria Teatro

La Factoria Teatro participated in Encuentro de Directores de Teatro (Encounter of Directors of Theatre), in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the project ‘Patios de recreo’, directed by ATINA Argentina, in connection with the European project PLATFORM 11+. The company was selected and sponsored by PLATFORM 11+ to present the play ‘Martin’, inspired by ‘Ché Guevara’ by Gabriel Fernandez Chapo (AR). It will be performed at the 2nd Annual Encounter of PLATFORM 11+ in Dresden, Germany in June and in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October 2011.

Martín

Inspired by “I don’t want to be Ché Guevara” by Gabriel Fernández Chapo (AR) The story takes place primarily in the school, which Martin attends. He is a young introvert, and crazy about the Terminator movies. He hides in the school and creates an imaginary world there with the character. At the same time he is bullied by his classmates. At first he ignores the bullying, but when his classmates persist with the bullying, he finally reacts violently. The central theme is bullying. Bullying means intimidating, abusive, aggressive behaviour, which is intended to harm others. It is often carried out over a period of time in which there is an interpersonal relationship characterized by inequality (imbalance) of power. Bullying is a real and serious problem in schools, regardless of country, size of school, cultural diversity, socioeconomic level of students or the educational unit of schools. The phenomenon of bullying or intimidation may be explained by common sense, and by media reports as a way of understanding aggression in the context of schools. As such, an act of aggression in school may be covered by the term bullying, when in fact this is too narrow a concept. The term needs to be further defined in order for it to acquire meaning and value. It is one part of a much broader reality, which is school violence. Direction: Marcos Belmar Cast: Paulina Flores, Matías Pozo, Marcos Belmar Technician assistant: Sebastián León Premiere Santiago de Chile: May 26, Centro Cultural of San Joaquín Martín

Sarah Seddon Company Administrator, United Kingdom A picture from my favourite year at school, the only 2 years where I fitted in, before the end of our second year in High School when all my friends were split into different classes. This year I was form captain, hockey captain, and sang in three different choirs, and also had a really bad haircut!

Peter Horvath Playwright, Hungary I was a child in the darkest years of the fifties. In 1956 there was a revolution in Hungary, a protest against the socialist regime. My father was one of the leaders of the revolt in Szeged, so when it failed, my father was imprisoned. I remember well the night when he was arrested and dragged away by soldiers. The window in

Petra Tejnorová Director & Playwright, Czech Republic Veronika was my classmate at primary school. She was a cruel type of a leader of class and she always establihed, what’s in and what’s out. She was always weared in expensive wear, she was the first, who started rouging, her father was a camion-driver. Once I visited her, it was the day when also her friend from Cˇeské Budeˇjovice was there for a visit and when she recieved a present from her father – two wigs. The first wig was blue and Veronika didn’t want to borrow it, the second wig was still trying her friend from Cˇeské Budeˇjovice. I rembember how I was watching them wearing these wigs… The day after I came to school; even though Veronika had water on her knee and was slightly limping, she came to school in the blue wig. We all envied her. The class started, the teacher entered, looked around the room and said: “I ask Veronika to take that horrible thing off her head”. The moment when she put the wig off, my image of her changed completely. I saw her pinned head, thin hair, uneven teeth.

Schoolyard Memories

children’s room faced the grey jail building. Very bad guys were imprisoned there (as my parents used to

if I, like my father, was imprisoned. It was like a prison,

previously tell us), so it was hard to understand, that

because juvenile offenders lived in this kind of “board-

my father lived there too. That time I was only able to

ing school” too. The schoolyard was a chestnut forest;

read the ‘capital letters’, but I could read the captions

we always played war, pelting each other with balls of

on the walls saying “YOU ‘COUNTER-REVOLUTIONIST’

chestnut. In every war I played the spy, I was caught

LURKING IN THE DARKNES, DO TREMBLE!” If my father

and tortured by the enemies and my cohort as well.

is guilty, I have to be guilty as well, I thought. Anyway, back then I learned that everybody is my My mother was supposed to get a divorce, she lost our

enemy and nobody will help me in my life. To be hon-

flat and her workplace, so she had to send me and my

est, it didn’t happen this way, but I will never forget

brother to live in a boarding school. I was the best pupil

how this time. To save my face, I started to create an

there, so I had to get my punishment from the school-

alternative reality. It was the time when I started to be

mates mates with whom I shared the room. At night,

a writer. The days, upon which I could successfully tell a

after the teacher had turned the light off, my mates

new, exciting story, my mates didn’t beat me. It was an

gave me the same number of slaps in the face as the

unimaginably hard school for me, but nowadays I think

marks I had got that day in the class. 28 children lived

it was nice, and my heart is full of thanks for guys who

in the dormitory, and: I was good at learning. I felt as

taught me to write.

Joãozinho was around nine years old, not very tall and with frisky eyes, he was the star of the recess break at school, bossy and belligerent, he managed that everybody was submissive to him, all but me, of course. As to be expected, such situation brought me daily problems, from craved car toys to cheating on the bottle cap races. Besides this Joãozinho had another reason to hate me, Maria! Who had only eyes for me in spite of all his efforts. One day we were having a piggy back race at the gymnastics lesson when Joãozinho hopped on to Artur Grilo’s back. He grabbed me in a race that was already not very balanced. My legs weakened and we all fell down, with me under everybody! I hit with my nose on what probably was a elbow, and that caused me to be unconscious for some time. While that happened Joãozinho, Grilo and some others were making fun of me. When I recovered, I continued class as if nothing had happened, and those, the stylish ones, were more and more furious, calling me sissy and other adjectives, and even the girls were eagerly waiting for a fight – The pressure was so much that the fight really happened, pushing here shoving there, when I noticed I was already on the floor slapping Joãozinho. The teacher had to do something, he separated us and shouted, promising punishments, and maintaining his careless attitude, with a touch of pleasure on watching the acts of violence and control on the nature of his students.

As one could guess the guerilla kept surreptitious, inside the locker room and then outside the gym. Always with some janitor looking at us. The playground was full and I felt that the pack wolves craved for blood!… Joãozinho and the others wanted more! When Mais arrived, big ‘water belly’ the school head janitor came straight to me and grabbed me by my coat’s collar, lifting me from the floor. His screams used the famous belly as an amplifier, so they sounded like thunder. Joãozinho and the others made fun and said that after school I was going to ‘pay’! With my feet in the air I shouted to Joãozinho! I’ll kick your asses one by one! And you’ll lose a tooth, just wait and see! Everyone laughed, but Water Belly didn’t. He took me to the principal’s office, I sat waiting for about half an hour and then I was given a scolding and another message in a sealed letter for my father etc, this lasted the whole morning. When I left school, there was an ambulance leaving the school gate. It had come, as I found out shortly afterwards , to fetch Joãozinho who had broken his little head when rolling down the marble stairs. This happened just as he was bragging about his ‘victory’. Besides the big bump in his head Joãozinho also broke a little bit of his big front tooth (a pretty common sight for kids of this age) Recently I met Joãozinho. He didn’t recognize me. But I have good pictures in my head. He still has his little tooth broken; now, it’s not imperfection but a trace of personality. God doesn’t exist but punishes!

Marion Jõepera Playwright , Estonia Secretly, I sneaked onto the roof of my school. It was strictly forbidden and only a couple of people I knew had managed to do it. The roof was slippery since it had been been raining almost all day. And now the Sun was starting to set. I walked up to the highest and farthest edge of the roof and wrote the date and my name on the ventilation shaft.And I put down a thought which I don’t remember anymore. It was a day when the world was empty and devoid of reason and meaning. I sat down and the Sun went down at that same moment. The white-washed walls of the old church standing across the road from our school were colored golden. I just sat. I sat still until it was time to leave since the school was closing. At that moment, the rain stopped. I still hope to return one day and to see other names written on that white shaft wall. On the photo: This is one of the first photos taken of me during school time (there are no school related pictures of me from a younger age at all). It’s not taken on a schoolyard, but a bit further away. Taken on a day when nothing was certain anymore and all the memories of school time faded into an early summer oblivion. The only thing left to do was to spend the entire day trying to choose a train to board. I didn’t.

Schoolyard Memories

Photo: Maria Lee

Nuno de Mello Visual Artist, Portugal

2nd Annual Encounter Palmela, Portugal The first year of Platform 11+ included the so called ‘National Phase’. The theatres commissioned authors to write plays based on ‘schoolyard research’ specifically for the 11–15 year olds. These plays were then premiered in the according theatre in season 2009/2010. The purpose of the 2nd Annual Encounter, the climax of the networking, was to facilitate the exchange of the first phase projects that had been completed at the end of season 2009/10. Teatro O Bando, one of the best known theatres in Portugal, was the host of this meeting, which took place in Palmela, Portugal from the 23rd – 27th of June, 2010. Ten years ago, after residing for many years in Lisbon, Teatro O Bando left the capital city behind and converted two old barns in a nature reserve into their new home. The magic of this place not only influences the work of the theatre but also the atmosphere at the Annual Encounter, at which more than 90 artists from all the participating countries met. Before the meetings about the National Phase and theatre productions, all the participants came together for the opening of the exhibition, which had been mounted by the Visual artists. Platform 11+ has made it their aim to be an interdisciplinary project and to integrate the fine arts into the project work. 13 visual artists, commissioned by all partners, got together for 3 weeks in a Plein Air accompanied by Andrew Siddall (Emergency Exit Arts, London), Member of the Project Management Team.

2nd Annual Encounter

Plein Air By Andrew Siddall “Here, new material traces of your presence will remain, but the marks that are left to last and guide the path that we keep covering, are the same ones that will be immaterially carved in the memory of each and everyone. Those will be encrypted on the bodies as if they had been deeply scratched into the skin by the spoken wind that fondles and opens inexorable wrinkles on our faces.” Joao Brites Artistic Director, Teatro O Bando I borrow these words of Joao Brites, written for last seasons’ Yearbook, because I think they perfectly express the effect that we had on the landscape of the Vale dos Barris, and more importantly, the effect that it had on us. There are few people who visit the Vale that do not have an automatic reaction: ‘it’s beautiful’ they cry; ‘wow’ they exclaim; or they stand, in silence, drinking it in. On my first visit, I did all three. It is undeniably beautiful: the castle at the head; the perfect ‘V’ shaped valley; the multiple shades of green, yellow and brown; red roof slates and twisted olive trees; all capped João Brites, Artistic

by the most perfect azure skies.

Director, welcomes the

Yet this landscape is also rugged and unforgiving. Tough. The

Visual Artists to Teatro

heat in June can be intense; beating down with an unrelent-

O Bando on the first

ing pulse on windless days, drying the sweat off your back

evening

before it has time to run. When the wind does come, it is laden with dust and pollen and swirls harshly around cor-

The Visual Artists explore

ners. But mostly it is still, very still; broken only by the sound

their places of work for

of crickets chirruping, goat bells clanging, or neighbourhood

the first time

dogs barking; which only serves to accentuate the heat. The Plein Air

sides of the valley are steep, from 45 to 75 degree climbs, and it’s a good thirty minutes from bottom to top. The ground can be hard going: tussocks of grass, loose rocks and stones – even the wood sleeper paths are hard underfoot. Into this small stretch of land the thirteen Platform partners sent their artists. Three weeks on a hillside; to eat, live and work together. Some of us had met briefly in Budapest the previous year, but there were also newcomers, and latecomers. New relationships needed to be established, seeded and grown. Houses and cars had to be shared. Tools, materials, space and creative approaches had to be borrowed. Late sleepers and early risers identified. It’s relatively simple to decide to send ’13 Artists’ on a project: the problems are logistical and financial and can be dealt with. But what we really did was send 13 People on a project (17 in reality) and this becomes as much about relationships and friendships, expectations and realities, discussion and argument, demands and compromises, as it does about creating the work itself. Creating new art is often a selfish process; it is about having a vision and making it come true, become real. In the midst of that desire it is sometimes hard to make space for others, or for other’s processes. Even if you’re used to collaborating in a theatre setting you’re usually used to collaborating with members of a team who all have different responsibilities: director, designer, producer, choreographer… they rarely all have the same title; Artist. The different roles come together to create the whole. Here, in the Vale dos Barris, 13 disparate people with the same title, came together to create new art, which collectively, made a whole. And so you have the Landscape, and you have the Artists. How do they fit together? How does one sit comfortably in or on the other? How does one influence, change and mark the other? Which comes first; the chicken or the egg? The whole team arrived bursting with ideas and plans and a desire to dash up the hillside and start moving things around: making, hauling, constructing and de-constructing. There’s a lot of pressure; there’s only three weeks! The time to pause and consider, to listen, to wonder and 58

Plein Air

Plein Air: Making plans for the next three weeks

contemplate, is speeded up in cities: it happens in moments rather than hours, a single day rather than several. Teatro Bando, in the valley, have found the space, the time and the confidence to pause for thought. As they have influenced the landscape so the landscape has influenced them; and it did the same for us. With their warm and hospitable help we stopped, we looked, and we listened. And slowly, we found our way around the hillside, and found a home for what we wanted to create. There were compromises and negotiations, expectations that could never be met, and realities which were unforeseen. This is the process of plans made on paper becoming real, on a landscape in which paper is blown away on the wind. These are the ‘solid material traces left to last and guide the path’. But what makes the indelible marks in our hearts? How does something become ‘encrypted on our bodies’, or ‘deeply scratched into our skin’? For me it happens in the process, in the shared experience of working together in circumstances which throw everyone off-balance: the unusual, the unexpected, and the unforeseen. It is in the relationships which develop, the coming to terms with a new place, a new culture and a new set of circumstances, it is in the day to day lives of people, Artists or otherwise, drawing from each other, leaning on each other, relying on each other. The middle ten days of the Plein Air, when the initial whirlwind of dust had settled, and the final few days exhilaration had not yet been whipped up, were extraordinary. A work ethic of which any nation would be proud, a collaborative spirit which saw people solving each others’ problems and making space for each other to complete the tasks at hand, visits from local schoolchildren which enlivened and inspired the hillside, and the general satisfaction of bringing to completion something which had begun as an ephemeral wisp of air and which was now a solid piece of art. There were countless moments of celebration – from technologies usually confined to the laboratory coming alive in the wilderness, to the discovery of a child’s rocking chair in a junk yard, and the turning on of a shower high in a hillside ‘nest’. These moments were brought to life by a combination of determination, imagination, and creation. Three elements which, when working and creating with teenagers, are essential. The experience proved, beyond doubt, that the theatres’ had made the right choices, had sent the right people: and that the results would speak to all those who came to the hillside to witness. The ‘inexorable wrinkles on our faces’ have been born out of hard work, out of a belief in our messages and our means of communicating them. As I look in the mirror and watch those wrinkles deepen, it is experiences such as this which are written on my face. Long hours and long days spent aiming for the inexplicable, the unwritten, and the untested. It’s not safe. It’s not easy. But it is worth it. Plein Air

Ilaria Ariemme (Italy) & Stuart Childs (United Kingdom)

Five Elements “Would you like a cup of tea?” What better way could there be to meet somebody than to offer him a nice cup of tea on the hill?! The first thing was a relationship, a meeting. Platform 11+ is a project full of relationships; it’s a project that wants to put many theatrical realities in a relationship. In Budapest, Stuart and I were really surprised about how we could to stay together, discovering many common things and confronting one each other also understanding how different we were. Like in the theatre. I always see many different people in the theatre, people with very different sensibilities and lives, working together with a common passion and the same desire to touch human hearts. The second thing was about the language. It was really amazing to realize that one doesn’t have to speak the same language perfectly in order to connect ideas and to desire to do a project together. Like in the theatre. The other thing was the location. Every visual artists had the possibility to use one of the twelve wooden stages located on a lovely Portuguese hillside under the OBando Theatre to create a personal installation. This fact immediately grabbed my interest: twelve stages on the slopes of a hill, twelve performance in a night up to the top… such a beautiful moment, almost holy, like a holy ceremony. Beautiful and holy. Like the theatre. In this way “The Four Ladies” was born. Ladies represent the four elements of the nature: air, water, fire and heart. They are the basis of the material of reality, so they are common to everyone and they are understood by everyone. Stuart and I built them, combining our different abilities: his technological knowledge and my passion for old techniques and natural materials. The Ladies invited people to discovery the fifth element. It was the tea. “Would you like a cup of tea?” What better way to meet somebody than to ofFive Elements

fer him a nice cup of tea on the hill?! And the people could sit down together to relax for a moment, drinking tea and in the end leave us with their used tea-bag like their personal mark, like saying “I have been here”. Drink by drink, Stuart and I added the tea-bag to a big wall made of tea bags that I had collected over several years. I drank tea alone or with other people, friends, family, strangers: every tea is a story, every one of them is a moment with someone, every one of them tells about some life. Stories told an audience and this audience that became protagonist because its presence is necessary to tell this stories. Like in theatre Ilaria Ariemme June was here, I had packed my bags for the Palmela residency and was travelling to the airport full of excitement. I couldn’t wait to meet up with the other artists again – it seemed so long since our first encounter in Budapest. I knew that I was headed for an old olive farm (O Bando’s home) for just over 3 weeks to work on an installation, and that there was a lot of work ahead, but I wasn’t sure of much else. I arrived at the airport, meeting Maude, Johanna and Sven – some familiar faces – before heading to the villa that would be my home for the following weeks. What an incredible home it was, a villa with it’s own pool – and Ilaria, my Italian friend was already there to greet me. When I saw the pool I just had to jump straight in! It was just what I needed after travelling, and a lovely start to the first evening. Meeting people again after almost a year was really good – conversations soon sprang up of our time in Budapest and what we would be doing in Palmela. The O Bando team gave us a very warm welcome and showed us around their site – what a place 62

Five Elements

to have a theatre. It was very different to anything I had seen before with performance spaces inside and out, as well as a huge hillside with a view of the valley opposite. Ilaria and I had decided to work together for our installation in Palmela. We had kept in touch online – sharing ideas, sketches and plans for the residency. I wasn’t sure what collaborating with another artist would be like – especially with language barriers, the pressure of time and working in a foreign environment. We spent the first few days refining our ideas, discussing them with the group and sharing our visions, plans and reasoning. It certainly helped that we were communicating in my mother tongue, I can only imagine how it felt for the other artists on the project. I sometimes find it hard to communicate my ideas in my own language, let alone in a foreign one! I like to think I managed to teach some of the other artists some… useful English phrases and peculiarities. Working outside was a fantastic experience for me. The O Bando hillside was beautiful but very different to working in a white space gallery. As well as the burning sun we were sharing the hill with plenty of insects, small animals and even goats that were herded across the hillside every few days. I can clearly remember the sound of the goats’ bells clanging as they nibbled at grass and bushes along the way. As well as being shown different shops that we could buy materials from (and more importantly food and wine) a number of us went with Portuguese artist Nuno to a junk yard about an hour’s drive from Palmela. It was like a small personal heaven. We had a good rummage for materials for our installations, and I also managed to acquire some nice bits for other projects back home. Stuart Childs

