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An Adventure Beyond Arts, Myths, and Everyday Life in Europe 2013 – 2017 Meeting the Odyssey is a social and artistic collaborative project sailing from the Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea. Each summer from 2014 to 2016, artists and organizers from different European countries will travel together, giving workshops and performing theater pieces.

The project will combine elements of the Odyssey, contemporary themes relevant to Europe and stories collected through exchanges with the local population.

But Meeting the Odyssey is also a journey in itself: bringing people together through long term collaboration, and discovering new artistic landscapes and cultural attitudes to develop synergies at the European level.

Project ambition What is Europe today? Who are the people living in Europe compared to who they were? What is their personal Odyssey?

This project asks: what is the common Europe behind the commitment of the European Union? Is there a common ground based on culture and daily life? How can we be reminded of our common roots? The project aims to decrease prejudices and to create a shared narrative that comes out of the stories of the people in Europe today, through the frame of the legend of Odysseus.

For a meaningful discussion about a sustainable and inclusive European culture and a creative future, we need to cross national borders to meet people from different contexts with different perspectives on Europe.

This will happen / / / / /

We will create 4 artistic productions with international teams

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We will create a hybrid language for theater that can be used in international co-productions

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We will document and share the process in the form of recordings, media, written evaluation, the performances

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We will produce new research linked to the project that will ensure the lasting and dissemination of the project results. The focus of the research will be on intercultural dialogue, artistic mobility and European identity

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We will create unity and solidarity among the partners and the people involved in the project

We will make 14 locally created actions, called ÂŤInstantsÂť We will develop new methods of creating theater performances in a social theater context We will create a network of theaters and festivals all over Europe We will give the chance to a minimum of 65 artists to be on board of the ship and 30 more to be involved

The Ketch HOPPET

Touring Schedule 2014

PRODUCTION A sailing with Hoppet 23.5 – 1.6 St. Petersburg 2.6 – 5.6 Hoppet St. Petersburg – Hanko 5.6 – 13.6 Hanko 13.6 – 19.6 Tallinn 19.6 – 24.6 Hiiumaa 24.6 – 29.6 Saaremaa PRODUCTION B sailing with river boat and Hoppet 5.7 – 12.7 Opole (Bus Opole – Berlin) 12.7 – 20.7 Berlin (Bus Berlin – Prague) 20.7 – 29.7 Prague (Bus Prague – Lübeck) 30.7 – 1.8 Hoppet Lübeck – Copenhagen 1.8 – 17.8 Copenhagen (Helsingor, Bornholm) 17.8 – 23.8 Copenhagen – Helsinki 23.8 – 1.9 Helsinki

2015

PRODUCTION C sailing with Patria and Hoppet 22.5 – 31.5 Milano 5.6 – 11.6 Varenna, Dervio (Lecco Lake) 12.6 – 22.6 Campsirago, Brivio 23.6 – 27.6 Como Lake 29.6 – 7.7 navigation Genova – Malta 7.7 – 16.7 Malta and Gozo 17.7 – 24.7 navigation Malta – Sardinia PRODUCTION D sailing with Hoppet 1.8 – 31.8 Sardinian’tour 1.8 – 14.9 France: Sete – Montpellier 25.9 – 4.10 Firenze – Castiglioncello

2016

Sailing with Hoppet Productions A and D 1.6 – 8.7 Corfú – Ithaka – Epidavros – Athens Productions B and C 1.7 – 8.8 Epidavros – Athens – Rhodos – Leros – Ikaria

Some Places 2014 The Peter and Paul Fortress

The Forman Brothers’ Boat, Prague

Hanko, Finland

Helsinki, Finland

Theatre Productions 2014 Memories for Life Premiere May 23rd in Skorohod Platform, St. Petersburg A physical multilingual performance about the past and the present, the old and the young “We do not walk towards death. We do not walk towards getting old. We walk to meet ourselves. We walk to meet our Other Me. Life is like two persons walking towards each other. My old age meets my youth.”

Imants Ziedonis (1933-2013) Memories for Life is a performance about the stories we tell to define ourselves. What happens when those stories fall apart? It is a tale about human travelling through time, seen from a variety of different perspectives.

Seven persons relive their life journeys and try to tell their personal stories in a landscape where memories, reality and dreams are equal. Where do we come from? How is the past influencing us and where are we heading? Memories for Life is inspired by both Homer´s Odyssey and the world as it is today, embodied by a cast of young European actors and directed by the Viirus Theatre’s artistic director Maria Lundström.

Memories for Life The Team Director Maria Lundström (Finland) Artistic director of the Viirus Theatre since 2011. Lundström is an actress by profession and graduated from the Theatre academy in Helsinki in 2005. She has worked both as an actress and director at most of the Swedish speaking theatres in Finland.

