Australian Aboriginal Theatre Initiative: NYC '07

Martin E. Segal Theatre Center/CUNY, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in collaboration with AATI present Indigenous theatre artists from Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Canada and the United States. All performances will take place at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 5th Avenue, NYC, between November 29 and December 1. Read details at AboriginalTheatre.com.

London's International Theatre Kitchen

International Event at Theatre Kitchen, London
November 5-8, 2007

The Kitchen is open to performers from different parts of the world who have chosen the way of creation as life-work-–the way of constant motion, change, continuous exploration of own potentialities and self-perfection in profession. Performers and artists from a wide variety of genres, styles and techniques are welcome to join the Kitchen. This is an opportunity to widen the circle of contacts, to meet other performers and practitioners in London, to exchange creative ideas and develop new collaboration projects.

To register, please send your detailed CV and a brief letter of motivation to info@iugte.com

If you'd like to know a little more, visit International University Global Theatre Experience.

Greenlandic Theatre

I just went to Greenland for five days, which was a phenomenal experience. It's not the first place you think of for theatre, but there is a gorgeous new cultural center in Nuuk, the country's capital. (In the smaller port town of Sisimuit, an arts center is currently under construction, as the people are demanding it!) While I wasn't able to catch any shows on my brief visit, that shouldn't stop you!

The UAJII Theatre will perform on Aug 31 & Sept 9 at Nuuk's Katuaq Cultural Centre. Hey, it's only a 4 1/2-hour trip from Baltimore! The Katuaq Cultural Centre website explains: "Greenland is known as the biggest island in the world. For some, its a shock that people live in this big ice cap! It may look like an ice cap on an atlas but the breathing life of its culture is a different story. The story can be told through the art vessel of Greenland: Katuaq Cultural Centre. Situated in Nuuk, Greenland, the culture house was born from the many ideas and suggestions from artists, city councils, musicians, and actors. The people wanted and needed a house to display and preserve Greenlandic art through music, theatre and sculptures. Hence, a resolution was created between the Greenland Home Rule Government, Nuup Kommunea and the Nordic Ministerial Council; to construct such an institution to strengthen cultural life in Greenland."

--Kerri Allen

Baltic House Festival in Russia

We are all invited to attend the XVII Baltic House International Theatre Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia from Wed., Oct 24 to Mon., Oct 29. (More info here. The Russian is current, but the English pages are from 2006. It will still give a general idea.)

Larry is going to the IATC ExCom meeting on Oct 27-28, but we are all welcome to attend the festival. Should you choose to go, theater tickets will be provided free-of-charge by the Festival organizers. You may also receive a hotel discount (exact price TBD).

One of the many highlights will be three productions from the celebrated Lithuanian director Eimuntas Nekrosius: "Macbeth," Oct. 24; "Othello, Oct. 26; and, "Faustus," Oct. 28.

If you are interested in attending the Festival, contact Larry

Photo: AP

Steve Capra's Report from Portugal

International Seminar of Established Critics
Almada International Theater Festival, Portugal
July 2007

The Almada International Theater Festival took place in Almada (a small city next to Lisbon), Portugal, on July fourth through 18th. An International Seminar of Established Critics took place as part of the Festival, on July fifth, sixth and seventh. Its topic was Dramaturgical and Scenographic Fictions: Convergences/Confrontations. This subject was open to interpretation.

The venue was an turn-of-the-century villa in Almada, the Casa de Cerca.

On July 5, the seminar opened with addresses from: Joaquim Benite (Director of the International Theatre Festival of Almada and The Almada Municipal Theatre), the Mayor of Almada, and Maria Helena Serodia (President of the Portuguese Association of Theatre Critics).

The critics then presented their papers.

Ian Herbert (UK, president of the IATC) spoke on Design as Performance. He reported on the Prague Quadrennial (the international competitive exhibition of scenography and theatre architecture), which he attended earlier this year. He noted that the US designers excelled. Speaking more generally, he differentiated between designer-artists (“design is the intent and content of their work”) and designer-craftsmen (who subordinate themselves the production). He advocates a team working together, not a theatre led by designers.

Jean-Pierre Han (France) spoke on Une “friction” entre la dramaturgie at le scenographie, in French.

Don Rubin (Canada) spoke on Critical Confrontations with Imagery. He talked about theatre in the dithyrambic tradition, which comes to us as text, as opposed to theatre as spectacle. Even Aeschylus, he pointed out, made use of spectacle He suggested that spectacle is more important to audiences than we judge it to be..

The July sixth session opened with a detailed address on the architecture of the Almada Municipal Theatre. Then the critics’ presentations continued.

Juan Antonio Hormigon (Spain) spoke on Una clave en la concepcion el espacio escenico del siglo XX, in French. It concerned the history of design and the effects of technology.

Yun-Cheol Kim (South Korea) spoke on Two Approaches to History in Contemporary Korean Theatre. He discussed directors Oh Tae-Suk and Lee Yun-taek, whose work contemporizes Korean history. Time and place are determined by dramatic need rather than situation.

Herve Gauy: (Canada) spoke on L’esprit des lieux: A propos d’un des effets des fictions scenographiques, in French. His presentation concerned French Canadian designer-directors who base their conception of the production on design. Herve pointed out, in discussion, that younger directors are more partial to this approach.

Steve Capra (USA), your humble scribe, spoke on Scenic Design and Theatrical Weight. My talk was concerned with the various degrees of importance that design has in productions, with several photographs. I cited sets from The Metropolitan Opera, Robert Wilson, Richard Foreman, and other designers. My presentation ended with a video of a performance by The Living Theatre in Times Square, reminding the panel that no design -– in fact, no theatre building -- is necessary in the theatre.

