Rome, 11th June, 2008
For the first time the Venice Biennale’s Theatre section, directed by Maurizio Scaparro, plans its activity over a period of two years and around a single theme, the Mediterranean. Two different activities which are closely correlated, in new ways.
The International Theatre Workshop, which will take place in Venice from October 27th to November 29th 2008, develops around the idea of theatre as a “construction site for art”, in which the works of tomorrow may take root and sediment, while offering the young and future artists an opportunity for an educational experience, the communication of knowledge and a direct rapport within a research project.
Many of the workshops scheduled for November, will later flow into the 40th International Theatre Festival –which will be held shortly before Carnival, from February 20th to March 8th 2009– this time in the form of performances, that will follow the presentation of some of the development phases during the International Theatre Workshop.
The Workshop and the Festival are inspired by the theme of the Mediterranean, seen as “a complex place of encounters and currents, which implies the movement of peoples, histories and cultures, which underlines the continuous sense of historic transformation and cultural tradition that makes it a place of continuous transition” (I. Chambers). The first part of the project takes place along a journey that begins with our literary and cultural roots to end with the burning realities of the history of our times – from Palestine to Lebanon, from Israel to the Balkans.
The International Theatre Workshop will be distributed across the five great themes that express the many facets of the Mediterranean: Shakespeare’s Sea, Myths Rediscovered, Once upon a Time, The Lingua Franca of the Mediterranean Ports, and Sans papiers.
During the inauguration on October 27th, at the Auditorium Santa Margherita, a forum will introduce and address these issues with writers, actors, scholars, critics and directors invited to the International Theatre Workshop: Adonis, Carmelo Alberti, Roger Assaf, Iain Chambers, Francesca Corrao, Masolino D'Amico, Predrag Matvejevic, Massimo Nava, Maurizio Scaparro, and Piermario Vescovo.
Shakespeare’s Sea –which opens the International Theatre Workshop– is a Mediterranean scarred by shipwrecks and migrations, which unites and separates –fathers, sons, lovers– and dominates the imaginary geography of so many of the English playwright’s tragedies. And Shakespeare, surprisingly, comes to mind to the actors of the Palestinian National Theatre in East Jerusalem when they are called to participate in an educational workshop in the performing arts guided by Gabriele Vacis. Conceived with the desire to use expression through theatre as a possible redemption from dramatic social and living conditions, the workshop takes place in one of the hottest areas of the planet, in the occupied territories between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean, involving professional and non-professional actors from East Jerusalem. The work on Shakespeare’s Hamlet which arose from this singular experience will have its Italian debut performance at the Venice Biennale (November 10th, Teatro G. Poli – S.Marta) after a tour through the major cities in the Territories (Hebron, Jericho, Ramallah, and Bethlehem).
Particularly dense with experience is the section dedicated to Myths rediscovered: a founding element of the “Mediterranean culture”, myth represents the ability to regenerate and be reborn time and time again under new form. This is the context for the workshop Elyssa/Dido: the Wandering Queen – led by Renato Nicolini and Marilù Prati between Nefta, at the edge of the Sahara, and Reggio Calabria, before coming to Venice and to the Biennale (October 31st, San Servolo). In Sophocle’s heroine Antigone, the Teatro del Lemming, a company with a highly personal language founded on the sensory qualities of the actor, recognizes the paradigm of the Mediterranean culture and civilization. One phase of elaboration of Progetto Antigone will be shown during the Workshop (November 13th, San Servolo), while the final result of the work will be presented at the 40th International Theatre Festival in February 2009.
Roma-Tor Bella Monaca and Venezia-Marghera are the two antipodes –each with similarly critical aspects– of the Ploutos workshop, conducted by Massimo Popolizio and inspired by one of Aristophane’s finest plays (November 10th, Teatro Aurora, Marghera).
And again, the theme of the Myths Rediscovered is the basis for: Theatre as the art of navigation, a workshop organized by director Giuseppe Emiliani and inspired by a reinterpretation of the myth of Ulysses by Alberto Savinio (November 20, San Servolo), which will be presented in the form of a performance, Capitan Ulisse, during the next 40th International Theatre Festival, like Study on ‘Orlando’, from the novel of that name by Virginia Woolf, a drama and music workshop coordinated by Stefano Pagin and Gabriella Zen; The Flight to Simurgh, in which opera director Elisabetta Brusa develops Mediterranean suggestions inspired by The Conference of the Birds, a poem by the great mystic Persian poet, Farid ad-Din Attar (November 27th, San Servolo). This itinerary ends with the myths of A Sea of Angels, a recital of traditional Greek and Cretan songs under the direction of Raffaele Curi and interpreted by the amazing voice of Myrtò Papatanasiu (November 27th, Teatro Goldoni).