Choreographer Lenka Vagnerovà (Czeck Rep.) Lenka Vagnerová works as an independent choreographer, dancer and dance teacher in the contemporary international and Czech dance scene. In 2012 she established in Prague the dance theatre Lenka Vagnerová & Company. Lenka studied pedagogy of modern dance at HAMU - Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Dramaturge Christoffer Mellgren (Sweden/ Finland) Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2006. Has worked as a dramaturge and playwright in theatres both in Sweden and Finland. Mellgren has also been active as a tutor for students of dramatic writing. Since 2010 he has been a dramaturge at Svenska teatern in Helsinki. His latest works are the adaptation of the novel "Gräset är mörkare på andra sidan" by Kaj Korkea-aho for Teater Viirus (2014) and the play Chaplin for Svenska teatern (2013).

Memories for Life The Team Dancer Radoslav Piovarci (Slovakia) Actor Tilde Knudsen (Denmark) Actor Helena Pruuli (Estonia) Actor Maria Ahlroth (Finland) Actor Oskar Pรถysti (Finland) Actor Viktor Idman (Finland) Actor Jessica Raita (Finland) Composer Robert Kock (Finland) Visual Designer Viviana Rella (Italy) Light Designer Andrea Violato (Italy) Technical Manager Nicke von Weissenberg (Finland) Sound Designer and Technician Bjรถrn Karlsson (Sweden/ Finland) Costume and Prop Designer Tyra Therman (Finland) Producer Matilda Sundstrรถm (Finland)

Theatre Productions 2014 Waiting for the Rain Premiere July 5th 2014 in Opole, Poland Imagine a woman waiting for her man. For twenty years. What are her desires, hopes and fears? Waiting for the Rain is a performance about Penelope, the abandoned wife of Odysseus in the famous Greek tragedy The Odyssey – an unusual, strong and mysterious woman. She is the centre of a story that is told without words; a story created by music, movement and relations between actors, dancers, musicians and puppets.

This performance is a metaphorical image of Penelope's interior journey through the world of memories and emotions. The past and the future blur in the act of waiting, where the present does not exist. There is only timelessness, in which the ritual of waiting gives meaning to life.

Responsible: Opolski Teatr Lalki i Aktora, Poland.

Co-produced with ScarlattineTeatro, Italy, Viirus Theatre, Finland.

Director: Krystian Kobylka, Opolski Teatr On stage: 7 actors and 7 human size puppets

Theater Productions 2015 Production C: sbarchi_landing Premiere May 22nd 2015 in Milan, Darsena, Italy.

It is the other side of nostos, of homesickness; the desire of unveiling which always leads to new encounters, crashes and tragedies. The disembarkation, the landing opens the way to a different look, never sure nor safe, to an unknown dimension The ship and the crew on stage, the docking among people, in an unknown city; meeting extraordinary men and women, class, genre, age conflicts, threats, ghosts from the past and then on board again, to set sail to new routes: are we sure we wish to get back to Ithaca? Behind this stubborn desire of meeting and the unknown, is the impulse to sacrifice the fellows perhaps hidden?

Responsible: ScarlattineTeatro, Italy.

Co-produced with Asterions Hus, Denmark, Viirus Theatre, Finland, Skorohod Platform, Russia.

Director: Michele Losi, ScarlattineTeatro.

On stage: 8 actors

Theater Productions 2015 Production D: Mille bulles bleues Premiere August 2015 in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy.

The theme is about the encounter with the stranger, being stranger, feeling stranger; the encounter with who has the paradoxal feeling of being stranger in his own city, as Pisistero and Evelpide have felt themselves in Aristofane’s “Birds”.

Responsible: Cada Die Teatro, Italy.

Co-produced with Réseau en Scène, France, Theatro Anapoda, Greece.

Director: Giancarlo Biffi, Cada Die Teatro.

On stage: 7 performers.

Instants The Instant Performances

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Locally created actions: unique performances combining the Odyssey and the local context into a short performance at every stop on the tour

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Responsible: every year a team of 3 from Cada Die Teatro, Italy (2014), Viirus, Finland and Skorohod, Russia (2015), Asterions Hus, Denmark and ScarlattineTeatro, Italy (2016)

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Separate action, still linked to both Main Productions and Workshops

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Can be performed by the ship, in a venue or in the street The instant performances together with the workshops are the ÂŤlaboratoryÂť of the project

Production A: Memories for Life / 2014

Production: Memories for Life / 2014

Platform Skorohod International Theatre Centre ’Light People’ Peter and Paul Fortress. Sails of Wight Nights Festival Elagin island.

Street Theater Festival 22.5 – 01.6

St. Petersburg, Russia

Premiere of Memories for Life on May 23th.

The Ship will sail to St Petersburg on the 28th of May Programm:

22.5 Press conference: meeting former Odysseys – The participants: organizers and ideologists of ‘Meeting the Odyssey’ project (Michele Losi & Giancarlo Biffi/Italy, Matilda Sundström & Maria Lundström/Finland, Alexander Weinstein & Tatiana Priyatkina/Russia) and ‘MIR Caravan’ (Slava Polunin & Natalia Tabachnikova).