On the third day, Aleks Sierz (UK) spoke on New Writing in Britain: How do we Define the Contemporary?. He sees new writing as a British phenomenon, characterized by its
history, its writers, and its institutions. It exhibits contemporary allusions, contemporary issues, contemporary provocations, and contemporary forms

The public attended the seminar on this day (it was well attended, filling the medium-sized room). A panel of speakers summarized the content of the critics’ talks in Portuguese, French and English. Then they took questions from the public, in Portuguese.

Each session was followed by luncheon on the terrace under the umbrella pines.

In short the experience was almost totally satisfying for the critic. Our hosts were enormously hospitable. The only concern was the inevitable language problem. Talks given in French were summarized in English (and vice-versa), but the summaries were never satisfying. Ian Herbert pointed out that French summaries said different things from English summaries of the same talks.

In the evenings, of course, we attended the theatre. The productions I saw were meticulously, flawlessly presented:

Nada, ou o silencio de Beckett
from the Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, Portugal
by Joao Paulo Seara Cardoso
Nothing, or The Silence of Beckett
In the Palco Grande of the Escola D. Antonio da Costa (a grammar school), an outdoor theatre.
This was a marvelous puppet theatre with nearly no dialogue. It was based on the plays of Beckett. The visual images were striking: puppets carrying trunks, puppets in straight jackets, puppets trembling, with references to Waiting for Godot, Happy Days, and the other plays.

Concerto de Rabih Abou-Khalil
Concert with Abou-Khalil, a Lebanese musician, his band, and two fado singers (Ricardo Ribeiro and Tania Oleiro)
From the Teatro Nacional de S. Joao, Portugal
Lyrics by Jacinto Lucas Pires
in the Sala Principal of Sao Luiz – Teatro Municipal (Lisbon)
This superb group included a lute, drums, guitar, accordion and other instruments, along with the fado singers.

Sizwe Banzi est Mort
Size Banzi is Dead
By Athol Fugard
Directed by Peter Brook
From Centre International de Creations Theatrales
Theatre des Bouffes du Nord, France
in the Sala Principal of the Teatro Municipal de Almada
This was Peter Brook’s famous production, in French with Portuguese surtitles.

Recital of Cancoes Heroicas (Heroic Songs)
By Fernando Lopes Graca
Company: Criacao Colectiva
In the Forum Romeu Correia (Almada)
This was a fascinating production, recited and sung in Portuguese, from poems by
14 Portuguese poets and other traditional poems. The piece debuted last October. It’s comprised of great, complex music, mixing key-based and atonal styles. Pieces might begin as spoken words and then become songs. The pieces were banned under Salazar (the Portuguese dictator), although the texts were available. All the poems address social or political concerns. They presentation was very traditional, with actors in a formal row on a bare stage.


Photos:

One of The Met’s sets for Turandot. The people in the foreground are the chorus, not the audience. The sets cost $1.5 mm in 1987. Courtesy of the Met.

The Living Theatre in Times Square. Courtesy of The Living Theatre.

Argentina Update

New details about the seminar for young critics in Argentina are now posted on the web site www.aict-iatc.org. Please look at the "News" section on the right of the page.

Briefly, the seminar for the 35-and-under set will be Oct. 1-7 in Cordoba, Argentina, a dulcet metropolis of 1.3 million set in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas mountains on the Suquia River, about 400 miles northwest of Buenos Aires, itself a city made famous by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The host country will accept 10 international critics to work alongside an unspecified number of Argentinian writers. The languages will be Spanish and English. The mentors will be Sweden's Margareta Soerenson and an experienced local critic. The deadline for application, to me and not to Ms. Soerenson, is Aug. 21, repeat, Aug. 21.

PLEASE, if you know a younger ATCA member who might be interested in this, get on the phone or the e-mail and let him or her know.

Seminars in Argentina & Spain

This fall's Young Critics Seminars are sponsored by the International Association of Theatre Critics with the participation of our group, ATCA. The term "young critics" means 35 years of age or younger, and requires about three years' experience in professional criticism. ATCA members who already have attended one of these young critics seminars may apply again, but preference is given to first-timers who apply. More information also is available on the IATC website.

For the younger critics among us, here is notice of two seminars of great interest, one in Cordoba, Argentina, (photo, above) and one in the city made famous both by St. James and by Luis Buñuel, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

Oct. 1-7, Cordoba, Argentina: Planning for this seminar is "still in progress," according to Margareta Sorenson, the Swedish critic who is director of the young critics seminars.

Oct. 23-27, Santiago de Compostela, Spain: arriving Oct. 22, departing Oct. 28. This seminar will be hosted by the Feira de Teatro de Galicia, in the historic city of pilgrims in northwestern Spain. (Compostela, from the Latin campus stellae, or "field of stars" -- hence, Buñuel's extraordnary 1969 film, "The Milky Way.") This means your seminar is part of the festival and you will be able to attend its productions and special events, time permitting. This is the 15th year of the festival, which is dedicated to presenting a wide variety of works developed by Galician and other Spanish companies. Interestingly, the hosts say the works will be performed in "a wide diversity of spaces, from conventional theater buildings to bars and local tabernas."

Sixteen spots available, with hotel, meals and theater tickets provided. You may have to share a room. They provide airport pick-up and departure. Working languages will be English, Portuguese and Galician (!). Working hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The seminar will be directed by Paulo Eduardo Carvalho, of the Portuguese Association of Theatre Critics, who currently is an assistant director of this project of the International Association of Theatre Critics.

For further information, contact Lawrence DeVine, chair of ATCA's international committee, at ldevine@windstream.net