Five Elements

Sabine Beyerle & David Reuter (Germany)

Building a Nest Our installation ‘Nestbau’ (building a nest) represents our current situation as a family. We posed ourselves the question: Will it still be possible for us to continue our work as an artist couple, now that we have two small children? Building a nest and seeking the safety of privacy are rather common metaphors for the status of a family. But what will happen if we do not hide or cocoon in private spheres but go out and let others participate in the situation? The idea of our first ‘family sculpture’ came to life and according to our principles of ‘art in action’ we wanted to confront and involve the visitors physically as well as mentally. Like birds, we carried everything that suited our needs up the hill and slowly formed a gigantic nest, under a huge olive tree. The tree gave us shelter from sun and rain and formed the background of our nest. Within the first week we built the basic construction using old wood and stage elements that we found in the bushes of O Bando. Like birds, we tried to make use of everything that was lying around. The O Bando team was clearing the ground for the festival so we found plenty of branches, bushes, hay and grass that formed the outer shape of our nest. It was not easy work: the hill was rough and the bushes were thorny; the sun was sometimes too strong for the kids. To keep everybody in our team happy we had to involve the kids and work together with them, at other times one of us was the babysitter, the other had to work hard and concentrated to get finished. Our perfect working time was after lunch, the hottest time in the day, when everybody else was taking a rest and our kids slept in a hammock in the shade of the olive tree. In the second week we searched for our indoor furniture, found a lot at Lisbon’s flea market, the Chinese Supermarket, the hardware store and in O Bando’s workshop, just to mention the beautiful glass chandelier that later hung alight in the olive tree above our nest. 64

Building a Nest

So slowly, by the third week our nest had taken shape and we could hardly wait to move in. It was a mixture of the fulfilment of our childhood dreams and the current need to form a habitable space up on the hill for our family. In the end, our nest was perfect: we had running water, electricity, a toilet, shower, a cooking area, a small fridge, comfortable beds made of straw, and a fantastic view of the Portuguese nature. The starlit nights in our nest, the feeling of being outside in the nature but still cosy and protected were a fair trade for all the hard work of the last weeks. Our performance was the logical consequence of the nest building: The visitor could step up a ladder, have a look inside the nest and observe our daily routines. Playing with the kids, cooking dinner together, reading a bedtime story, putting the kids to bed, drinking a last beer of the day, working on the computer, watching TV (football), one of us going out, one staying at home with the kids. Around midnight we turned out the chandelier light and went to sleep. It was an extraordinary experience, a mixture of total extroversion and intimacy at the same time. It was an experiment to combine our different roles as father, mother and artists and we were very happy to realize it was working out. Our kids had a lot of fun and the visitors were astonished and moved by our nest and the performance. David Reuter Building a Nest

Michiel Johannes Jansen (The Netherlands)

It so happened that This provisional sculpture is inspired by the works of the Dutch writer and translator August Willemsen (1936 – 2007). His colourful life and the inestimable value of his translations from Portuguese and Brazilian literature are of unprecedented value for the European civilization in general and that of the Netherlands in particular. He kept his breath and held his high words always ready to ascend. By Beatriz, Helena, Goncalo, Catarina, Maria, Alice, Adriana, Emilia, Eduardo, Diogo, Inês, Paulo, Vasco, Inês, Catarina, Daniela, Raul, Pedro, Ana, Mauro and Michiel Johannes Jansen. When I arrived in Palmela, Portugal, I quickly found an appropriate spot for my work. A large stone that served as a natural base. The slope of the hill determined the progress of the development of the temporary sculpture. From the beginning, I searched for a content line, which allows children to help me to work at my sculpture and my contribution to Under Olive Trees. I used my technical experience to bronze cast a number of sculptures. Technical knowledge which the temporary nature of the work can underline. Besides a number of experiments with different types of plaster, it was important to find out how much breath could be blown into the balloons. Too much breath and they immediately burst in the sun. The material was already fixed. I took a hundred balloons to Palmela. A balloon is an existing form, in which every child can leave his breath. And you wouldn’t find that balloon quickly in a Portuguese National Park. Thinking of Portugal, brought me to the author and translator August Willemsen. He has brought 66

It so happened that

with his Portuguese translations an invaluable contribution to the Dutch culture. He also confirmed, the importance of the translator in our culture. As Goethe said “Our entire western civilization is based on translated literature”. Willemsen stuttered especially when he needed to speak. Acting went very well. Whilst acting he could speak the words from somebody else easily. He needed precise control of his breathing to speak his own words. These words were always sharp, beautiful, vital and high. Two school classes have visited me whilst creating the sculpture. I told them about the Dutch translator, the making of the images and the release of the breath. Twenty students, aged between 10 and 13, filled a balloon with their breath and covered the balloon with a thin layer of plaster. These balloons were placed next to my sculpture on the big rock. At the opening of the exhibition, the sculpture is in dissolution. Over three months, mainly young people can do a tour on the hill. After these three months, there isn’t much left of the sculpture to see. The host Teatro O Bando could easily clean up the remaining buckets and store them in the greenhouse. Michiel Johannes Jansen

It so happened that

Marie Černiková (Czech Republic)

In / Out I didn’t strictly plan what I would do in Palmela. I was thinking about nature and people, wondering if everything would change so that trees would behave and think like people do. Interesting for me, as a visual artist, is the difference between self seeing, self perception as a part of the unit, what is behind the wish to look somehow, want to be observed, self presenting, self observing, selfperceptiveness… be seen, but not too much. My plan for plein air was only hard physical work. So I was gardening my own way: not put things into nature, not make new things.. just recycle, tidy up... everything was made, everything was invented, every idea was thought… recycle, make, live, survive… recycle the thought, just remove. Removing sentences brings new sense… removing letters brings nonsense, don’t want to be new. don’t want to invent, don’t want to make things better… just the physical: the movement, just move. The goal I did was surprise for me, the sculpture like a guerilla garden. I moved the stones for Nature tattoo, the letter “N”: like ninja, nature, never, nobody, nothing. Moving stones is hard physical work, but not as difficult as moving the plants. Roots are long, curly and deep in the earth, the same shapes as ornaments on Portuguese tiles… Whatever I did, great and powerful, was co-exist with other artists on the hill, met them, spoke with them, lived with them on the golf resort. Great experience. Marie Černiková In / Out

Zuzana Hudekova (Slovakia)

Boys&Girls The inspiration for this installation made for Plein Air Palmela project grew out of my everyday work in school where I am teaching art. When I started to teach these children who are in all kind of age categories, I was becoming more and more interested in the differences between boys and girls. It is very interesting to see their behavior and relationships in different age. There is a period when they just hate each other, they do not know exactly why but they do so. Quite a long time before I started to teach I read a book in which the writer describes what girls and boys are draw the most. There was also an example attached, a cute princess was shown on the girl’s page and a war on the boy’s page. Somebody will think that it is just a one big cliché but I was very surprised when I got these two same pictures from my students during my first lesson. From this time on I started to research this topic. I was observing the differences between boys and girls, their behaviour, their clothes, their thoughts and opinions, the colours that they use when doing artwork, what they read and what kind of hobbies they have. When I got the opportunity to create an installation for Platform 11+ I used my previous research again but I decided to add one more level and that was the view of an adult. My aim was to create two spaces, one of which belongs to a girl and the second to a boy. The spectator who enters these spaces is allowed to touch, play, feel and perceive all the things which are placed there. I started to collect toys and all kinds of objects, first in Slovakia and then I continued in Palmela as well. After I found the perfect hidden place up on the hill I asked the Portuguese children to divide all the toys and to place them either in a girl’s room or a boy’s room. When I was ready with the collecting I began to build the children’s rooms in the mid-

Boys&Girls

dle of pure nature. I was trying to feel myself as a child by creating the installation. The very important element in my work was the work with colours and exact placement for each object. The result of three weeks work was an installation which should bring the spectator back to childhood, remembering all the questions: Why all the girls like pink and why all the boys are so stupid? The spectator fell into the time when boys and girls are sitting in their shelters and their interests, dreams and hopes are completely different. Every person who entered was free to discover all the secrets. It depended on the person viewing to become smaller and childish again to enjoy, because at the end, all the illusions, fantasy and favourite toys which had lost their special quality, were thrown into the garbage. At the 足entrance the spectator got his own toy which could be placed in the installation or taken away as a memory. The reaction of the spectators differed. Some of them just hugged me and were very thankful that I brought them back to the childhood for this little while, some of them were not able to become a child again, so they felt like some kind of strange observers and there were some people who did not want to leave the space anymore. It was a pleasure to work up on the hill in Teatro O Bando in Palmela. This project was a great experience in a very peaceful atmosphere. If I could go and work there again I would not hesitate for a minute. Zuzana Hudekova

Boys&Girls

Maude Vuilleumier (Switzerland)

Crossing Lines While I was in Zurich, I was looking at different schoolyards to find out the typical qualities of them. I noticed the many and various lines on the ground for the different games for the children. Nobody knows which line is for which game. My first visit to the hill of Palmela was very special and wonderful, the sun went down very quickly and suddenly it was night time and pretty cold. The atmosphere became very different, there was a different energy. The next day we went out looking for our place to work. As I searched for my own place I felt, that the place was searching me. I sat down and realized this place really belongs to me. Afterwards the whole group had to draw their places on a map and we were astonished, that each one of us found a different place, well distributed in different places on the hill, so that we did not have any problems with each other. I claimed my place by pulling and rooting out the thorny plants with my hands. Those plants looked wonderful but scratched my arms and legs. Luckily the earth was not yet too dry. But the thistles had grown back again the next day. I sketched out my lines with wooden strips, which I found in the theatre, this theatre was the perfect supplier of material. My piece of land was about 15 metres long and on one end 2 metres wide and on the other end 5 metres wide. This irregularity led to an anamorphous. That means that the schoolyard can only be seen from one side in real proportion. I could 72

Crossing Lines

examine the effect of the lines only on one side and I hoped that it would also look good from the other side. After scratching all the lines as well as possible I tried to dig the wooden strips into the earth. But this was much more difficult than I expected, because the ground was meantime completely dry and solid. I was looking for water to make the earth wet and soft, I finally found it three days later. So I was able to fix the wooden strips into the earth. Now I started to paint those strips with yellow and white paint. But I had a lot of little uninvited visitors, the ants. They were crawling over the fresh paint and getting stuck on it. The next day, when the painting was dry, the ants had left anthills on my work. So every day I had a battle against those small invaders. The next step was to fix ropes from one olive tree to the other. So I could stretch cotton fabrics on these ropes. That meant strenuous tree climbing. I took some characters from the authors to make a link to the co-production play between Budapest and Zurich. These puppets were visible at the day and at night they threw shadows on the fabric. At the end my installation, a Palmela hill displayed this story with lots of secrets: What happens on the schoolyard during the night? Does the rubbish bin start to speak? Do the skeletons and the spiders break out of the schoolhouse? Does the ghost of the schoolhouse play football with the old cactus? Does the retired Headmaster of the school haunt the grounds? Anything could happen! A schoolyard is buried in the land of the hillside. Lines from a football field and markings from a basketball court interfere with each other. In my installation the landscape of Palmela is mixed up with shadows playing on fabric panels: mirages, illusions, reflections â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you never know what could appear. You are taking, inevitably, an active part in this world of strange things. Maude Vuilleumier Crossing Lines

Nuno Gabriel de Mello (Portugal)

Box of Secrets Nowadays itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a huge and rare privilege to participate in artistic experiences with the conceptual and logistic quality which we can see in Under the Olive Trees. For an artist, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like a journey in which we set sail without any destination. A journey we plan as we go. The steps we take are often a result of the ideas and perspective of the other artists who, without meaning it, end up participating in the collective work. From the outside, it seems to have been created by another order. Under the Olive Trees created unlikely relationships under special, even extraordinary, conditions. It invented a new daily routine which became a shared reality. The relationships between people, their complicities, the project, the artists and their works, the intervention space, the Âirregularities of nature, the sound, the silences, the goats, the trees, the steps, the meetings, the meals, the fresh laughs, made up moments that are present every single day. We talked about life, men and peace. We built a way towards reflection and a route to asceticism. We made and sung theatre itself, the one which is universal, progressive, the one which produces memories. If it all started from zero {0}, we would see stones and trees sprouting from the floor and each man and woman would be born to inhabit a corner, which is like an entire universe for them; At stage one {1}, the spaces meet in their new limits, rejecting boundaries. Men and women who inhabit these places become their consciences, establishing a connection through a chemical exchange. At stage two, a community was born, made up at first by emotions and then by ideas. At stage three, we built a real world and an eternal friendship. Nuno Gabriel de Mello

Box of Secrets

Inga Vares (Estonia)

Red Grass Grass is red. Sun is burning. Smells like a field from childhood. Goats with hundreds of bells passing by, sounding like an orchestra. Sweat is armour that holds you up all day… Silence… The Hill! Just one long perfect day… was this our month in Palmela hosted so kindly by Teatro O Bando and Platform11+ team. What a great invitation it was – come to an Olive Tree Hill to interact with Nature and possibly later with (theatre) an audience – build an installation that grows out of Earth, dissolves into it, doesn’t trouble it. What changes with light, what answers to wind, what makes birds wonder, can I nest into it? What frames your past and brings thoughts about your future, what binds us together for this tiny moment we meet? The lightness of ‘not done’ yet, the openness of our forever childlike heart. We worked in close collaboration with 11 different European artists, having most wonderful villa for a home with extraordinary artist-family (it took a long time to decorate our dinners!). We made friends for life, everyone of us. A deep bow, my dear colleagues! Being tenderly guided by a force named Sid (bow for you, Andrew Siddall!) we all reached our very best limits… till the top of The Hill… during Fullmoon Night. Was a blessing to inspire all Platform-people having good night time in our mind-park, was this carved or cut into soil. Making wishes, sending thoughts to birds to… seeing landscapes known as mosaic of wonders… Till the Tram of Time took us back to home. I keep binding good wish letters to Olive Tree branches on Palmela Hill in my dreams and thoughts for you all. The Red is Grass. Inga Vares written during HELP! - VAT Theatre premiere, Tallinn 09 May 2011 Red Grass

Marianne Loraas (Norway)

Kaleidoskope Hospitality, beautiful people, exotic weather and open nature. A beautiful base for a visual exhibition. Two large kaleidoscope sculptures and a work table with small kaleidoscopes, made up my exhibition on the beautiful hill side. A place to explore the beautiful forms contained in the kaleidoscope. Kalos means beautiful, Eidos means form, and scopein means to search for. In the quest for beautiful shapes. The exhibition site people who visited the kaleidoscopes became involved and tried to look for beautiful shapes. They searched, looked again and were impressed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; It was as if I was possessed with my project, which is still in development today. People were curious, inquisitive, involved and creative. It was nice and inspiring to see the work of the visitors on the hillside. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; They came onto the platform, looked around, saw the kaleidoscope, showed each other, and at night kaleidoscope videos were made by the visitors directly projected onto the screen in the landscape. Many of the visitors got their own kaleidoscope movie sent by e-mail afterwards. Work shop and silk. Silk was used instead of glass in front of the kaleidoscope and the silk was the work of teachers in Italy for the advanced teachers meeting in October 2009. The work table with kaleidoscopes was more exploratory than the large kaleidoscopes, because the big kaleidoscopes were fixed and could not move. Work shops with pupils from the Poseidon Escola and Escola EB 2,3 hermenegildo capelo were enriching, the pupils helped with the exploration of the kaleidoscope. The visit to Poseidon Escoela gave me a lot to build on and I hope I get another opportunity to visit the pupils there. 78

Kaleidoskope

Changing through the year. Neither the glass pieces from Galterud school or movement in the kaleidoscope were possible to bring to the exhibition site. Teatro O Bando was afraid the Glass pieces might cause a fire on the hill side and that the portable kaleidoscope would be stolen by the visitors, so it had to be firmly fixed. For me, as an entrepreneur artist, it was not good that I was unable to have mobile sculptures. This is something Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned from and would have resolved in a different way today. The project changed through the year from a one night exhibition, to a one week exhibition, a three week exhibition, to a permanent exhibition and to an exhibition that would become one with the terrain and beautifully deteriorate over many years. In early discussions about the exhibition it was said that the art work would consist of visible landmarks from surrounding areas. It turned out during our stay to be invisible marks on the mountainside, marks which shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be visible from the road. Collaboration with the theatre. Cooperation between the Braget Theatre and the House of Illustration has been enriching for me. The way the people visualized the play with the nine glass pictures was very nice and even gave the award-winning play an extra dimension. As an artist, this was educational and enlightening. The common thread in the visual project and the play, was clear and very good. Marianne Loraas

Kaleidoskope

LĹ&#x2018;rinc Boros (Hungary)

The Tram My concept was born out of three ideas, three feelings. Naturally one of them was the play Emil and the Detectives 2010 which premiered in Hungary. This had to be the basic starting point. But I felt it was more important for whom, where and in which country this installation was created. Thus I was looking for a common point that was present in everything. That is how the idea of building an enchanted tram came about. A tram travelling between two countries which appears in a different form and material every time. The tram is a defining element of both the play and the two countries. An old Hungarian poem, a tale that my mother used to tell me before I went to sleep was a lot of help for me in this. We hear a lot about a sleeping tram in that poem. I wanted to build an installation that could fly us anywhere on the wings of a dream, children and adults alike. I imagined this tram to appear as a part of the mountain in Palmela, appearing as a perfect part, a unit, thus a magical tale and reality can appear strengthening and completing each other. We started work by finding materials that were not used in the theatre any more, but were all the more valuable to us. Then during the ongoing workshop we all occupied ourselves with getting to know the mountain and finding the perfect place for our separate planned installations. We bought things and looked for the necessary tools together in Palmela. After this I spent two weeks on the chosen small stage building the tram. The structure was built from wood, and then I covered it with a metal net and the grass carpet. Finally I built two benches and a control cabin inside the tram and painted them with three basic colors. I aimed at creating the illusion that the tram was actually coming out of the mountain flying up into the sky, so I also had to be concerned with its surroundings. I did not only cover the tram with grass, but 80