23.5 / 20:00 Premiere of Production A at Skorohod 24.5 – 26.05 / 20:00 ‘Memories for Life’ at Skorohod 27.5 Instant at “Light people” 28.5 – 29.5 Workshops by artists from ‘Memories for Life’ 30.5 Workshop “Business of Art” by Matilda Sundström (Project Manager) 30.5 Instant at the Street Theatre Festival on Yelagin Island 1.6 Theatre picnic “Meeting the Odyssey” at the Sails of Wight Nights Festival

Production: Memories for Life / 2014

Hangö Teaterträff Hanko Theatre Festival 5.6 – 8.6

Hanko, Finland

The Ship will sail from St Petersburg to Hanko and arrive on the 5th of June Programme: 27-28.5 and 3-4.6: Memory Workshop I: Wall painting based on memories of the sea. Workshop by visual artist Antonia Ringbom. Inauguration June 5th at 3 pm.

3.6 – 7.6 The Memory Workshop II Theatre workshop with Giancarlo Biffi leading to INSTANT HANKO June 7th at 5 pm by the wall painting.

6.6 Memories for Life premiere in Finland at 7 pm at Brankis 7.6 Memories for Life at 7 pm

Production : Memories for Life / 2014

Estonia 14.6 – 28.6

Estonia

Hoppet will sail from Hanko to Tallinn on the 12th of June

Estonia – Tallinn June 16-19 : Memories for Life – Teater NO99 Estonia – Hiiumaa June 21-22 : Memories for Life – Suursadama Port June 24 : Instant Performance – Suursadama Port Saaremaa Estonia – Saaremaa June 26-28 : Memories For Lifes – Kuressaare City Theater

Production B: Penelope Project / 2014

Production: Waiting for the Rain / 2014

Opole, Poland

Opolski Teatr Lalki i Aktora im.

Alojzego Smolki

Premiere of Production B on July 5th

5.7 – 12.7

Workshops: 30.6 – 12.7 “Summer in the Theatre” – artistic workshops for children

30.6 – 10.7 “Be like a Penelope” – artistic workshop for women

28.6 – 8.7 Theatre workshop with Giancarlo Biffi

5 performances

everyday 30.6 – 12.7 Events with artists from Opole University Institute of Art

Production: Waiting for the Rain / 2014

Berlin, Germany

Radial System Ehemaliges

The “boat” will arrive on July 12th Programme:

Stummfilmkino Delphi

17.7 – 18.7 Performances of Waiting for the Rain in Ehemaliges Stummfilmkino Delphi

12.7 – 20.7

Production: Waiting for the Rain / 2014

Forman brothers theatre 20.7 – 30.7

Prague, Czech Republic July 26, 27, 28: Waiting for the Rain at the Forman Brothers’ Boat the Mystery Boat in Prague Programme: Waiting for the Rain, Instant Prague by local young artists and Cada Die Theatre, two boats sailing on the river, workshops, screenings, open rehearsals, pre-runners work-demos before each show, post show talks, dance evenings, concerts, discussions, exhibitions etc.

Production: Waiting for the Rain/ 2014

Teaterøen / Theatre Island Copenhagen harbour Helsingør Asteroid festival 01.8 – 17.8

Copenhagen, Denmark

Hoppet will sail to Copenhagen on August 1st

23.8 – 27.8 Preparatory Workshop to Instant Copenhagen with Asterions Hus at Theatre Island 1.8 Opening of the exhibition "A theatre odyssey " on Theatre Island during Copenhagen Harbour festival Kulturhavn’14 2.8 – 3.8 Joint Workshop conducted by Asterions Hus (DK) and Cada Die (IT) 4.7 – 7.8 Workshop & preparation to the staging of Instant Copenhagen outcome 8.8 Instant Copenhagen 1 (Kødbyen / Stock Exchange) and Odyssey party under Knippelsbro with the Odyssey ship, music and outdoor dinner (Knippelsbro) 9.8 – 10.8 Waiting for the Rain performed at Helsingør 15.8 Opening of the Asteroid international theatre festival 16.8 – 17.8 Waiting for the Rain and Instant Copenhagen 2 performed at Asteroid festival and farewell party

Productions: Memories for Life and Waiting for the Rain / 2014

Helsinki Festival Viirus Theatre 18.8 – 31.8

Helsinki, Finland

Hoppet will sail from Copenhagen to Helsinki and arrive August 23rd 18-21.8 at KOEhelsinki, Kansalaistori: Memory workshop I based on memories of difficult love. Wall paining with Draamateam and young people.

Inauguration Night of the Arts 21.8.

23-25.8at 7 pm at Viirus: Memories for Life 25-27.8 at 9 pm at KOEHELSINKI Kansalaistori: Waiting for the Rain outdoor performances. Free entry.

24.8 – 30.8 The Memory Workshop II Theatre workshop with Giancarlo Biffi and actors from Finland. Based on the same memories as the wall painting.

30.8 at 2 pm: Instant Helsinki by the Market Square

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION Viirus Theatre www.meetingtheodyssey.eu Matilda Sundstrรถm Project Manager matilda@viirus.fi +358-50-9115988