ph. John Cobb
Wednesday, 24 February 2021
Dear theatre-makers, dear Europeans, dear friends,
I write to you today from my computer, in my study, where I have been, solitary, isolated, for almost a year. Our daily existence - work, relaxation, interaction, education, shopping, entertainment, even politics and protest - is currently conducted from the confinement of our private spaces. And so we long for theatre. Theatre is the essence of everything that we have lost and longed for during the time of the virus. A public space, a shared space, an art form created and performed socially, through the physical, fleshly interaction of living human bodies. Human beings playing, laughing, breathing, singing, dancing and dreaming together - a pure and beautiful image of our potential.
To long for theatre is also to long for intercultural exchange. The social spaces of 21st century Europe, the spaces in which we gather, are kaleidoscopic in their multi-coloured, multi-faceted, shimmering luminosity. When we assemble once again, we must assemble informed by the tenderness that this last year has demanded, assemble with openness and humility. We must recognise that we are starting from a point of fresh beginning, and that we are obliged to imagine our cultures anew.
Covid 19 is a disease that kills through asphyxiation - through loss of breath. Our languages tell us that breath is life, spirit and imagination.
While we waited silent in our houses, George Floyd, a black American man, was murdered by a police of-ficer who knelt on his neck for nine minutes. His last words were “I can’t breathe”.
Those same last words had been spoken six years before by Eric Garner: another black American man choked to death by the po-lice. These deaths, marking the systemic failure of Western societies to embrace the humanity of all who live in them, led to a cry of agony that has echoed across the world: “Black Lives Matter”. As Frantz Fanon, the great pioneering theorist of contemporary black experience said: “We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe”.
When we come together again in theatre, it must be a fully inclusive gathering of life, of spirit, of imagination. We must learn to breathe again. To breathe together. As the Maori say, when they press their noses in the ceremonial hongi, to share the same breath.
CRE-ACTORS is the perfect project to lead us back to theatre, and to help us imagine our theatre anew. All of the companies involved share a commitment to working interculturally, making performances which are collectively devised by people from many different backgrounds, engaging with a broad spectrum of cultural forms, communities, languages and experiences. We are:
- Border Crossings, newly established in the Irish Republic to build on the 25 year record of our sister company in the UK, making and presenting intercultural theatre and engaging with diverse communities.
- The Théâtre du Soleil, considered by many to be the finest theatre company in the world, with a 50 year history of collective creation by a company of international artists.
- Teatro dell’Argine, which makes committed and engaged professional performances, and leads community and training work with the diverse communities of Bologna.
- The Fence, an international dramaturgical network based in Stockholm, which will assess and contextualise the intercultural theatre practices across the project.
Together, we will start to breathe again.
with love,
Michael
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