The Tram

its immediate surroundings as well. This was complemented by small islands of stones and flowers. The tram got its own front lights and a glowing electric line as well. Finally it received the number 11+. Although I think back on these several creative weeks as the most honest, freest creation of my life, still, I think the most important thing was the time spent together. The events we experienced together and what we did together â&#x20AC;&#x201C; connected to the work in almost every respect. The moment when I realized that there are no borders and a common language does actually exist: communication. And for that, it is not necessary that we speak the same language or come from the same country. Our common creation and the knowledge given to one another became important. We can be together, independent of everything. Human beings can be human beings; that is what theatre is also about for me. LĹ&#x2018;rinc Boros

The Tram

Patrick Bullock (United Kingdom)

Sink or Swim Tricky Old Dog Change and growth are not just for the young. My Portugal experience is still seeping into my thoughts and actions, subtly informing my present work and influencing my choices. My best loved memory of the entire experience is both deeply personal and very public, occuring at the very beginning of my time in Portugal, and taking me very much by surprise. After spending a day of workshops getting to know my fellow artists, their work, and how our individual work might be expressed on O Bando’s hillside, we were directed to describe another’s idea and what it might mean, and to draw this idea on a large piece of brown paper. When it came to my turn I was lucky that the artist Ingas work, ‘the Red Grass’, had not been spoken about. As I started to speak and to express her idea and draw it, in an attempt to explain its meaning, her work began to have a profoundly emotional and physical effect on me. Art is meant to touch you, to move you and affect you, but this was extraordinary by my standards of experience. A pure idea of forgiveness, without reservation, held against a deeply 82

Sink or Swim

hurtful wrong. A forgiveness based on a human choice from inside, neither influenced nor instigated by religion or necessity. Inga wanted to construct a space to make that choice. A space to execute that choice, and a moment in time to deliver it. As I began to speak my throat became thick with emotion as her idea began to impact on me. I was confused. I faltered. Unbidden tears fell from my eyes. I had not cried in a while, and never so publically. What was going on? Something was resonating strongly inside me. To this day I am still unpicking what it meant for me. Like a rare treasure which can, by reflecting on its existence, reveal so much. It is not important to anyone else what it was that I found so moving, but that it did occur, and could happen to anyone else in a different way, is what really matters. What I find so interesting about that memory is that it was a personal moment of revelation, one I was not consciously searching for. As artists we were in Portugal as part of the project Platform 11+ expressly designed to have a similar effect on the youth of Europe. That I could be so moved on the very first day heartened me immensely, and gave me an internal boost to do my best. If Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m an old dog I certainly learnt a new trick. Patrick Bullock Sink or Swim

Maija Tuorila (Finland)

The Frame Developing the Concept My Plein Air concept was shaped by the workshops with young people during 2009–2010, which allowed me to follow their ‘worlds’ change and develop. In my own work as a set designer I don’t use any particular materials, as they are always shaped by the interpretation of thematic content. So I wanted to give the young people tasks in which they were free to express themselves without any readymade models or techniques. The subjects of workshops were related to their own thoughts, values and feelings. Schoolyard Stories Reveal Hopes and Fears Unfortunately, these days art subjects are undervalued in Finnish comprehensive school curriculum because, according to the value system of today, creativity is not considered especially ‘profitable’, but more like time-wasting. Subjects al

lowing self-expression, personal d evelopment and interactive abilities are in short supply. The free market economy coupled with a competitive society, the deepening gap between the rich and the poor, youth unemployment and the crumbling welfare state create insecurity at many levels. The fears of the adults are reflected in their children. During the workshops, I noticed that the thinking and art of the young boys especially reflected attempts to control the world through technical advancement, supernatural creatures and sci-fi warriors, perhaps also thematically carrying some of their fears.

The Frame

It is getting increasingly difficult to teach young people to become sociable, tolerant and consider others and the environment when the spirit of the time appears to be heading the opposite direction. But we should strive towards a more equal, tolerant society and future. It is our only hope. A Window to the Future Humans are social animals, who should feel responsible for others, the environment and the generations to come. These thoughts inspired by working with young people helped me to shape the concept for my work in Plein Air. Tentatively I wanted to capture this idea in a ‘metal framed’ window out of which delicate, different flowers of the meadow would grow. I intended to liken the flowers to children and present the viewers with a question of what will the future be like or how would we like it to be? I wanted to incorporate a touch of Portuguese tradition into the piece; cornflowers and tiles, but due to technical difficulties it wasn’t possible. Also I wanted to create a reference point to a historical timeline by adding an old decaying olive tree trunk as a contrast to the delicacy of the young plants. Workshop in Palmela The Plein Air workshops were well organized, and the beginning crafts activities were a fun way to get to know people and share visions. The pace was determined by your own design, and the atmosphere was industrious, but as it often happens, towards the end we all worked very late and returned to work early in the mornings. It was very useful to have a technical assistant to help us all, and also Andrew ‘Sid’ Siddall’s efficiency, know-how and artistic understanding cannot be underestimated. We sensed some local financial problems regarding the project, and although we sympathized, the workshops were not essentially affected by this worry. It was extremely interesting to take part in a workshop like Plein Air, in such a marvelous place. The hills and the old pigsty transformed into a theatre, provided a wonderful setting, and I hope the audiences will find their way to this beautiful set for cultural events, the theatre and its sculptural hills and magnificent views. Us the ‘artists’, ‘the backpack folk’, enjoyed our time working there in the company of others. There would be lot to learn and teach each other, and especially all the different personal perspectives relating to the same project were fascinating. ‘Artistic vision’ is always an ‘individual experience’. Maija Tuorila

The Frame

Midsummer Night’s Theatre – A European Theatre Event It was already clear, even at the exhibition opening, just how much strength and imagination a single piece of art can gain when seen in the context of other pieces of art. The same experience was shared by the theatre artists two days later. Despite the splendid weather, the theatre artists spent the second day inside, in the Palmela City Theatre. The various work processes and excerpts from the ‘National Plays’ were presented in a relaxed atmosphere. It became quickly evident how different the results were, both aesthetically and in content, despite the fact that all of the groups had the same starting point for their research. The next two days were filled with rehearsals for each group in preparation for the main event of the Annual Encounter: the Midsummer Night’s Theatre – A European Theatre Event. Joao Brites, Artistic Director of Theatre O Bando, supported by Dirk Neldner, Artistic Director of Platform 11+, wanted the landscape around the theatre to be transformed into an open air theatre. The employees of the theatre were kept busy for Rehearsals Midsummer

weeks in the heat of the Portuguese summer, building thir-

Night’s Theatre –

teen small stages in empty fields, the performance spaces for

A European Theatre Event

the unique European theatre event on Midsummer night. To present excerpts from their performances in one night, on

Spectators making their

spartanic small stages, under the open sky, one after the oth-

choice between 13 stages

er, was a big challenge for the theatre groups who are used to Midsummer Night’s Theatre – A European Theatre Event

performing in well equipped theatre spaces and without the distraction of background noise. But the vision became reality: on the wonderfully warm Midsummer Night, with the full moon beaming, over 700 spectators could choose freely between 13 highly contrasting, short performances, 11 different languages could be heard, delicacies or drinks from different countries could be tested and there was ample opportunity to speak with the artists. The unusual spectacle came to a close at midnight with the large choir, accompanied by an orchestra, and conducted by the Portuguese composer Jorge Salgueiro. After the stage lights had been turned off and the spectators had returned home, the night continued for the participants of the Annual Encounter: the olive grove, which stretched along the slope above the theatre and in which the visual artists had created their works, became a meeting place. Artists

above:

met, spoke, sung, drank Hungarian wine and Finnish vodka,

Presentation Kolibri

accompanied by pickled gherkins from Estonia and English

足Theatre (HU)

tea in the vivid stillness of the night.

below:

As the hundred sleepy people greeted the rising sun at about

Rehearsals Brageteatret

5.30 a.m. on the hill over the valley, and ate breakfast together,

(NO)

they put these unique, creatively challenging days behind them: days filled with theatre performances, visual art, stimu-

Presentations

lating encounters and a lot of fun.

VAT Theatre (EE), tjg Dresden (DE) Pilot Theatre (UK)

Personal experience of the Annual Encounter

Finale Midsummer Night’s Theatre - A European

I’m sure that we all came to Palmela with big expectations, because everything we had been told about the event was really promising. I was curious to see a theoretical issue (European partners working together) being put into practice and to look behind the scenes. In a previous seminar in the University we spoke about Europe, Portugal, the European Union and the procedure and formalities which are necessary in order to get the financial support of the EU. On the evening of our arrival we helped to put together the little gift bags for the performers and already on that first night I got an idea of what this meeting and the general cooperation of the network is based on: many small details, bilding up a big picture. The next day we drove to the ‘Teatro O Bando’ where the proposed theater night should take place as the highlight of the meeting and we got to know the visual artists. They were all very motivated and made the hillside to an open-air gallery, each in their own way, but connected through the hillside. Through the artistic freedom that was provided, the artists developed very different installations far from the customary stereotypes and clichés.

Theatre Event

All participants met for the first time in the Municipal Theatre of Palmela and introduced themselves with a song about the moon, and then each of the groups performed one scene from their play, which would be shown on the full moon night for the general public. I thought this was a really nice start, because music is internationally comprehensible and touches people in a different way than the spoken word. The selected songs revealed a lot about the individual theater groups and acted like a thread through the whole meeting. At first it was something specific and characteristic for the country, but bit by bit, the other participants got to know the songs. They were sung together after dinner and this developed into something which united everyone. The meeting began with the songs and it ended with a great final performance, which brought all the songs together. All songs became a sequence of a big common presentation and the national origin of the participants turned into a united Europe identity. A common identity is an important element to guarantee the cohesion of communities. Mutual understanding, shared experiences and memories are very important, but also common values and a culture built on these values are essential for the creation of a collective European identity. And in my opinion there is no better way to strengthen this corporate feeling than to start cultural work where its future is fixed: in the work with children. Tina Küchenmeister (Student; University Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder)

The Breakfast after the Midsummer Night’s Theatre on the hill at 5:30 a.m. Midsummer Night’s Theatre – A European Theatre Event

Nicolas Brites Actor, Portugal

Guiditta Mingucci Playwright & actress, Italy My school is close to the sea. Or, better: the schools I attended – except the three years of secondary school – were close to the sea. The primary school was a yellow building on the first line on the beach. from the window of my classroom I could see the blue, and when the weather was warm we used to spend the break on the beach; running, building sand castles, playing soccer, looking for shells, sitting in the sun… It was far from home, so every day I had to get there and come back by car, with other 3 kids and of course someone of our parents. The time of the trip was magic: all the way was along the beach and we used to speak a lot, even in the early morning. we used to pretend we were speakers of a radio show: each of us had a role to play. we got a lot of fun, and school’s life used to enter in those crazy shows. With some of them I also shared the experience of the lyceum. Again, a way to do, close to the sea. The lyceum was in another town, so we had to take a train and then walk to school, that was close to the harbour. So we had to walk along the dock, seeing the sun on the sea. If I think to those moments, I can still see that light, half golden, half pink. In the first years we used to follow the principal road,

and reach the dock at the highness of the last bridge, but then like little red riding wood, we left the principal road and chose to walk the way along the trains line, to arrive to the dock at the highness of the bridge before, walking directly on the dock, not on the street beside it. more time to watch the harbour, the ships, the seagulls… Beautiful moments. after school we didn’t use to walk our way back together; there were always schoolmates giving us a lift by bike or scooter, and then car. but the early morning was our particular moment, of us coming from other towns, like a little tribe. we used to arrive at school with a little travel already done, with a little studying together and of course a lot of talks. and the sea in our eyes.

Schoolyard Memories

Because I was put back an year in primary school, I was ‘marked’ with the ‘re-sit’ seal. A few years later, on the 6th grade, when I was 13 years old I was transferred to a school where students were, mostly, also ‘re-sitted-students’ from a suburban area around Lisbon. The first day at school was around the 15th of September, and I was quite apprehensive. I got on the train and arrived to this unknown place, where I walked a long distance, wondering and asking for directions, I followed my way to the new school, that was located at the end of a long and steep hill. When I reached the top I saw a group of African workers in the middle of a huge hole building the school’s foundations and again I’ve asked the question of the day: “where’s the school?”. And surprisingly, the answer was that it was right there, but it would only be ready in January! It was one of the happiest days of my life, I went downhill jumping and screaming, feeling happy and free! Later, I really liked the school, a bunch of crazy people coming from various places around suburban Queluz, and many other kids coming from the place where I lived until I turned 19th. But the greatest memory of all was, indeed, the one of my first day at the school-to-be.

Blanka Josephová-Lunˇáková Actress, Czech Republic SNAIL When I was about eleven, we went on a school field trip for a whole month. Homesickness, tears – the trauma of my first time away from my parents. But I digress… One of the boys in my class was Milan Peška, a fat, sticky and above all annoying and stupid boy whom no one liked. We regularly sent postcards home, and once in a while letters too. So that the teacher could be sure that we weren’t scaring our parents with false but alarming news, she would read our correspondence before we stuck the envelopes down (the sort of things a homesick adolescent can twist and blow out of proportion…!) One day it had been raining, and Peška was having his afternoon siesta in front of the dorm. Just for fun, he hung a snail on a wire… I was so shocked and angry at his act that I longed for the guilty party to be punished accordingly. I, however, did not want to be the informer and the accuser. And so I thought up the following ruse: I described the whole horrific and barbaric act in a letter home, trusting that our teacher would find everything out during her ‘censorship’, and that Peška would get the punishment he deserved. I don’t remember what happened in the end, but one thing I do know: that for a long time I carried around a feeling of weakness and crookedness, shame that I hadn’t been able to act directly.

Terje Hartviksen Theatre Director, Norway January 1964. Besides me being 14 years old, there are 7 boys aged 10-11 in the scout-patrol. We are on our way to our Scoutcabin, high up in the mountain – far away from people. 25 degrees below, and a blizzard. We stumble ourselves out of the train, with backpacks almost as big as ourselves, with skis and poles. We can barely see each other through the snow. I count the heads, and off we go. It’s just a couple of kilometers to the cabin. Nothing can stop us. We know our way to the cabin in our sleep. We sing and shout and work ourselves through the wall of white snow, which wipes our faces. Then suddenly, Jørn shouts:” My face is all stiff! It hurts!” We pass a cabin and stops in a calm corner; I can see that one of his cheeks and ear are frozen. I rub the frozen parts thoroughly, and hand out gum to everybody. The chewing will keep the facemuscles busy, and prevent more freezing. Gradually, his skin recovers and the colour returns to his frozen cheek and ear. We cover his face with newspaper as isolation, and continue skiing the remaining distance to the scout-cabin. I spread the tasks; Heat up the cabin (fireplace), get water from the well, make the beds, food. “The ice covering the lake is a meter thick! It’s impossible to get through to the water!” “Ok, melt snow instead, on the oven”. One hour later, in a warm and candlelit cabin (there was no electricity, of course), 8 boys enjoys a nice meal; hot-dogs and mashed potatoes. We were all looking forward to the dessert: Fruit-soup. Every one of us has brought instant soup, just add water. But no one wanted to leave the warm cabin, to get more snow. “Never mind, we’ll take the water we used for the hot-dogs.” Salt water and instant Fruit-soup does not mix well, we found out…But we had a nice evening with cards and quizzes. I don’t remember more from this trip. But I think our parents must have had great confidence in us, to honour the scout motto, make the impossible possible.. I also think that being a scout-leader might be a good education in being an artistic director. By the way; everyone from that scout-patrol would go mountain-skiing in a blizzard any time, but not one of us likes fruit-soup!

Schoolyard Memories

Brageteatret  Drammen, Norway Brageteatret is a professional theatre, established in 2001 by Buskerud County and Drammen Municipality. Our main purpose is to produce and perform theatre from the perspective of children and young people as well as theatre with a multicultural perspective. We put on over 350 performances annually for an audience of approximately 40,000 people. The Cultural Rucksack. In 2001, a new concept was established in Norway, the purpose of which was to give all pupils aged between 6 and 16, quality exposure to art. This concept was named “The Cultural Rucksack”. In our region there are 146 schools, and Brageteatret is responsible for offering a variety of theatre and dance performances for all of the 32,000 pupils each year. Before the Bell, our first production in Platform 11+, has been a great success for Brageteateret. Although keeping our main focus on children and young people in our work, we chose to be even more thorough in this production. We actively included the pupils at Galterud skole in the process, a close co-working situation which has bonded the school and the theatre in a very inspiring way. The pupils were involved in the writing process through their own contributions to the playwright, and in the rehearsal-period they were consultants regarding the characters (costumes, language and behaviour). The result was a relevant and credible play, the pupils loved it, they have a sense of ownership and relate strongly to the play. It has made a great impact on all the pupils who have seen the play, they were diggin’ it! “Before the Bell” led to even more positive recognition for Brageteatret, as many other counties also started asking for the play in their schools. It also led to a national interest; in September 2010 “Before the Bell” received the Heddaprisen for the best play for children and youth in Norway! It also made it to the final for the best art-experience in the Cultural Rucksacks own award programme (for the schoolyear 2010/2011). The play was performed 117 times, for a total audience of 11,373. “As The Trains Go By”

Now we’re looking forward to the première in Dresden, the coproduction with Theater Junge Generation and the play “Think-

by Malin Lindroth

ing Time”. The play will be touring the schools in our county Buskerud, in Autumn 2011.

Brageteatret

As the Trains Go by by Malin Lindroth The story: 15 year old Jonny and his friends wanted to play a little joke

Director

on Sussi P. They decide that Johnny must pretend to fall in

Bjørn Sæter

love with Sussi P. They want to see how far they can go be-

Composer/musician

fore she realizes that it is all a prank. But days and weeks go by.

Joseph Angyal

Sussi P. doesn’t get it, on the contrary. As time passes she is

Actress

more and more convinced that Johnny really loves her.

