Done!
The third stage of our meetings and work sessions is accomplished!
It took place in Dublin, or rather in Tallaght, from July 25 to 29.
During this scorching period, the Irish freshness was very soothing.
And the joyful atmosphere, with no other concern than that of research and discovery carried out among friends, of the quest for theatre… such a volatile art!
We brought together around twenty participants, around the three companies (Border Crossings, Teatro dell'Argine, Théâtre du Soleil) and The Fence dramaturgs.
And the newcomers also reflected the face of the Ireland of the future: We had with us, in addition to the usual teams, Irish actors or dancers from Argentina, Brazil, from Moldova... or from Kerry!
What richness, these different experiences! We knew it, but it was confirmed once again: there is no unity without diversity!
As Michael Walling had announced, the question of language very quickly became central to the work:
How do you convey a story or an experience without words to someone who is (temporarily!) blind? How to improvise together in different languages? And as two actors, in a shared language, but not necessarily understood by the audience?
And what happens to a story that has been told to me and that I make my own, in the first person and in my mother tongue?
How do we give theater birth from all this?
The support of the narration started from images brought by the participants, on the theme of inter-culturality, a show and a space, a place.
Little by little, improvisations emerged, situations, sketches of characters.
At the end of the week, we split into three groups.
Each group had to choose moments from the work of the five days that seemed to them to be important, significant, promising.
They then assembled these moments by giving them a framework and a narrative form. Each chosen moment thus took on a new meaning through its juxtaposition with the others.
We therefore witnessed three drafts of pieces.
Each of the three was obviously different, in tone, form, use of words and languages… and moments chosen by each group!
This proves, once again, the variety of possibilities and the richness of collective creation.
Because, as the British artist Kirstie Macleod states in her Dress project (https://reddressembroidery.com).
«Initially the project sought to generate a dialogue of identity through embroidery, merging iverse cultures, with no borders. However, over the 13 years the dress has also become a platform for self-expression and an opportunity for voices to be amplified and heard».
Isn't that the very essence of an assembly, a collage, a collective creation, however modest it may be?
Our toolbox is filling up, our conception of work is expanding.
This project, developing over two years, leaves time for each work session to deposit its silt.
This overview of how Border Crossings creates and devises plays complements those received from the Teatro dell'Argine and the Théâtre du Soleil.
And… you suspected it, but we got confirmation: they enrich each other because they are different!
And now? What new adventure awaits us? Will we take the paths glimpsed, or will we inspire others to lead these explorations?
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