Hedda Sandvig

One day the joke goes too far. Jonny’s real girlfriend sees it all. Now she wants to tell us what really happened, 15 years ago… The play is a monologue. It is not the story of a victim or an attacker, but a story of a witness with an old and painful secret. How to get out of this situation? And when is it too late to tell the truth? About the topic: Sexual abuse among youth is a growing problem in our society today. In the play “As the trains go by” a seemingly mundane and harmless situation develops into a criminal act. The play focuses on boys’ and girls’ views on power, identity and sexuality. The main themes are: love affairs, guilt and betrayal. “As the Trains Go by” has played for approximately 9,500 pupils in secondary and high schools in Norway. 96

Brageteatret

Brageteatret in cooperation with Galterud skole and Platform 11+ Galterud School sent student works into the project, and they have received a great gift from schoolchildren in Tallinn , which they, in turn, have exhibited on a wall at their school. Pupils at Galterud School are now working on an idea for a gift to send to pupils in Dresden. In Autumn 2010 Galterud School, in cooperation with Brageteatret, arranged a cultural week. Students put on plays, performed dances, sung in a choir and played in a band. They skated, performed tricks with balls, did acrobatics, they were magicians and makeup artists. The pupils also wrote about their dreams, secrets, taboos, joys and sorrows from the real life. Many powerful stories emerged through these processes. These stories will surely be staged by professional and amateur theatres in the future. In the Spring of 2011 the pupils are working with the new script “Thinking Time” for Brage teatret and Theater Junge Generation. They have been at Brageteatret to give feedback about the experiences they made during the performances. Many good ideas and comments from the pupils have been important for the professionals in their work. The Educator from TJG conducted a workshop with the pupils, and the pupils made a well prepared and interesting presentation about the historic and political background of the play “Thinking Time”. Brageteatret and Galterud School are pleased and grateful to have had this opportunity thanks to the cooperation within the project Platform 11+.

Brageteatret

tjg. theater junge generation Dresden, Germany Founded in 1949 as „Theater für Kinder, Dresden, Deutsche Volksbühne“ tjg. theater junge generation (theatre of young generation – tjg.) is Germany’s second oldest and one of the biggest Children’s and Youth Theatres. TJG comprises of an ensemble of 18 actors and actresses, four musicians and since 1997, after the fusion with the Puppen theater Dresden, seven puppeteers who make up the second section of tjg., the puppet theatre. In 1950 the theatre moved into the former ballroom „Constantia“ in the western part of the city, close the Elbe river banks. Here, the acting ensemble works and plays on three stages, one big hall and two studio stages. Those stages offer space for about 650 spectators. Performances of the Puppentheater take place in the city’s centre. The studio theatre on Prager Straße can seat 100 people. In the tjg. repertoire, one can find fairytales, classics, contemporary literature and, since 2008, the so called „Theater für die Allerkleinsten“ (theatre for the very young), which comes up with performances for children from 2 years of age. Every year about 90,000 visitors of different ages find their way to one or more of the 650 performances of 30 different plays. There are about 20 premieres per season. The Theatre Academy was founded (tjg. theatreakademie) at the beginning of the 2008/09 season. It’s a conceptional devel How to survive my

opment, coming out of the department of theatre education at the tjg, created for new requirements regarding practical ex-

first kiss

perience. A central aspect is intensified participation – the Theatre Academy is a modern offer to play for kids, teenagers and

by Francine Oomen

young adults – but most of all – to play WITH them, to let them become an active part in every stage of the creative process

adapted for the stage by

of and the staging of plays.

Heleen Verburg Iris Pickhard, Annika

The tjg. has been performing on several open air stages during summer time, all over the city, ranging from a stage inside the

Ullmann, Ulrike Sperberg

city’s castle to a stage in the zoo and one in the park, since the early 1990’s. tjg. theater junge generation

How to Survive My First Kiss by Francine Oomen adapted for the stage by Heleen Verburg

Director Philippe Besson

This is a musical with many survival tips: Rosa is 13, new in

Stage/Costumes

town and annoyed. She’s unhappy. She has to move to this

Henrike Engel

new town because her mother has a new boyfriend. Her

Music

mother is pregnant and has very little time and energy for her

Bas Odijk

daughter. And 13 year old Rosa, – has never been kissed. At

Cast

least she can get advice from her friends by email.

Roland Florstedt Charles Ndong

Suddenly Thomas appears. He is 17, looks great and is very

Iris Pickhard

cool. Now things speed up: The baby is born earlier than ex-

Boris Schwiebert

pected and Rosa gets her first kiss. But then Thomas shows

Ulrike Sperberg

his true colors. Rosa gets in big trouble, her feelings are totally

Annika Ullmann

confused.

Susan Weilandt Gregor Wolf

But fortunately, “Prince Charming” is still in the chat room…

Musicians Tom Götze Christoph Herrmann Jörg Kandl Bernd Sikora Marc Dennewitz Target audience

Boris Schwiebert, Annika Ullmann 100

tjg. theater junge generation

12 years+

Educational Work The „Gymnasium Bürgerwiese” is the the tjg’s partner school in the project Platform 11+. The theatrical confrontation con-

Suddenly being left alone

cerning and abstracting the student’s everyday life staged at the schoolyard and in a theatrical Dresden city tour is another

in the schoolyard.

component of the diverse educational work, experiment and cooperation during the project. In several weeks of intensive work,

A performance called

students from 5th and 6th grade have gained new perspectives on their lives in this city and on the city itself. By “conquering”

‘Stupid’.

places, they got to see the seemingly familiar places in a new way, and surprised the public as well as the other students at

(Gymnasium Bürgerwiese

the school with their fresh performances and unexpected actions. A very vital range of ideas bound to small performances

Dresden & theater

has been generated in an intensive team work with the educators Armin Beber and Katrin Jung (tjg. theaterakademie) and

akademie tjg)

the dramaturg Ina Klose. The visual artist David Reuter held several workshops at the school for the student’s preparation and approach on the work. Finally, the partner school’s students who were involved will see almost all international co-productions that will be shown during the Platform 11+ Festival. In preparation for “Thinking Time”, the Norwegian-German co-production, all seventh-graders have taken part in several workshops for the staging of the play. The aim of this is to make the result come close to the audience’s world of experience by collecting feedback, talking about the ideas that have been shaped in the first rehearsals. So the students, with whom the tjg. works, are always an important part of the working process – the same applies to the reference production “How to survive my first kiss?”, a musical. More than 120 students from the city and the regional area (from different schools) visited rehearsals, became an active part of discussions with the artists and the teachers and were creatively involved in several workshops. All of it was started with the seemingly simple question “How do I know if I am in love with somebody?” The written answers started a very interesting process of self-perception. tjg. theater junge generation

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Kolibri Theatre Budapest / Hungary started as an alternative puppet theatre in 1992 with the separation of 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 the performance suitable for their interest and development. Three venues await the audience with a particular profile and independent artistic program, thus complemen ting each other. The rich repertory is characterized by a variety of genres and responsiveness to what is new. Artistic Director: Janos Novak www.kolibriszinhaz.hu

European Story by Robert Jelinek A murder has been committed in the village: the major’s daughter has been killed. Two gypsy boys take refuge in the church. The village suspects them of the crime, but the female pastor still gives them shelter. Who is right? The villagers or the boys? Who does the pastor believe? Was it possible for the love of the wealthy young girl and the poor gypsy boy to have a happy ending? Who can help, what is the solution when emotions get out of hand? Can we trust the person trying to make peace? Director Judit Benedek

Can truth triumph?

Set Design Mats Persson Cast

“On the gypsy road”

Tamás Mészáros Kármen Rácz

“I always deal with social issues in my plays.” – says Judit Benedek, director of the performance. “Poverty, social tensions, the

József Tóth

situation of minorities are problems, which, if we try to pretend that they are non-existent, reappear later as even greater

Melinda Megyes

problems. It is my conviction that we have to talk about them – so that even if not now, sometime later we can find a solu-

Dávid Csányi

tion for them. I also believe that we have to make children sensitive to this attitude.” Kolibri Theatre

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Judit Benedek lives in Stockholm. She has worked in Kolibri a number of times. She has contributed to the success of an up-to-date, humane style of youth theatre in Hungary. Youth theatre has a several-decade-long tradition in Sweden and talks openly, without recognizing any taboos, about social and individual problems, naming the conflicts. So far the director has chosen such Swedish plays which elaborate on themes familiar to Hungarian children, too. European story is her first work that is connected to Hungarian events, which was written by the playwright Robert Jelinek based on his experience during a field trip in Hungary.

Educational Work Tie programs in connection with the Performance cyber cyrano By Viktória Végvári (Theatre Educator) There is a TIE program connected to every play in the youth repertoire of Kolibri Children’s and Youth Theatre. Cyber Cyrano

Tamás Mészáros, Dávid

is not an exception.

Csányi, Melinda Megyes.

Every group or class which takes part in the after-performance program is offered the possibility to form their opinion, to think about the problems addressed in the play. Apart from talking, we also offer theatrical means, conventions and games to promote common thinking. The elaborative work is lead by qualified TIE teachers with the help of actors. The creators of the performance, György Vidovszky and his collaborator Eszter Gyevi-Bíró also took part in planning the program. 104

Kolibri Theatre

The program lasts for a double lesson (90 minutes) and its focus is on the following question: why do most young people wear masks and disguises on the community sites, why do we like to idealize the image created about ourselves? The audience works in two groups after the performance. After a short analytical conversation they work on the characters together with the actors, they explore situations within a forum-theatre framework, they elaborate behavior strategies in small groups which they can also try out. According to the feedback received from classes and their teachers, the program helps the young people to understand the performance, creating an open and cheerful atmosphere for common thinking, putting the audience in situations helps them in forming opinions and in further thinking about the play. This activity can be especially important as young people are rarely exposed to this way of learning in the Hungarian educational system. “We could see a topical theme that is very much on the mind of students. The language of the play (both the use of language and its visual world) addresses this age group. I like it that these plays here in Kolibri inspire us to like going to the theatre. I do not have to use any force to get the students to take part in these occasions. That is great joy, because this way my students accept theatre as a form of expression, as a natural framework for entertainment and also of common thinking through the years.” A teacher from a secondary school with technical specialization “There is the World, there are worlds and then there’s the virtual one. Everyone lives in their own world, everyone lives differently in the World, and lives in the virtual one wearing a mask… But who is to blame if people are this way? Those who promote commercials this way? Those who do not teach their children to value life? Or those who are above us controlling us? Or maybe those who let them? These are the questions this play raises for me.” A 17-year-old student Kolibri Theatre

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Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione   Milan Florence Forlì, Italy Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione is the first interregional centre of theatrical production and performances in Italy. Elsinor offers plays and children’s theatre, as well as organizing theatrical seasons and training laboratories, 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, the “Cantiere Florida” theatre in Florence, and the “Giovanni Testori” theatre in Forli. Elsinor’s driven commitment to the exploration of contemporary theatrical prose, and the exchange and synergies inspired by traditional and new approaches to theatrical classics, is shared by all the artists, directors, scenographers, set designers, costume designers and actors of various backgrounds who make Elsinor what it is today. By diverse forms of collaboration between artists, local governmental institutions, universities and schools, in response to the increasing demand for access to theatre as a didactic tool, Elsinor offers theatrical training, workshops and special events to schools and Universities. An important example of this is “Segnali”, a children’s theatre festival organized in collaboration with “Teatro del Buratto” and Workshop for students

the Lombardy Region.

from Madelli School, led by Giuditta Mingucci,

Elsinor has also presented the historic event “Cento Canti”, a public reading of 100 hundred verses of Dante’s Divine Comedy,

Teatro Elisnor, Milan

performed in significant locations in the cities of Milan, Bologna and Florence, where the event is already at its sixth season.

Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione

107

Adam’s Dream with Stefano Braschi

A quiet night.

and Carlo Rossi

Adam is sleeping in his bed, and an unknown person enters

Music by Cialdo Capelli

his house.

Directed by

Has he really entered?

Marcello Chiarenza

He does not seem like a thief: he doesn’t look or behave like one. And he seems to know the spot well. Then who is he? Angelo is a dream, a dream entering into a house in which everything is in disorder. It looks chaotic, everything is mixed up, confused, and indistinguishable. The earth is still shapeless, and darkness lingers on the abyss, but the house, every house, all in all is a miniature world, where heaven may stay in a room (so they say…). In Adam’s house, Adam is walking around, in his dreams. – With its disorder, it is like a small universe getting ready for birth. The cellar is underground, clouds are climbing up in the garret and going out from the chimney, while the sun is burning in the fire-place. Tapes are sources of pure water, a lake is in the bath, and from the shower a lively fall comes down; lamps instead of stars, radiators make summer last longer. The fridge keeps winter, dust is time and cleaning makes the world younger. An epic is not so far from day-to-day life, whether great or small, dreams can bring us nearer to what is far away – in space and time.

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Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione

Educational Work Elsinor’s workshops in schools in Milan and hinterland lead this year to 6 different performances: ‘Iliade’, by Homer with the kids of Collegio della Guastalla in Monza; 3 different editions of ‘L’isola del Tesoro’, from the novel by Stevenson, with 3 classes of the Istituto Frassati in Seveso; ‘Il corsaro nero’, from the novel by Emilio Salgari, with 72 kids of the Scuola Secondaria di Primo Grado Andrea Mandelli, in Milan; ‘Romeo e Giulietta’, by William Shakespeare, with the Fonda zione Sacro Cuore, in Milan. All the shows will be presented in the first ‘Festival Platform 11+ Milano’, in May 2011, in the section ‘Classici alla prova’, together with other youth productions from different schools of Milan and Lombardy.

Workshop at Collegio della Guastalla, Monza. Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione

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Theater de Citadel Groningen, The Netherlands In 2013 Theater de Citadel will have its 20th anniversary. It has expanded into a renowned theatre company for children and teens in The Netherlands. Furthermore it is the only theatre company that specifically aims at primary and secondary education. The company works with professional actors and produces about 3 new plays each year. These productions are suitable for people of the ages 4 and upwards. One of these 3 productions is especially for the 11 to 18 year old age group. On an average, the company performs 120 shows a year, mainly in the North of the Netherlands. Most performances are done at schools, in gyms or in the classrooms, and there is a strong relationship with the teachers at the school. Each production has an educational program especially made for the production and its audience. Besides that Theater De Citadel plays in their own theatre or on location. It is a political choice to work like this. Through our work, children from all layers of society get in touch with theatre. The choice to bring theatre to the schools is not a random choice. School is first and foremost a place to learn subjects such as mathematics and writing, but it’s also a place for social skills and creative activities. On top of that, it’s the place where you meet your first enemies and friends, or where you get your first kiss. ‘Somebody’s Move, Nobody’s Move’

Theater de Citadel wants to confront children and youth with beauty. Es-

by Simon van der Geest

pecially at this age. Especially in this world. Theater de Citadel wants to

Sjoerd Meijer,

teach children and teenagers to read the theatre, to love the theatre, to

Lies van de Wiel,

give them insight into the world of the theatre, so they can learn to distin-

Lotte Lohrengel

guish between styles and genres.

Theater de Citadel

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Somebody’s Move, Nobody’s Move (Lemand issum, Niemand issum) by Simon van der Geest Ray is coming back to school. The teacher said so.

Direction

Four children in the schoolyard – Willy, Menk, Iris and Hanna

Rob Bakker

– are nervously and agitatedly awaiting his arrival. He’ll be in a

Choreography

wheelchair. Who is to blame?

Bibi Yann Bakker

In a reconstruction of the events, the four children go back

Costume

in time. They take turns playing the absent Ray. Ray is stub-

Jorine van Beek

born, he looks for caterpillars in the bushes, stands up for oth-

Lighting Design

ers and dares to oppose Menk (the king of the schoolyard).

Hans Boven

Even though he doesn’t belong to any group, everybody re-

Music Design

spects him.

Robert van der Tol

In a series of short scenes with dialogues, stories, songs and

Decor

seemingly innocent schoolyard games like: skipping and

Michiel Johannes Jansen

“Ferryman, can you take us across?” the relationships slowly

Cast

become clear, who stands up for others, who bullies, who

Bram Kwekkeboom

have butterflies in their stomachs and who is a bystander.

Lotte Lohrengel

Meanwhile some events from post war history make an ap-

Sjoerd Meijer

pearance. In the heat of the game, during the compelling de-

Lies van de Wiel

velopments in the schoolyard, hours fly. Or maybe years. And

Musicians

sometimes time seems to stand still.

Tiedo Groeneveld Don Hofstee

Bram Kwekkeboom 112

Theater de Citadel

Robert van der Tol

Educational Work Our national production ‘Somebody’s Move, Nobody’s Move’ had a large educational program. Before coming to our theatre

Left: Workshop Visual

each school received an educational booklet about the form of the play and some assignments. The school also could book

Arts by Michiel Johannes

a whole package of workshops. There were two workshops in the classroom with visual arts (Michiel Johannes Jansen) and

Jansen

poetry (Angélique de Waard). Three retired teachers went into the classroom to speak with the children about their schoolyard

Right: Workshop by

stories and the stories of their own teacher and the retired teachers.

Angelique Borgman

After seeing the play children and youngsters could play digital schoolyard games on a virtual schoolyard of the future. Our partner in this project Groninger Forum developed this with the Frank Mohr Institute. The youngsters who went to Babel had an introduction by Lies van de Wiel in the classroom. Lies explained things about the co-production, how to make a play. And in the end the youngsters had to play a scene. Theater de Citadel

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Teatro O Bando Palmela, Portugal Founded in 1974, Teatro O Bando is one of the oldest cultural cooperatives in Portugal. Teatro O Bando is a group that chooses the aesthetical transfiguration as its mode of civic and community participation. Street theater and activities for children in schools and cultural associations, integrated in decentralization projects, are the basis of the company’s work O Bando creations are defined by their plasticity and staging dimension, characterized mainly by the Scene Machines. The dramaturgical work is also very important, providing the explicit pasting of literary materials and the inclusion of colloquial expressions. The texts used are mainly derived from Portuguese authors, rather than standard dramatic texts. Over the years the company has created more than 100 different shows. The company’s 4,500 performances have been seen by approximately 1.3 million spectators, not counting the PEREGRINAÇÃO, which in EXPO’98 reached an audience of 3 million. Although the larger shows are not always the easiest ones to remember, the people who saw MONTEDEMO in 1987, will never have forgotten the actors running in the darkness of the forest. Also unforgettable, was the steam train entering the station in GENTE SINGULAR in 1993, the performance in the walls of the buildings in 1990, BICHOS, the damp fog over the spectators in ENSAIO SOBRE A CEGUEIRA in 2004 and the seagulls flying over the Jerónimos Monastery in SAGA in 2008. The company continues to search for originality in their creations, aiming to create art works which surprise and which have a cutting edge. These art works are the result of a collective methodology where a shared artistic direction accommodates the differences and conflicting points of view, until the conflicts reveal their potential. The resulting work of art is often way beyond what the collective first envisaged and quite unpredictable. Teatro O Bando aims to transgress a wide range of borders, rural or urban, adult or child, learned or popular, national, or universal, dramatic, narrative or poetic. Throughout their journey, the group was linked to multiple national and international projects. The group continues its touring activities, presenting several shows throughout the country. Ten years ago, after several moves, O Bando finally settled on a farm in Vale dos Barris, Palmela, where unexpected, potential stages made of stars, of trees and cliffs can be found. O Bando is waiting to welcome you there with soup, bread and cheese, Muscatel and a cosy chat next to the fireplace.

Teatro O Bando

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Quixote – Ópera Bufa by António José Da Silva, O Judeu (Vida do Grande D. Quixote de La Mancha e do Gordo

Dramaturgy and Direction João Brites

Sancho Pança)

Music and Musical Direction Jorge Salgueiro Set Design Rui Francisco

When the hair turns white, mind still shines, still struggles, still

Dramaturgy Support Teresa Lima

dreams. Even when the body gets old, mind still dances, still

Movement Support Sara Vaz

sings, still conquers. Quixote, the new creation of Teatro O

Costumes Design Maria Matteucci

Bando, is an Opera Buffa directed by João Brites, with music

Props Clara Bento

composition by Jorge Salgueiro. It is based on the novel “The

Lighting Design João Cachulo

Life of the Great D. Quixote de La Mancha and the Fat San-

Sound Design Sérgio Milhano

cho Pança” by António José da Silva, so called “The Jew”

Assistant Director Sara De Castro

(18th Century). This story is about an imaginary land, passed through by singers and dancers. Out of these mad adven-

Actors-Singers Bruno Huca and Sara Belo

tures arises the braveness of women of arms who fear neither

Dancers-Actors Catarina Félix, Félix Lozano,

the splendour of life nor the scream of madness. Madness?

Joana Bergano, Joana Manaças, Pedro Ramos,

Madness would be to fall asleep.

Sandra Rosado, Susana Blazer

The production won the “Prize Authors 2011” in the category

Musicians Abel Chaves, António Laertes,

of “Best Theatre Show”. The prize is granted by the Portu-

Fernando Domingos, Helena Vasques, Inês Mesquita,

guese Society of Authors.

João Aboim, Miguel Tapadas and Paulo Tavares Creation Teatro O Bando Co-production Fundação Inatel / Teatro Da Trindade Premiere April 2010

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Teatro O Bando

Educational Work The year Teatro O Bando created the National Production, a creative work aimed to reach children in the Palmela Municipality. Its main purpose was to bring the artistic team, closer to the audience. Particularly the educator had daily contact with children and so she was able to research collective and individual imagery through activities in the playground. A series of co-productions involving different Platform 11+ groups arose out of this. Teatro O Bando worked in schools by adapting Beginning written by Rui Pina Coelho (Teatro O Bando, Portugal), Jukka Heinannen (Oulu City Theatre, Finland) and Arjunan Manuellpillai (Emergency Exists Arts UK). The play had already been performed as a co-production of these three companies, directed by Alex Evans (UK) and its opening was in Oulu / Finland. Teatro O Bando committed itself to support the work in schools. However, it didn’t interfere

Workshop result from

in the methods and objectives chosen by students and teachers, stimulating the teacher’s

Poceirão’s School

capacity to lead the creative process. The most important moment of this year was the Teachers Meeting, which took place in Palmela. It joined teachers from all countries and involved a move to the Poceirão’s School in order to make a collective evaluation. Teatro O Bando

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The Theatre Institute / Studio 12 Bratislava, SlovakIA The Theatre Institute (founded in 1961) is a modern European institution under the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic and its mission is to provide Slovak and international public with complete information services regarding theatre. The priority of the Theatre Institute is its scientific, research and publishing activity. Its main focus is on the research of Slovak drama and theatre from the time of the establishment of the first permanent professional theatre stage in 1920 until today. Also, in co-operation with its partner institutions, it participates in various research activities about general theatre culture in Slovakia and abroad. The Studio 12 was founded in December 2001 as an initiative of the Theatre Institute to establish a theatrical space intended for presentation of new Slovak and world drama and contemporary art. The priority of the programme dramaturgy of the Studio 12 are original activities, projects of guest theatres from Slovakia and abroad, workshops, educational programmes and presentation of contemporary drama. The Studio 12 organizes various discussions, seminars, presentations of books published by the Theatre Institute and other publishers, concerts and other cultural and social events. It offers its space to several festivals of alternative music, supports the active work of young artists and small community groups (such as the theatre of homeless people) www.theatre.sk, www.studio12.sk

Theatre project MILK TEETH The Theatre Institute as a reference project of Platform 11+ organized a laboratory of a contemporary drama called MILK TEETH. It is a cycle of introducing new authors and staging their writing projects (mainly students or graduates fresh out of artistic schools). This platform for young artists was established in the spring 2007 and its ambition is the co-production Theatre project

and dramaturgy support of authorial projects and Studio 12 is a home theatre stage for young creators. Last year there was a

Milk Teeth

new call for new series and the jury chose five new productions from the applications. During the theatre season we had five The Theatre Institute / Studio 12

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premieres: Plan B from the cosmos (directed by Andrej Kolenčík), Barbados (directed by Júlia Rázusová), Talent (directed by Lukáš Brutovský), Wrinkeles with(out) love (directed by Zuzana Bírešová), O+R+K (Ó PLUS ER plus Kátéter) (directed by Veronika Pavelková).

Educational Work Permanent workshops of creative drama writing The main educational priority on the national level of the project is to provide support for creative drama writing for young people. Theatre Institute invites professional theatres to cooperate in the educational field. This year we agreed on a close cooperation with different professional Slovak theatres from different cities across Slovakia: Bratislava: Bibiana – International House of Art for Children, Bratislava: Štúdio12, Nitra: Andrej Bagar Theatre, Žilina: Puppet Theatre, Banská Bystrica: The Na rázcestí Puppet Theatre. Each theatre establishes workshops of creative drama writing for young people. Due to increasing interest in drama writing with kids some of the theatres had to open more than one drama writing workshop. Almost sixty promising future playwrights from different cities are attending these drama classes regularly every week from the Autumn 2010. Special parts of the creative drama writing workshops were devoted to work with visual artists and with the professional playwrights. This year the visual artist was working with the language of stage design. The main task of the workshops was to get the participants to imagine Theatre project Milk Teeth 120

The Theatre Institute / Studio 12

and make a set for their own play. Results were outstanding. The kids were thrilled to see their stories on stage with a real set. At the end of the season every theatre which takes a part in the project will arrange special stage reading presenting the drama texts written in the creative drama writing groups. Young authors will have the unique chance to see their drama work staged by professional actors and director and meet the theatre company afterwards.

DRAMATICALLY YOUNG 2011 competition The Theatre Institute announced the second year of the competition called DRAMATICALLY YOUNG 2011, a competition to find the best dramatic text of authors up to 18 years of age. The competition is open to anyone who has interesting ideas and who feels like giving it a try and writing a dramatic text – a theatre play. There were no thematic restrictions this year. The competing texts are evaluated by a jury composed of theatre professionals. The winner announcement ceremony is held annually in June at the biggest festival of theatres in Slovakia, named Touches & Connections, in the town of Martin. Last year’s theme ‘A School Yard’ was reflected in the children’s texts in many ways. The children dealt with issues of love, friendship, bullying, outsiders, and conflicts with teachers or searching themselves. The prize announcement 2011 will take place on Monday 20th June 2011, again during the Touches & Connections festival.

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Pilot Theatre York, United Kingdom Pilot Theatre creates, develops and tours pioneering high quality, culturally diverse theatre work for young people and works across a range of platforms to produce and inspire creative projects for all. In addition to performance, Pilot Theatre delivers an extensive range of opportunities for engagement and development, including workshops, international residencies and exchanges, training events, conferences, discussions and online resources aimed at encouraging active audience participation and giving young people direct contact with professional artists. Pilot Theatre’s new media and online strategy is at the forefront of the industry, finding new ways to promote better audience interaction by utilising many different platforms to engage with as many people as possible. Pilot have a philosophy of transparency and openness in everything and actively encourage the audience to share content and join in discussions.

Shift Happens/TEDxYork – A New STEAM age Pilot Theatre’s ‘Shift Happens’ series of conferences aim to promote sharing between the Arts, Learning and Technology sectors. This year Pilot are hosting TEDxYork, in association with Arts Council England, York City Council, Science City York, University of York and York St John University looking at how Arts can have a creative impact on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. tedxyork.com

Recent productions “As a company dedicated to reinterpreting classic work for young people, Pilot can be depended upon to apply a fresh perspective.” Romeo and Juliet

The Guardian, about Romeo & Juliet

by William Shakespeare Recent productions include ‘Catcher’, about the night before Chapman shot Lennon, written by Richard Hurford, ‘Hansel & Rachel Spicer (Juliet)

Gretel’ by Nick Lane and ‘Romeo & Juliet’ by William Shakespeare. Forthcoming productions include ‘What Light’ written by Pilot Theatre

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Richard Hurford with Giuditta Mingucci, ‘Blackbird’ by David Harrower and ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ by Alan Sillitoe, adapted by Roy Williams.

Romeo & Juliet By William Shakespeare A new, vibrant production of Shakespeare’s timeless tale of star crossed lovers. A story of dangerous rivalries and secret loves vividly brought to life in a fast moving and contemporary telling of this celebrated story. A community split by its differences, a young girl rebelling against her parents’ expectations, knife crime and gang violence, Romeo and Juliet is a story with striking relevance to today’s young audiences. With stunning visuals and cutting edge soundtrack, this production engaged audiences of all ages with its exuberance, poetry and thrilling action. Directed by Marcus Romer and Katie Posner Designed by Chloe Lamford Composed by Sandy Nuttgens

“Pilot Theatre’s production is aimed at teenagers who will identify with two very 21st century lovers” westend.broadwayworld.com

Cast Oliver Wilson (Romeo) Rachel Spicer (Juliet), Louisa Eyo Mary Rose, Bryn Holding, Chris Lindon Richard James- Neale, William Travis Platform 11+ Youth Encounter in Tallinn, www.youkissbythebook.com 124

Pilot Theatre

Estonia, October 2010

Educational Work Pilot deliver a varied and extensive engagement programme working with school students, teachers, young people and adults on a range of activities from conferences to training to practical workshops to residencies. Platform 11+ is giving us the opportunity to work in depth over a period of time with our audiences both developing our own work artistically through a better understanding of their concerns and interests and the ways in which it is delivered and giving them opportunities to make creative work themselves. Recent initiatives have included skype sessions to allow the director and other members of the creative team to be ‘on stage’ with the actors for post show discussions and looking how we can use platforms such as twitter to write new work as well as interact and engage with people who may not be in the same real space as ourselves. Blogs and other forums, alongside free online resources also allow both an evaluation of our practice and an ongoing commitment to give our audiences as much information as possible about our processes of making work. Educational projects over the last year have included; practical work in schools accompanying our production of Romeo and Juliet, when over the course of our 8 month tour our creative team delivered workshops to schools, colleges and youth theatres across the UK. The workshops, which were delivered to ages 11–18, were bespoke sessions aimed at meeting the class’s individual needs and topics ranged from exploring the characters and plot to understanding how Shakespeare’s language can help the performer; a summer school at the Theatre taking themes from ‘Jack and the Mystery of the Clones of Chaos’ to put on a play at the end of a week; participation in the European Youth cultural exchange to Tallinn, Estonia with 8 Youth Theatre members and staff and a year long programme of work around themes inspired by ‘What Light’ culminating in the devising, writing and production of 4 new plays by young people for our Platform Festival in May 2011 with 4 schools in our area. Pilot Theatre

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Emergency Exit Arts London, United Kingdom Emergency Exit Arts (EEA) is the UK’s leading light in creating visual and performing arts in public outdoor spaces. The com pany has gained a national and international reputation for creating unforgettable celebratory events that engage communities and stimulate cultural development. EEA redefines non-conventional theatre in public spaces and delivers accessible performance across multi-language and cultural barriers. From our base in East Greenwich, London we work with a team of creative specialists, giving us the ability to deliver on every aspect of a participation project, outdoor production or event. Since 1980 EEA has pioneered culturally diverse outdoor performance and street music, pyrotechnic theatre, engagement with hard to reach communities and the inventive design and construction of large-scale animations. EEA has been able to take a key role in the development of Outdoor Arts, particularly supporting emerging and disabled artists who wish to engage with outdoor work. EEA is commissioned to devise one-off events for a wide variety of clients including local authorities, festival promoters, the business sector, arts centres, schools, colleges, community groups, environmental, tourism and regeneration agencies. The scale of EEA’s impact and public benefit is huge. In an average year we: • work with 100 partners with over 100 artists, musicians and technicians • involve over 100,000 participants in 500 workshops, 60% with young people • run up to 90 events in the UK and Europe • reach an audience of over 900,000

Highlights of the year In 2010 EEA’s ancestral home, Rothbury Hall, provided the backdrop for a Platform 11+ gathering of European Theatre directors. BINBOT – giant mechani-

Thanks to Platform 11+ EEA was able to launch our 30th Birthday celebrations with our European and UK friends, together with

cal recycling puppet at

the Mayor of Greenwich, local councilors, arts officers, consulate staff and our 5m high ‘Binbot’.

Paradiese Gardens

In January we were thrilled to be selected by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation, acknowledging our

Festival, East London

strong international profile, leadership and the development of young talent. Emergency Exit Arts

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Signs of Change Part of “The Biggest Learning Opportunity on Earth” http://www.anewdirection.org.uk/content/311/BiggestLearning-Opportunity-on-Earth Designed to develop student voice as a catalyst for change, this project enabled participants to make real changes in their school environment- making their schools more sustainable in time for London’s 2012 Olympic Games. Ten Schools received a mission from an astro-scientist on a space station orbiting the earth. It challenged them to find out how much energy and resources their school could save, design an “Eco-Action” and create a physical sign big enough to be seen from space. Facilitators worked with student ‘Champions’ to engage their schools in the project and to: • Raise awareness of environmental issues • Help pupils to develop social responsibility • Empower pupils to express their informed views Combining drama and large scale recycled art works in a youth led process, Signs of Change created young champions equipped with the skills needed to improve our future. www.makingsignsofchange.tumblr.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/eealondon/show/

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Emergency Exit Arts

Educational Work EEA’s 3 part education offer for children and young people is designed to engage, inspire and motivate our next generations.

1. IT CAN HAPPEN HERE – Outdoor arts performances and events EEA facilitates events that respond to current agendas and concerns, and embrace diversity through the work we produce, the people we produce it with and the themes we explore. This programme uses experimentation and risk taking to reach young people in areas where cultural participation is low and engagement in the arts is not a priority. It allows diverse audiences to benefit from the arts by taking it direct to their neighbourhoods.

Street Arts Academy – on parade

2. THE STREET ARTS ACADEMY (SAA) – Engagement for young people SAA is a skills development programme for 13-19 year olds achieved through the arts with progression routes to further edu-

Signs of Change

cation, training and employment. It uses outdoor arts and dynamic ‘play’ using body and mind to contribute to the develop-

Spinning World

ment and well-being of young people. Our 25 strong Youth Panel informs the artistic and operational aspects of the SAA and our wider commitment to a sustainable creative pedagogy. www.streetartsacademy.tumblr.com

3. CREATIVE ACTIVISM – Arts engagement as a catalyst for change This enables young people to explore environment, heritage, and the power to implement change. Responding directly to environmental and social agendas, it inspires critical thinking and empowerment. In schools this develops ‘student voice’: in communities it develops ‘social voice’ – both as a catalyst for change. Designed by young people, creative practitioners and teachers, they create performances and installations in public spaces. Our most recent project, Signs of Change, inspired young people to engage creatively with the city as we look forward to the 2012 Olympics. www.makingsignsofchange.tumblr.com

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Oulu City Theatre Oulu, Finland Oulu City Theatre is ideally located on the island of Vänmanninsaari in the estuary of the Oulu River, close to the commercial centre of the city and just beside the Market Place. There is also a bridge connecting it to another island housing the idyllic artistic community of Pikisaari. Since the theatre is somewhat larger than the island on which it stands, part of it is built out over the water. The professional theatre in Oulu was established in 1931. It is the largest and most prominent theatre in northern Finland Cast

presenting annually 8–10 premieres and the Oulu Children’s Theatre Festival that celebrated its 30th anniversary 21.–27.2.2011.

Jouni Lind

The programme included 26 different performances, four of which were international guests from Russia, Slovakia, France and

Matti Mäkelä

Germany. The Festival was visited by over 10,000 people.

Martti Lind / Workman

Over 100 permanent staff and four stages with full modern techincal equipment, provide a great frame for Oulu City Theatre

Janne Raudaskoski

to produce a wide range of large-scale classical drama and musicals but also innovative theatre and new domestic and foreign

Ulla Lind

premieres, especially new plays written by northern Finnish playwrights. A seasonal repertoire also includes a premiere for the

Hanna Hautala

younger audiences, and theatre education is based on ongoing cultural prorammes and godparenting local schools and col-

Auntie-Maija

leges. Annually the theatre is visited by 80000 spectators in 350 shows.

Jaana Kahra Annukka / Mrs Korhonen Maija Männikkö

Happy Chappy and Snow Angel (Hymypoika ja lumienkeli)

Managing Director

by Jouni Rissanen

Korhonen

based on a novel by Esko-Pekka Tiitisen

Hannu Päkkilä

Some hot topics about life in the beginning of the 20th century are too often kept silent. This play tells the story of a 16-year-

Hujanen

old boy called Jouni Lind, his family scene tangled in violence and lies, the unhappy marriage of his parents and the daily life

Hannu Tihinen

of a small town still affected by its past. The story may sound familiar, but it is not: its voice is young. Jouni carries with him

Piku / Bouncer / Taxi

a weapon found in his mother’s sewing box… Where does it all lead? Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Inner conflicts,

driver

confusion and feelings of emptiness are finally solved when Jouni manages to free himself and awakens to his own life. Painful

Niinamari Martikkala

memories must be dealt with, but there is no point getting stuck in the past. Life is here and now. Oulu City Theatre

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Educational Work In the autumn 2010 we continued our work with approx. 80 young people from Oulun Normaalikoulu (Class 5A) and Myllyojan koulu (Classes 6A and 9A/B). Raising themes of the coproduction Beginning; collaboration, creation of the world and the young mind, were taken as a starting point for visual workshops to produce material for the exhibition. They were lead by Maija Tuorila and assisted by Patrick Bullock. Tuorila visited the schools regularly to supervise the creation of group work titled ‘My Favourite Place’, which included textual explanation and a three-dimensional space made of craft materials. The older classes created heads out of recycled plastic mannequins to portray the inner workings of a young mind. The uninhibited self-expression of even some dark and disturbed visions was clearly welcomed by youth, which only emphasizes the value of art in school subjects. In November 2010 we employed performance poet Arjunan Manuelpillai from Emergency Exit Arts to work with our project classes on written expression and performing during an intensive two week period. The workshops tackled the themes of Beginning: mythology, creation, storytelling, the joy of play and ideas about adulthood. This process produced some Workshop by Patrick Bullock (UK), Set designer “Beginning”

valuable material and inspiration for the youth performance that was directed by Beginning performers Mikko Korsulainen and Annina Rokka, who also attended and assited in many of the workshops. The youth performance was in the spirit of street theatre, the cornerstone of the co-production partner theatre EEA, and it was presented in the theatre foyer as part of the Preview and World Premiere of Beginning. The crew and director Alex Evans visited the schools many times during their own rehearsal period in January and February 2011 to plan and rehearse some interactive games and tests of the senses targeted at the unexpecting audiences. During the spring all the classes came to see Beginning and were happily surprised to witness a fresh new way of making theatre!

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Oulu City Theatre

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VAT Teater Tallinn, Estonia VAT Theatre, the first independent Estonian theatre group, was formed on October 1, 1987. The theatre company has a staff of 13 people and offers performances at home on stage at the National Library, and also at other theatres and cultural institutions. VAT Theatre is a small repertory theatre company with performances visited by 25,000 people annually. In the theatre repertoire there are adult plays and plays for children and youths. VAT Theatre is truly Estonian, as one million Estonians are regular theatregoers. In the theatre’s work there is a special place given to modern plays and plays of contemporary Estonian playwrights. VAT Theatre tries to touch each spectator’s soul. The company’s main direction can be described as theatre minimalism and it has adopted the epic and physical theatre principles. The “Forum Group at the VAT Theatre”, influenced by the Brazilian Augusto Boal who renewed theatre with the “Forum-theatre” technique, has been performing there since 1999. VAT Theatre is supported by Estonian Ministry of Culture and Municipality of Tallinn.

Hikikomori by Holger Schober (Austria) There is a door. Behind it – a room. A man, Hikikomori, lives there. That room is also inhabited

Translator

by that man’s inner world. The outer world is outside, and this man has no connection with it.

Vahur Aabrams

One day he wakes up and realises that he stinks. He remembers that earlier he didn’t. He can’t

Director

remember what happened before, when he didn’t stink. Now he wants to know. In order to do

Margo Teder

that he establishes contact with the outer world through chat rooms. Soon he wants to leave

Designer

his room, but this is no longer an easy task.

Kaspar Jancis

The well-known Austrian playwright Schober Holger’s play ‘Hikikomori’ is a story about a

Performers

man who has lived in his room for eight years. He has reduced contact with the society to

Meelis Põdersoo

minimum. He has made himself resistant to the expectations of the society. He has enclosed

Kadri Adamson

himself to isolation as a protest to the world which he finds uninhabitable.

Ene Järvis

Premiere: 8 October 2010 in National Library Tower Hall VAT Teater

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Western Aare Toikka: “I’m sure every man played cowboys and Indians in his youth. I definitely did. And I can’t even remember how long it is that I had thought about directing a western. On stage!!! Hell yeah... So, one day I told my company that – guys, what do you think of staging a western? My male performers agreed without any further ado. So we began the journey. And we ended up doing the story by Sergio Leone by which Clint Eastwood guaranteed his place in film history. I find “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” still the most powerful western in film history. After this film the genre of western has seen only parodies or complete disasters. On stage, however, everything remains possible and I find western a very theatrical genre with topics like freedom, loyalty, betrayal, and hope. We’ve made it into a satire. Pistols, hats, coffins, horses, sweat and loads of cash... Hell yeah!!” Premiere: March 12, 2011 in National Library Theatre Hall Director Aare Toikka Designer Kaspar Jancis Musical designer Mart Soo Performers Tanel Saar, Meelis Põdersoo, Ago Soots, Margo Teder and Mart Soo 136

VAT Teater

Educational Work From 4/2010 to 4/2011 4 groups of youngsters have been engaged in P11+ activities: VAT Theatre Forum Group, Tallinn 32nd Secondary School theatre class, Tallinn Old Town Educational College 8th grade students and Merivälja School 5th grade students. In May 2010 a meeting of 3 groups took place – VAT Theatre people linked to ‘Paperclip Belt’ production, 32nd Secondary School theatre class, that had performed the same story in their school and VAT Theatre Forum Group, that had been working with the material. In October 2010 VAT hosted P11+ Youth Ecounter ‘Shared Stories from Schoolyards’. 40 youngsters from 4 countries (EE, UK, SK, CZ) had a creative week full of exciting workshops. Each day had a different topic and the general topic was “Text“. The week culminated with the performance “Handbook of Your Life“. There was an exhibition of the comics with the topic ‘I like…’ made by youngsters. A DVD was made to share the inspiration of this week for teachers, theatre workers and other youngsters of the P11+ countries. The Forum Group has a link to all three groups. In Spring 2010 we developed a forum story linked to the play ‘Paperclip Belt’. During the rehearsals the group met the visual artist Inga Vares. New educational activity grew out of this process and as from Autumn 2011, schoolgroups have had the chance to participate in the forum theatre workshop after their visit to the theatre. The aim has also been to use Forum Theatre as a research method. FFrom spring 2010 our new P11+ writer Kristiina Jalasto and Forum Group had fruitful cooperation. A class from Old Town Educational College 8th grade had creative tasks (essays, forum performance, readings) linked to Kristiina’s new play, binational cooperation ‘Salto mortale’. And in spring 2011 we challenged them with a new task given by writer. They had 2 weeks to create a video about 4 different topcis linked to a modern up-to –date, youngster. The aim of these videos was to find inspirational material for the writer to use for the P11+ Final Production. A 3rd group of Tallinn 32nd Secondary School theatre class had chance to take part in the youth exchange and also took part in 3 Inga Vare’s workshops. With different approaches youngsters could explore common themes of given characters and themselves. Finally as a result of workshops Puzzle of Schoolyard Character was made. This art piece was given as a present to a P 11+ country – Norwegian youngsters. The freshest cooperation we have with Merivälja School 5th grade, linked to the 2nd binational production – ‘Help!’ by Aare Toikka and Peter Horvath (HU). There open rehearsals, Forum theatre games and playing around social issues; art work around the play topics and essay after a theatre visit. VAT Teater

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Divadlo Alfa Plzeň, Czech Republic Alfa Theatre was established in 1966. It is sponsored by the City of Pilsen. Tomáš Froyda has been the managing director since 2006. The current creative team (artistic head and director Tomáš Dvořák, dramaturg Pavel Vašíček, and set designer Ivan Nesveda), together with non-resident artists and the twelve-member company of actors, favors a comedy oriented concept of theatre, seeing the puppet as a dominant and unusually attractive stage phenomenon. The theatre performs to a broad range of audiences, including nursery-school children, young people and adults. For all of them it provides an alternative to the dominant media culture – an alternative featuring literary and artistic quality, original staging methods (all kinds of puppetry techniques combined with live actors) and a composite stage form, with music (often live) playing an important role. Above all, there is the irreplaceable contact, through emotion and laughter, with live art – and, moreover, in a truly cultural environment. The repertoire is broad in theme and genre, from classical and modern fairy tales to world drama. The highlights of the decade from 1999 – 2009 were the productions of “Goodness Gracious, It’s the Dog heads” (1999) and above all “The Three Musketeers” (2006). The latter won over twenty awards in the Czech Republic and abroad. During the last years Alfa has cooperated with some of the most prestigious directors of drama from the whole republic. Tim Davys – Marek

Between 1970 and 2010 the theatre company visited lots of countries in Europe and also overseas.

Pivovar AMBERVILLE…

The theatre has been the joint organizer of Skupova Pilsen since 1967: the Festival of Puppet Shows, a biennial competition of

Soft toys in a hard town

professional Czech puppet theatre. The most recent festival took place in June 2012.

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Tim Davys – Marek Pivovar

Amberville… Soft toys in a hard town Translation

A combination of a children’s story and the hard-bitten world of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell

Robert Novotný

Hammett and Rose McDonald. It sounds strange, but this is the nature of “Amberville”, Tim

Direction

Davy’s début novel. One day Eric Bear is visited by casino owner Nicholas Dove, his former

Radovan Lipus

boss, with a truly attractive offer. Dove’s name is on a Death List. Bear has to find and cross out

Set

Dove’s name, or else Dove’s henchmen will kill his girlfriend, Emma Rabbit. A textbook opening

David Bazika

for a gangster story – except that all the characters are soft toys.

Music BUTY (selection)

The best thing about the novel is the contrast between the children’s toys and the cruelty of

Dramaturgy

which they are capable. We do not expect cute little animals to behave as the heroes of human

Pavel Vašíček

“B” films. Throughout the book, the question of what exactly the author intended the toys to

Cast

be remains unanswered. Are they like toys in an animated film, which move by themselves, or

Petr Borovský

are we meant to imagine the hand of an adolescent child behind them, manipulating them

Martin “Sádlo” Bartůšek

and playing out the scenes?

Milan Hajn Robert Kroupar

Tim Davys is apparently a pseudonym for a well-known person, who is active in public life.

Vladimír Čada

Amberville, the Swedish author’s first novel, has already been published in twenty countries,

Milena Jelínková

but our theatre is the first in the world to have received permission to dramatise it!

Bohuslav Holý Lenka Válková Lupínková Marie Mrázková

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Divadlo Alfa

Premiere: 27th May 2011

Educational Work Acting workshops for adolescents Members of the Alfa theatre have been holding regular meetings with ten teenagers who are keen to learn the basics of acting since October 2010. The children, who were selected in an open competition, are all aged between 14 and 15; most of them have had some experience in drama clubs. We devoted the first two months to various acting exercises (the significance of the look, theatrical shorthand, metaphor, stylisation etc.) Then we decided what subject to choose for the whole year, so that we could practise the exercises in context. We took a vote, and the winning subject was Commedia dell’ arte – a subject that is ideal for me as a teacher. Why ideal? Commedia dell’ arte involves a very simple basic story with various modifications. The construction of each scene is sketched out, but there is still significant room for improvisation. However, even improvisation then has to be polished and set – creating material to be learned and mastered. Sometimes it is movement improvisation, while at other times it involves working with text. Room for creative writing: sometimes the actor steps out of the role in a Brechtian manner and performs a monologue that he has written for himself, on a subject that is shared with the acted figure (does Colombina have a forbidden love? The actress describes, in a monologue, everything that she has to do in order to bypass her unsuspecting parents and go on a date ) I don’t know whether our presentation will reach the standard of a regular production, but we consider the journey itself to be our goal. Blanka Josephová-Luňáková

Divadlo Alfa

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Junges Schauspielhaus Zürich, Switzerland Junges Schauspielhaus Zürich is an integrated part of the Schauspielhaus Zürich. 4–5 new productions are produced each season, worked on by the actors, directors, dramatic advisors, theatre teachers, set designers and musicians. These productions form the repertoire that is shown in the various theatres of the Schauspielhaus. The season’s programme may additionally include guest performances or plays from a previous season. As well as this, children, young people and adults participate in discovering and experiencing the world of the theatre, playing, researching, writing, both in their free time and for school projects. The theatre works together with other theatre organizations in the city and abroad. A city-connection between Zürich and Leipzig has been going on for quite a while. The international festival “Blickfelder” took place for first time in 2011 in the various theatre spaces of the Schauspielhaus. The production by the Junges Schauspielhaus “The Long The Long Way Home

Way Home” by Charles Way, directed by Enrico Beeler, was

by Charles Way

invited to the festival.

Junges Schauspielhaus

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The Long Way Home by Charles Way The ‘long way’, in the play of the English author Charles Way,

Translation Anke Ehlers

takes the audience on a journey through an entire lifetime:

Direction Enrico Beeler

Motivated by love, Gaia leaves her seaside home town to go

Set Marc Totzke

to her husband’s village in the forest. Later, with her husband

Costumes Karoline Young

dead and her sons having left home, she wants to return to

Music Tom Tafel

her own village, at the sea. On her way back, she finds an overgrown boy who behaves like a dog, in a forest. Mother

Cast

Gaia wants to continue, but she can’t leave the young boy

Mutter Gaia

Suzanne Thommen

alone. She looks for a home for him – but finds none. And so

„Dog Boy“

(Andrew) Fabian Müller

they are both drawn closer together.

Gerasimos

Daniel Kasztura

The old woman teaches him to speak, gives him a name, An-

Kostas / Darius Uwe Topmann

drew. They have many adventures together. Andrew devel-

Xenia / Pamela Lilli Jung/Maria Spanring

ops, learns to kiss and has to learn how to make decisions as

Callia / Odessa Kathrin Veith

he progresses into adulthood.

Georgios

Lukas Waldvogel

Musiker

Léon Schaetti

Finally they reach Gaia’s village at the sea. But everything has changed, nothing is as bad as it was. A new life begins. Before dying, Gaia leaves Andrew mementos of their journey together.

Target audience 9 years +

Charles Way’s play spans an entire life: meetings with strangers, love, possession and loss, happiness and sadness. The different fates of the old woman and the young boy are woven into a generational image.

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Junges Schauspielhaus

Opening night 18. September 2010, Schiffbau/Box

Educational Work Within the scope of Platform 11+ the pupils of the 5th class from the schoolhouse in Rafz wrote storys, scenes and songs about their schoolyard – accompanied by the authors Lorenz Langenegger and Eva Rottmann. A project week took place from the 5th to the 9th of July 2010. During this week a ‘scenic walk’ on the subject ‘schoolyard’ was developed. During the first week normal lessons were replaced by theatre activities. The play was rehearsed with the support of the theatre educator of the Junges Schauspielhaus, Caroline Ringeisen. The children even spent one night in tents in the schoolyard area in order to gather new experiences in this place which was so close to them. On the last day of the project week, the families and friends of the children were surprised to see the playful discoveries that had been made. Workshop in preparation of the Hungarian-Swiss In January 2011, Akos Nemeth, Janos Novak, Anna Papst and

coproduction ‘Last first week’

Lorenz Langenegger were once again guests in the schoolhouse. This time they introduced the texts that they had co written, these texts formed the basis of the stage play “The last first week”. The pupils were the first ones who were able to give feedback which the authors could then use in the texts that followed. Junges Schauspielhaus

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University of Agder Kristiansand, Norway The Faculty of Fine Arts is responsible for Arts’ education as well as research and development activities in the fields of drama/ theatre, music and arts and crafts. Many of the Faculty’s academic staff have both artistic and academic competence, and the study programs are very much based on practical artistic work in combination with theory and critics. The Theatre Department has considerable involvement in local and national cultural life. We are co-organizers of the ASSITEJ Festival – Norwegian Children’s’ and Youth Theatre Festival running every second year in Kristiansand. We operate ITYARN – International Theatre for Young Audiences Research Network – www.ityarn.org. Ityarn collaborates closely with ASSSITEJ International, and with universities worldwide. We run the national interactive website and cultural school www.trafo.no – for young people between 16 and 30, and Orkester Norden – a summer symphony orchestra for talented young musicians from all the Nordic countries. The Faculty of Fine Arts is involved in Arts projects in Tanzania, Palestine, Nepal and Bolivia. The Faculty cooperates with all of the established regional art institutions on music, theatre and visual art, especially with the regional theatre Agder Theatre. Many of the faculty’s academic staff have considerable international networks, and many tour actively and give performances, concerts and Master Classes abroad. The Faculty of Fine Arts has a bachelor program of  drama/theatre pedagogy and from 2011 the Masters’ program of ‘Arts in Context’. The majority of teaching on the bachelor level is hands-on drama and theatre work where creative work with various dramatic modes of expression is emphasized. Most of the work is done in the drama and theatre halls. The students have extensive touring activities in various settings. The Theatre Department has around 10 staff members and 200 students. We are located on the new campus of the university, with a black box theatre and good working facilities, and with a new building for the music studies. 146

University of Agder

Europa University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany A university on the river – driven like a river’s current. The word ‘river’ has a very special meaning for Viadrina. Firstly, this is due to the river on the banks of which the university lies. Just like neighbouring Poland, the river is in our immediate area. This, in turn, has helped developed a close German-Polish connection; because of this, Viadrina is transforming itself into a GermanPolish, European university. Secondly, Viadrina finds itself rooted in the river. Of course there are not any buildings in the water itself; however, this very modern university has its sights set on the future, and future means change, movement… like a river’s waters driven by a strong current, like the Oder’s waters. Since its re-establishment in the year 1991, Viadrina has strictly adhered to its concept of bringing young people together from every corner of the world. This concept has proven to be successful: Viadrina has grown to become a lively, highly regarded member in the community of German and European universities. With 30% of foreign students from over 70 countries and an extensive network of partner universities we are one of the most international universities worldwide. Our study courses and university degrees are internationally acknowledged. Due to the Viadrina relationships to approximately 140 institutions worldwide, the research and theory receive constantly new impulses and this gives scientists and students the chance to collect international experiences. Platform 11+ is involved in the networking, and is a contact-point for the obligatory practical work placements abroad, which offers the students the possibility to make practical experiences. The atmosphere here is personal and warm, and with excellent student support and guidance we are able to offer outstanding study conditions. Viadrina is located at the German-Polish border, only one hour by train from Germany’s capital, Berlin.

Europa University Viadrina

147

ATINA & Schoolyard Stories in Ibero America ATINA was founded in 2002, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It became a full member of ASSITEJ International in 2004. This nonprofit association gathers, as individual members, directors, actors, designers, musicians, playwrights, producers, investigators and all those people who develop their activity in the field of Theatre for Children and Young People. ATINA was created with the aim of working to encourage the development of the Argentine Theatre for Children and Young People along the whole country, and establishing and strengthening bonds with theatres from all over the world. In 2004, the Ibero American Centres representatives from Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, Mexico, Spain and Argentina decided to create a Theatre for Children and Young People Ibero American Network, based on their similar language (Spanish) and similar cultural background with the aim of encouraging and improving the Ibero American Theatre for Children and Young People. Since then, this network has been working on different projects. Several meetings have been organized during these years in different countries in order to develop regional and inter-regional projects. Schoolyard Stories in Ibero America is a project organized by ATINA, the National Centre of ASSITEJ International in Argentina with the participation of the IBERO AMERICAN ASSITEJ CENTRES and independent American Artists and in cooperation with PLATFORM 11+. Some years ago, ATINA got in touch with the project European Schoolyard Stories which had been developed some years ago. Since then, we started to work on the possibility of carrying it out in Ibero America, adapting it to our theatre’s characteristics, our reality and also our infrastructure and economic possibilities. In 2008, when the working plan was ready, we were invited to participate in the Platform 11+ project as the Ibero American Partner. Schoolyard Stories in Ibero America is an interdisciplinary project about high schools’ schoolyards of today, aimed at creating plays and performances devoted to young people (12–18 years old) which talk about the adolescents’ concerns, based on former research in schools. The project integrates the participation of authors, directors and actors of different countries by means of research projects, playwright contests, workshops for directors, staging performances, festivals, exhibitions and multimedia support. The final result of the project is the staging of a performance about the Schoolyard Stories in each of the participating countries, based 148

ATINA & Schoolyard Stories in Ibero America

on the research, interchange and workshops previously realized. The project will be closed in an International Festival in October 2011, where all the staged performances will be shown, at the same time with the exhibition of the research work, the plays publication and the multimedia support. A non-professional part will be developed in Universidad Popular de Belgrano with the participation of the Drama School’s adolescent groups.

The coproduction ‘WC School’ In March 2010 Pilot theatre (UK), a Platform 11+ partner theatre and the Universidad Popular de Belgrano (Argentina) presented the co-production WC School based on three of the Ibero American plays (‘New Commercial Transactions’ by Carlos de Urquiza; ‘Che Guevara’ by Gabriel Fernández Chapo and ‘Stay Here’ by Luz Rodríguez Urquiza). Marcus Romer (Artistic director of Pilot theatre) was responsible of the direction of the play working with Argentine actors, artistic and the technical team. The production was performed in Buenos Aires and York (UK).

Schoolyard Stories from Ibero America in Europe The production ‘Martin’ – based on ‘I don’t want to be Che Guevara’ by Gabriel Fernández Chapo (Argentina) – of La Factoria Teatro from Santiago de Chile was invited as a guest performance to the 3rd Annual Encounter of Platform 11+ in Dresden. Germany.

ATINA & Schoolyard Stories in Ibero America

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Richard Hurford Playwright, United Kingdom THE BULLY KING 1976 I was fourteen. The school I went to was the toughest in the city. Gangs of bullies ruled the schoolyard, the corridors and the boys’ toilets, but they never bothered me until the day the Bully King decided it was my turn. The Bully King was massive, almost a grown man. We all knew he shaved once every week. I was sitting on a wall with some friends, when he came up behind me with his gang. He called me something dirty and kicked me hard in the back. I was so fucking angry. Something snapped in my brain and I couldn’t stop what happened next even if I’d wanted to. I reached behind, grabbed him by the arms and threw him over my head. He hit the ground with a thud and his gang made a noise as though it was their bodies that had slammed into concrete and not his. For a moment the Bully King stared at me and I stared back. Then he came for me. He punched me to the ground, kicked me in the head, ribs, balls and stamped on my face. Everyone gathered round to watch and yell “Fight!” Afterwards, I got up and checked out the damage. My nose and mouth were bleeding, my left eye was swollen shut, there were boot marks all over my face, my school uniform was torn and covered in blood and dirt, my balls hurt so much it made me feel sick. I asked a friend if I could borrow his handkerchief, but he said his mum would be mad if he got blood on

it and then he walked away. I went to afternoon lessons and the teachers pretended not to notice or perhaps they were so used to boys bleeding in class it didn’t seem worth mentioning. At the end of the day I went home and made up a story about falling off the bus. Everyone told me it was my own fault. My friends said I should have taken the kicks and let him call me the dirty names until he got bored and left me alone. When my parents found out the truth, my mum said the same and my dad shouted at me for getting into a fight I couldn’t win. Later on a friendly teacher advised me to do nothing the next time it happened. I thought they were all mad. Even though I’d come off worst, fighting back was the only option as far as I could see. I couldn’t understand how anyone could think otherwise. I was confused and lonely for weeks. I felt ashamed, but not of myself. The Bully King never bothered me again. Mostly he avoided me, but if we ever did come face to face in the schoolyard or the corridors or the boys’ toilets, he would just nod once and turn away. My friends were amazed, but I never told them what I saw when the Bully King was beating me up. Our eyes met and in that moment I realised he wasn’t angry or psychotic or evil. He was scared and trying his hardest not to cry. The Bully King was scared because this soft and skinny,

Schoolyard Memories

too clever by half, obviously a homo kid had thrown him in front of his gang and the whole school and his rule of fear was hanging in the balance. The Bully King was scared because he hated me so much he might not be able to stop hitting me until I was dead. The Bully King was scared because all at once the world was not as solid as he used to think. Or perhaps it was just because when our eyes met, his were wet and mine were dry and he understood the one thing that would never happen, no matter how hard he stamped on my face. I would not cry. He could not make me. I was fourteen and no one knew I shaved once every week.

Ákos Németh Playwright, Hungary Father gets a telegram “It must be a mistake”, my father said, crumpling up the paper of the telegram he got from the hospital. “It is obviously a mistake.” It was morning, he was getting dressed by the wardrobe. I saw he was completely confused. “I’ll phone them and it will be cleared up.” he said, but he didn’t go to the phone straight away. He was helpless and I, his child, hated him for being so helpless. “Your mother’s dead, that’s what they’ve written, but it’s obviously a mistake” He was crying. I hated that he was crying. Why is he crying?, I thought, she is my mother. And I was not crying. Finally he went to make the telephone call. I was reading a book during breakfast, before leaving for school. I was making an effort to read. And because I didn’t want to think about what my father had told me, I was thinking of my grandmother. My grandmother whom we didn’t like, who snarled at me a week ago as the family was getting ready for the hospital visit: “Your shoes are not cleaned”. That’s what she said, without any more comments. She was a cold and loveless woman, my grandmother, my father’s mother. She lived with us. My mother was afraid of her. “This is no way to go to a hospital, in shoes like this”, she said icily. “Why can’t I, we are only visiting my mother.” That is what I was thinking while my father was making

a phone call, while I was reading the immensely dull book, while my little sister was also reading a book and none of us lifted our heads. I knew she wasn’t reading either. We were listening to our father telling our grandmother something, we listened to him leaving, listened to the clock ticking on the wall. Of course we went to school that day, too, and I said nothing there. My classmates found out that my mother had died some weeks later, from our teachers. I got into the middle of wasteland where sounds couldn’t reach. I went to school but I didn’t talk to anyone. She died. She died. I saw it all clearly, she betrayed me, she deceived me. I didn’t know what my little sister was thinking about this, or my father. She has left me. Me, alone. I went to an elite school that prided itself upon its foreign language instruction. We learned French. Our theme of the day was family, life at home, and friends. The teacher asked us one by one. “Pay attention to verb tenses”, she said. ”What do your parents do?” She obviously knew nothing about me. “My father works in a bank, my mother is dead”, I said. “Dead should be in feminine”, she answered numbly and corrected me. I was walking in a wasteland, lonely, in shiny shoes.

Bouke Oldenhof Playwright, The Netherlands How is it possible that after trying for days I can’t still remember anything happening on a schoolyard in my youth worth telling? Of course I see some pictures. The small playground, s-shaped because of some improvised classrooms on it needed for the growing population. Yet I can’t remember suffering from it being overcrowded, although it probably was. The bicycle shed, where we were always talking but I can’t remember anything other than small talks abouts teachers, pupils, classes, soccer en iceskating. I see myself sitting in the sun learning French, German and English words by heart. I remember I always forgot another English word for raincoat, I can’t even now remember. Long lists of French words beginning with ab-, confusing the meanings of all those words. The only beginning of a story on the playground had to do with Jule Flapper, an endurable female girl which played the headrole in my dreams for three years. We were sitting together with some ten pupils. Jule and I probably had a very small romp. I ran away, she ran after me. Some fifty meters further I left the playground, entering the empty space behind the bicycle shed. The springsun shone summerly. There I should have stopped. Jule would have run into me and we would have helt each other. I ran further and joined the group of friends again. She came too, we both were out of our breaths. Such a big life I was living in my head, so little really happening.

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Youth Encounter Tallinn, Estonia ‘Shared Stories from Schoolyards’ (Tallinn, Estonia, October 2010) was a youth exchange project hosted by VAT Theatre, Tallinn and financed by the Estonian Youth for Europe Agency. It was the first Youth Encounter initiated in the framework of Platform 11+ under the topic ‘Schoolyard Crossers’. About 40 young people from schools from four European countries (Estonia, United, Kingdom, Slovakia and Czech Republic) met and worked together in artistic mediums for eight days to exchange stories and experiences. All schools are locally connected to cultural institutions. These contacts helped them to establish and prepare this exchange project. Every group had prepared short presentations which they shared in order to start discussions on cultural identity and differences, issues they care about, and the stories they might want to tell about the Europe they live in. Using different methods in the performing and visual arts, facilitated by a team of international specialists led by Siret Paju (EE) and Arjunan Manuelpillai (UK) the young people worked towards finding an artistic expression of their thoughts and feelings in a collaborative and social way. Beside very impressive moments in getting in touch with the Estonian culture and tradition, the climax of this week was undoubtedly the performance „Handbook of my Life“ which was shown in the National Estonian Library.

Artists’ Feedback The Youth Encounter ‘Shared Stories from Schoolyards’ was preceded by many months of preparatory work. We had dozens of meetings with the organisational team, teachers and educators from four countries, workshop leaders and everyone else involved. But there’s only so far one can go with the planning – one can make sure that there are possibilities for magical things to happen, but there’s one big unknown factor… The young people! We were really lucky with all of the participating youth. They came from four different European countries, and they came with an open mind, positive attitude, and eagerness to get Workshop by Arjunan

to know each other. They generated really positive energy between them and this was definitely one of the determining factors

Manuelpillai (UK)

for the success of the week. Youth Encounter

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There were many goals for the time spent together. The first one was to bring together young people from four countries, and to provide an opportunity for everyone to learn about other cultures, languages and ways of thinking. In order to achieve this cultural exchange we danced each other’s traditional dances, ate food from all of these countries, sang songs in new languages, and of course the daily interaction in different situations opened our eyes in many ways. All of these situations and activities contributed to the chemistry between the participants and formed a strong basis for collaboration. I believe this was an exchange in the most meaningful sense of the word. Another aim was to engage with the idea of text in performing arts. We considered the written and the spoken word. For example, we had exciting discussions about the way young people interact these days and how they communicate personal stories via different technological media. This led to in-depth discussions about identity, and we talked about questions like – what are the obstacles for truly being an individual? How does virtual reality influence the ‘real’ reality? What is the informational field we are in, and which people does that exclude? However, we didn’t consider text only as spoken or written word, we took it as a basic idea for sign systems in performing arts. Therefore we worked with music as text, movement and visual texts. In addition to workshops led by Arji and myself as the artistic directors, we invited some very exciting Estonian theatre professionals to share their work and ideas with us. It seems to be fair to say that at the end of each workshop the participating youth discovered something new for themselves – either new performing skills, how to think about the world or how to view themselves. The week culminated in a site-specific performance in Estonian National Library. Arji and I had decided that it’s important for the young people to contribute the content, therefore we didn’t start the week with a fixed concept to be fulfilled during the week. It was supposed to be about the participants, their thoughts and their stories. It was undoubtedly a very intense job, devising the production in this way, but it was definitely the best way to achieve one of the most important goals for the week –encounters and exchange of stories. We showed the performance ‘Handbook of Your Life’ to a full house (about 110 people) and it took us to various locations in the library. It went very well, and the exhilaration after the show was amazing! At the end of the week, looking back on everything that had taken place, we concluded that it was a good week. In fact – it couldn’t have been better in any way. Siret Paju (Artistic director) Youth Encounter

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Have a look at:

www.tallinn2010.posterous.com

Partner Organizations: JOHAN o. s., centre for cultural and social projects Pilsen, Czech Republic www.johancentrum.cz Bilingvรกlne gymnรกzium C.S. Lewisa Bratislava, Slovakia www.bilgym.sk York Youth Theatre at York Theatre Royal York, UK www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk VAT Teater (VAT Theatre Forum Group) Tallinn, Estonia www.vatteater.ee

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Youth Encounter

Tallinnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s youth exchange was the most inspirational week of last year. Groups of young people were brought together under the concrete pillars of Estonian National Library in order to work together on creating one piece of theatre. The space was filled with history, the huge overhanging staircases created warmth that was moving to both the practitioners and the artists. Along the way, I worked closely with Siret Paju creating a piece that drew from stories from the young people. I have special thanks to give to Kate Plumb who was as solid as a rock throughout the process, and helped me harness my skills as a director. The entire week was exhausting, it worked on me day and night, it gave me the opportunity to learn from practitioners across Europe and built professional relationships that will last for years to come. I saw the young people build relationships that I could never have fathomed. Bringing them to this amazing building summoned an energy and an expectation that they had not expected and they really rose to the challenge, creating a piece that they were very proud of. They displayed teamwork and the ability to make compromises which far surpassed the problems of cultural differences and linguistic barriers. It made it clear to me just how important the arts are, in bringing people together. Through workshops focusing on rhythm and movement we overstepped the problems of communication faced by much of Europe. Personally, I remembered how amazing music can be in uniting minds. The final song was my favourite and most memorable part of the piece, created by young people. We brought the song together in one session and it moved me. To sum up, I am forever indebted to the idea of including me in this show. It has stimulated me to new ideas for the future and I am currently in touch with other artists attempting to put together a European Theatre Summer school thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll do what we did in Tallinn but on a bigger scale. This is an example of how a small project in Estonia can have a carry on effect to other projects across Europe. Arjunan Manuelpillai (Artistic director) Youth Encounter

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Zuzana Hudekova Visual artist, Bratislava Since I was was living next to the school, I saw the schooyard all the time from my window. Me, my brother and my neighbours were spending also our free time there, cause the place was perfect to play tennis, basketball or football. Almost every day after school, homeworks and all kind of hobbies I came home, took a glance out of the window to see who is on the schoolyard and I ran out. We were there till dark, so when the ball wasn’t visible anymore it was the time to go home and sleep. But of course this was happening only in summer. During the winter we had other activities. When I was a little child there used to be enough snow everywhere, comparing with nowdays. So, when the whole schoolyard was under the snow we used to do big snowball fights, which were happening during the big breaks but also in afternoon. Once I became very angry on one boy who broke the rule, cause he throw one very freezed snowball straight to my face after the fight was officialy finished. That was the reason of my first real fight with a boy. After some great time we have spent on the free schoolyard one very nasty and unfair rule came out. The schoolyard was closed during the weekends and evenings and guarded by a big scary dog. But we didn’t give up, cause being on the schoolyard was our live. Since all of us have had a great view on the schoolyard it was easy to see when the dog is there and when not. If “the air was free” we have called to each other, jumped over the very high fences and playing till dark again. But of course, it wasn’t always so easy as it seems. Many times we saw the dog with his owner runnig towards us. We had to be always prepared for an organized and concentrated escape, but after some time we were so trained that nobody could catch us.

Schoolyard Memories

Lo˝rinc Boros Visual Artist, Hungary The bank of the Danube As I remember, we spent more time out of school that year than we were inside it. We always had a reason to convince ourselves why we should stay outside, why we should ditch classes. The grey maze of housing blocks hid terribly interesting things. There was a playground full of remains of cast iron objects, ping-pong tables, a hilly bicycle route, and stands build for eating carpets, some broken chairs, benches, flowerbeds. That was the playing field, still, the most important thing was that there was always something happening. We knew everyone on this square and everyone knew us. Our other headquarters was about five minutes away from here. At the end of the road leading away from the square, there was the Danube, flowing towards the South, farther than the eyes could reach. The river was bordered by awkward concrete walls, forcing it on its whirling way. The riverbank was almost always free of people, with only one or two line-fisherman sitting on the concrete steps decorated with sand, mud and alluvium deposit. This is where we went in the afternoons if we had the time or if we made some for ourselves. This was our favorite spot, being far enough so we couldn’t be found, but everyone in the group knew where we were if the others were not to be found on the square. This was the place where we could be (by) ourselves the most. It was already spring when one day there appeared heaps of unwanted furniture, knickknacks and unusable objects on the square – it was the time organized by the city for clearing out junk. We got hold of the best pieces of furniture and took them to the riverbank. We built a room with a wonderful view of the Hajógyári (Shipyard) Island and the Danube. Maybe (of course) it was to do

with the weather getting better, but we were spending more and more time sitting out there, writing poetry, talking philosophically about nothing, doing all this in complete comfort. After a while we started our mornings on the riverbank as well. This was the thing that made our teachers’ anger finally come down on our heads. At the same time, in a symbolic fashion, as the water level of the Danube started rising and rising because of the floods, so did the storm clouds gather above our heads. It was almost the same day that the flooding water swept away our riverside room and that it was took away from us by the bad news our teachers gave us: we were going to get a little book in which every school lesson had to be signed by the teacher and they also had to write a short description of our behavior. That was the end of the square and the end of the real Danube bank for that year. We were attending every lesson again, but once or twice in the afternoons if we had time and the gang did not go their separate ways, we headed down to the riverbank to

Raul Atalaia, Actor, Portugal I went to a school far from my house, therefore all the other students were unknown to me and much older, what rhymes with dangerous. I endured it all bravely and kept myself there and, respectably, I answered to all the questions giving an impression of a secure person, whilst the rage against the situation where I found myself grew deeper. My resilience ended when I went back home and sobbing announced that I would never go back to the school. It turns out that the first hours in school were spent

talking about the student’s duties and obligations and the wide list of punishments available to be used by teachers to the badly behaved students. As this speech wasn’t fair to me, I thought that everyone would agree that this school wasn’t a good place for me and it would be a big mistake in my education to go back there. The rest of the day and part of the evening were quietly spent with my family dismantling all my arguments, always coming reconciling with “don’t be afraid”, to what I would answer, with my blushed face still wet from the tears: “I’m not afraid at all!”. I just had to wait until the next day to show them I wasn’t afraid at all.

smell the Danube once again. Irma Borges Playwright, Spain My schoolyards were brief. I counted them and waited for them, there I could say everything that I shut up in class. It was our space to walk, make jokes, flirt, eat snaks, play. My schoolyards had the company of mi friend Milagros, I shared all of them with her, except for a number of absences. We took our blue skirts for a walk (hers was long, mine short) around that concrete rectangle that drew color lines to differentiate between the soccer court from the basketball court. With those lines we marked also our territory and moved with it.

We looked at the boys from the corner of the eyes, until the encounter had place, so there were plenty of jokes and flit and the flavor of love. When it was exam time we waited for the boys we liked from other classes and asked them the exam’s questions, and also of course we looked for the most intelligent ones to ask for the answers. My schoolyards are full of names written in that huge blue wall of the school, that was followed by an endless grille that I always wondered why was there. My schoolyards sound in my memory, as the sound of the bell that made me go back to class.

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Stepping Exhibition Even a good idea has to withstand the test of reality. After yet another year of Platform 11+, one can say: The test has been passed. The idea of the Stepping Exhibition has proved to be a successful model of how to get school pupils actively involved in the project. Through the receiving and giving of presents, handmade art objects, Platform 11+ has forged an identity in European schools. The project can be experienced in a sensual way. The next step was Palmela in Portugal. During the three week visual artists’ Plein Air, a meeting took place with Teatro O Bando’s partner school. The artists were welcomed in the school with a small concert and shared a lunch with the students. After this, the Emergency Exit Arts presented the puppets, which had been made by school students in London, to the Portuguese students. Now, one year later, these puppets are still part of the Platform 11+ exhibition in the Portuguese school. The project proceeded in October. The Portuguese project had to make the long journey to Tallinn. Because of the length of the journey, a ‘light version’ was decided upon and a film about day to day school life in Portugal was produced. The original idea had been to focus on the texts and characters from Budapest. Although this idea faded into the background, the young people came up with a remarkable result. The film was shown at the end of the Premiere of the first Platform 11+

June 2010:

Youth Encounters ‘Schoolyard Crossers – Stories from European Schoolyards’.

Patrick Bullock and Andrew Siddall

The Estonians went back to the roots, together with a visual artist, they created a puzzle with the original texts. The puzzle was

(Emergency Exit Arts, UK)

presented to the Norwegians at the Advisory Board meeting in Oulu, Finland. At present, the Norwegian students are working

hand over the Stepping

on their contribution, which they will pass on in Dresden, during the 3rd Annual Meeting. Step by Step will be completed with

Exhibition to Palmela

a very special exhibition which, after four years, will give a very impressive picture of the creative potential of young Europeans.

(Portugal)

Stepping Exhibition

161

Teachers’ Development Meeting Portugal – April 2011 Working with text and Young People For our second Teachers’ Meeting we wanted to explore some of the different ways you could approach working on text with Young People. Challenges that often arise for teachers are about how you involve the whole group or class you are working with, how you can best stage a text as well as getting away from a process whereby they are wandering around (or more likely rooted to the spot!) with a script in their hands. The workshops were run by Julian Ollive, Education Associate at York Theatre Royal, who does an extensive amount of work exploring these ways of working with teachers, children and young people in both primary and secondary schools, myself and O Bando’s Voice Director Teresa Lima. Saturday brought with it unseasonal heavy, steady rain and a journey to O Bando’s partner, Poceirão school. Even though it was the weekend the school presented a performance that some of the children had prepared as part of their Platform project and a social event involving a band, lots of local delicacies and drinks and an introduction to Portuguese tradition, culture and language. This was all in addition to the 3 full workshop sessions over Saturday and Sunday whereby we explored a whole range of activities which opened up the ‘world’ of a play, engaging everyone, promoting a real understanding of text, image, character and through the use of chorus looked at how you can involve a large group in any given production. To finish here are some other perspectives on the weekend. 162

Teachers’ Development Meeting

Fragment of a Teacher’s Experience by Paul Birch, York We have had a full day at the school. Julian and Mandy lead workshops. Fun. new games. Julian takes on the lead and guides us with his calm, clear style. We tackle fairy tales and create characters. We tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood using the brilliant technique known as a ‘Whoosh’. It is fantastic and both experienced and inexperienced create inventive performances. We create woods filled with bandits, butterflies and botanists. There are witches here and fights over cauldrons. Robin Hood plots mischief and behind the trucks of twisted trees there is, of course, the wolf. Everyone is learning something new and new friendships are being forged whilst older ones go a little deeper. Everyone seems to speak English better than I do and it continues to amaze me that most of the participants were not only following the workshops in a second or third language but creating instant drama in this alien tongue. I am glad that it is raining outside because the work is hot and we are merrily exhausted..

Shared Passions by Julian Ollive, York Theatre Royal This was the first time I’d properly dipped my toe into the world of Platform 11+. Its about exchange on so many different levels, not just of skills but of ideas, thinking, language, interests – all linked by passion. Passion for working with theatre, with young people and passion for learning. For me the weekend summed up everything that is great about theatre, interaction and exchange. At the heart of every great theatre experience should be an exchange, a sharing. We should come away enriched and changed in some very small way. Platform 11+ allows teachers, artists, young people and educators this opportunity for enrichment and it shouldn’t be underestimated but instead cherished and nourished because benefit for us is to the benefit of the wider communities we serve. I had a great weekend, hopefully passed on some ideas that have pre viously been passed onto me and I truly hope will be passed on again… and again… Teachers’ Development Meeting

163

Advisory Board Meeting Oulu / Finland February 2011 Oulu City Theatre was once again host to the annual Festival in chilly North Europe. Two partner theatres presented plays for the 30th Anniversary of the festival and the P11+ management team met for its regular exchange of information about the project. Corresponding with the Anniversary, the Oulu City Theatre was with also host to a conference about Finnish theatre and working together in the European context. The participants were informed about Finnish puppetry and dance theatre, and partners and project from other countries were also presented. Reports of the progress of the co-productions and the planning of the 3rd Annual Encounter in Dresden, Germany in June 2011 were central to the P11+ Management Team discussions with the representatives from all the partner theatres. It was however also the time to look into the future: the Final Production of Platform 11+ and the accompanying exhibition was discussed for the first time. Dirk Neldner presented a comprehensive proposal that had been developed in Berlin in January by a task group. Ideas were exchanged and worked on in a very creative atmosphere. All partners unanimously 164

Advisory Board Meeting

agreed that all the participating groups should have an equal opportunity to present their work in the Final Production. Now it’s up to the authors to provide short texts for the Material Pool, which will be the starting point for it. Both of the Platform 11+ plays, which were invited to the Oulu festival, were very different in content, form and targeted age group, but both were very well received by the audience. Theatre Institute Bratislava (Slovakia) put on ‘Once it hit me’ from Michaela Zakuťanská. This play was the National Platform 11+ production for audiences of 12+. It was performed in a school in English, as it is also done in Bratislava. The audience followed the four actors on a route through the entire school building and attained thereby a new perspective on the well known walls of the school building. Theater Junge Generation Dresden / Germany presented their play without words for the very young: ‘Funkeldunkel Lichtgedicht’ (Sparkly-darklight poem) has already been successfully presented in a number of different locations in Europe. Once it hit me

Sparkly-darklight poem

by Michaela Zakuťanská

(tjg:Dresden, DE)

(Theatre Institute Bratislava, SK) Advisory Board Meeting

165

Seeing Platform 11+ from the outside – or being an outsider w ithin… Time flies, and Platform11+ is moving forward. The project’s second year will

get an increasingly better insight into one another’s artistic productions. It

soon be behind us, and apparently all is going according to plan, both the

has become clear to everyone that they produce under quite different con-

meetings and various phases of artistic productions. A complicated patch-

ditions – both with regard to their view of children, theatre and - in a larger,

work presented and maintained by Dirk, Odette and Sven in Dirk’s imagina-

more general sense - art’s role in society.

tive computer presentations. It is also clear to everyone that the material and ideological conditions they

Social life in an EU project

experience are quite different. There is a great variety of views regarding

People are starting to get to know one another. Many of them have met on

children and adolescents as well as the theatre – in addition to theatre for

several occasions and have had time, both at meetings and informal gather-

children and adolescents in the various countries being discussed here. It is a

ings, to find out more about one another. It is terrific to get together once

long way from Finland to Portugal, or from York to Milan, with respect to both

again at each gathering. This was especially true after Palmela, as there was

material and cultural circumstances.

a great deal of observable happiness when people renewed their acquaintances. The annual gathering at Palmela in 2010 was a great success. Not only

Artistic life in Europe

did many participants express positive feelings about the social life that they

When you see productions made for the same target group in various coun-

experienced while spending summertime in a Portuguese village, but several

tries and theatres across Europe, you quickly notice that many aspects of

were also quite positive regarding what they got out of the gathering profes-

these performances give expression to general attitudes found within the

sionally speaking.

individual country’s cultural scene and material reality. However, it is difficult to say if theatres participating in Platform 11+ are typical for the situation in

When people are removed from their usual busy lives and familiar surround-

166

their native country, or if they actually represent a counter current - and if the

ings in this manner, they often become more open and receptive to making

latter is precisely the reason why they have chosen to enter into this type of

new acquaintances and looking at topics from a new point of view. The

project. The performances display various levels of quality and express great

professional discussions were conducted on both formal and informal levels.

differences in artistic direction. While they also display a high level of profes-

Participants are beginning to learn more about each other and are starting

sionalism, they simultaneously express differing views regarding theatre for

to understand others’ backgrounds. Most significantly, they are beginning to

young audiences. Moreover, with regard to themes, while these performanc-

Seeing Platform 11+ from the outside – or being an outsider within…

es share a common starting point in ‘Schoolyard Stories’, this theme is treated in quite different ways and with various artistic approaches.

Collaboration and co-production Now that the theatres have experienced co-production, they have also had to accept that there are problems connected with practical conditions. Small,

The target group and various attitudes concerning it

independent theatres work significantly differently than institutional thea-

By choosing a certain target group, and thereby having a joint focus outside

tres. For instance, you quickly encounter logistical challenges when certain

of the individual’s artistic production, the possibility of making quite different

theatres have hired actors on individual contracts while others have them as

productions is introduced. Many people say that by participating in Platform

permanent employees.

11+, they have been forced to relate differently to the target group, and that

Some participants enjoy a large theatre with quite a large staff, only a few

they have a much closer dialogue with the adolescents involved through dis-

of whom are involved in Platform 11+, while others have a small staff, all of

cussions, improvisations and interviews.

whom are involved in the project. Some theatres have a permanent repertoire while others do not. Language problems appear to have diminished over time,

”We worked continuously with a sample target group, collaborating with

and they do not seem to have caused significant problems at the artistic level.

two school groups in order to both aid in the development of our own

There also appears to be agreement that the positive experience of working

professional production and inspire the students’ own creative work

together in an artistic co-production overshadows any practical problems that

using the same themes.”

may arise. Theatre staff members find it enriching to encounter other traditions, cultures as well as material and aesthetic circumstances from their own.

“They would like to have even more different kinds of contact with theatres. That’s a pity, because we don’t have a lot of time for this.”

It is obvious that to date the project has injected new energy into the participating theatres. In the recently issued questionnaire, the vast majority of respondents say that they find their participation to be meaningful and look forward to its continuation.

“What we found out was that the young people were happy because they felt that their opinions were being heard and that the play we produced, based on all the workshops with them, strongly reflected their

Gunnar Horn

contributions and spoke to them in a language they had never heard in

Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts,

theatre before.”

University of Agder, Norway Seeing Platform 11+ from the outside – or being an outsider within…

167

Timeline 2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

22. – 25. May 2009 Advisory Board (Drammen | Norway)

24. – 27. Feb 2010 Playwrights meeting & Play Fair (Oulu | Finland)

21. – 27. Feb 2011 Advisory Board & Festival (Oulu | Finland)

3. – 5. Feb 2012 Meeting Literary Manager (Bratislava | Slovakia)

29. Apr – 2. May 2011 Advanced Training Teacher (Palmela | Portugal)

14. – 22. Apr 2012 Schoolyard in Town 2, Youth Encounter (York | UK)

7. – 10. Mar 2013 5th Annual Encounter & Education Conference (Drammen | Norway)

3. – 6. Jun 2009 Playwright Meeting (Berlin | Germany) 4. – 8. Sep 2009 1st Annual Encounter (Budapest | Hungary) 9. – 12. Oct 2009 Advanced Training Teacher (Milan | Italy) 18. – 20. Nov 2009 Marketing – Meeting (London | UK)

168

Timeline

16. – 21. Mar 2010 Directors Workshop (Buenos Aires | Argentina) 26. – 29. Mar 2010 Advisory Board & Play Fair (London | UK)

14. – 19. Jun 2011 3rd Annual Encounter

6. – 28. Jun 2010 Plein Air (Palmela | Portugal)

9. – 11. Sep 2011 Advisory Board | M eeting Directors and Visual Artists (York | UK)

23. – 28. Jun 2010 2nd Annual Encounter (Palmela | Portugal)

1. – 7. Oct 2011 Festival (Buenos Aires | AR)

18. – 20. May 2012 Advisory Board & Play Fair (Milan / Florence / Forli | Italy) 1.6 - 18. Jun 2012 Rehearsal Final Production (Pilsen | Czech Rep.) 18. – 21. Jun 2012 4th Annual Encounter (Pilsen | Czech Rep.)

23. – 31. Oct 2010 Schoolyard in Town 1, Youth Encounter (Tallinn | Estonia)

23. – 25. Nov 2012 Advisory Board & Play Fair ( Groningen | The Netherlands)

29. – 31. Oct 2010 Advisory Board | Play Fair (Tallinn | Estonia)

Nov 2012 NOT YET FIXED Schoolyard in Town 3, Youth Encounter ( Groningen | The Netherlands)

ADdresses Divadlo Alfa Pilzeň, Czech Republic General Director: Tomáš Froyda

Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione Milan, Florence, Forlí, Italy

Pilot Theatre Company York, United Kingdom Artistic Director: Marcus Romer

Rokycanská 7, CZ-312 00 Pilseň

Artistic Director: Stefano Braschi

c/o York Theatre Royal, St. L eonhard’s Place, York

www.divadloalfa.cz

Via Boltraffico 21, IT-2059 Milan

Y01 7HD

VAT Teater Tallinn, Estonia Artistic Director: Aare Toikka

www.elsinor.net Theater De Citadel Groningen, The Netherlands

www.pilot-theatre.com Junges Schauspielhaus Zurich, Switzerland Artistic Director: Petra Fischer

PO Box 3342, EE-10505 Tallinn

Artistic Director: Rob Bakker

www.vatteater.ee

Akkerstraat 97 a, NL-9717 KZ Groningen

Giessereistrasse 5, CH-8005 Zürich

www.citadeltheater.nl

www.schauspielhaus.ch

Oulun Kaupungin Teatteri Oulu, Finland Artistic Director: Athi Ahonen

Brageteatret Drammen, Norway

P.O.Box 5, FI-90015 Oulun Kauunki

Artistic Director: Terje Hartviksen

www.teatteri.ouka.fi

Grønland 60, NO-3045 D rammen

tjg. Theater Junge Generation Dresden, Germany

www.brageteatret.no Teatro O Bando Palmela, Portugal

Artistic Director: Felicitas Loewe

Artistic Director: João Brites

Meißner Landstrasse 4, D-01157 Dresden

Vale dos Barris, PT-2950-055 Palmela

www.tjg-dresden.de Kolibri Gyermek - És Ifjúsági S zínház Budapest, Hungary

www.obando.pt Theatre Institute Bratislava, Slovakia Artistic Director: Vladislava Fekete

Associated Partners ATINA, Upebe Buenos Aires, Argentina Artistic Director: Maria Inés Falconi www.upebe.com.ar University of Agder Kristiansand, Norway Dean of Faculty of Fine Arts: Gunnar Horn PO Box 422, NO-4604 Kristiansand www.uia.no

Artistic Director: János Novák

Jakubovo nám 12, SK-81357 Bratislava

Europa Universität Viadrina

Jókai tér 10, HU-1061 Budapest

www.theatre.sk

Frankfurt (Oder), Germany

www.kolibriszinhaz.hu

Emergency Exit Arts London, United Kingdom

Faculty of Social and Cultural Sciences

Artistic Director: Deb Mullins

Große Scharrnstrasse 59, D-15230 Frankfurt (O)

PO Box 570, GB-London SE10 OEE

www.euv-frankfurt-o.de

www.eea.org.uk Addresses

169

Imprint Yearbook Season 2010/11 Editorial Staff Publisher Dirk Neldner Editor Odette Bereska Layout & Design Andy Newman, www.andi.nu Printed by Druckhaus Köthen (Germany), www.koethen.de Translations | English Corrections Peter Scollinn Picture Index Fotologic, Cloe Osborne (UK), Judit Szlovak (HU), Kati Leinonen (FI), Siim Vahur, Mari-Liis Velberg, Inga Vares, Rait Avestik (EE), Klaus Gigga (DE), Nils Maudal, Yngve Reime Erlandsen , Harald Gaard (NO), Ana Teixeira (PT), Jaroslav Fišer (CZ), Giuditta Mingucci, Flavia Fossati (IT) and the archives of the theatres © PLATFORM 11+ Platform 11+ – Artistic Discoveries in European Schoolyards 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 Dirk Neldner, dirk@platform11plus.eu Head Organisation Brageteatret, Grønland 60, NO-3045 Drammen. Office Kalkseestrasse 7 A – D-12587 Berlin www.platform11plus.eu

170

Imprint

www.platform11plus.eu

With the support of the CULTURE Programme 2007-2013 of the European Union

Participating Theatres Divadlo Alfa Pilzeň, Czech Republic VAT Teater Tallinn, Estonia Oulun Kaupungin Teatteri Oulu, Finland tjg. Theater Junge Generation Dresden, Germany Kolibri Gyermek – És Ifjúsági S zínház Budapest, Hungary Elsinor Teatro Stabile d’Innovazione Milan, Florence, Forlí, Italy Theater De Citadel Groningen, The Netherlands Brageteatret Drammen, Norway Teatro O Bando Palmela, Portugal

Associated Partners

Theatre Institute Bratislava, Slovakia Emergency Exit Arts London, United Kingdom

ATINA, Upebe Buenos Aires, Argentina

Pilot Theatre Company York, United Kingdom

University of Agder Kristiansand, Norway

Junges Schauspielhaus Zurich, Switzerland

Europa Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany