The Legend of Europa

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 stor...

Blog post responding to Bologna training On the first morning of our wonderful, inspiring week in Bologna, we were all asked to say what theatre meant for us. Ida Strizzi, from our host organisation Teatro dell’Argine, responded that theatre for her was “giving people another point of view”. For the rest of the week, and since, I’ve been using this idea as a way of thinking through and developing what we are trying to achieve in the CRE-ACTORS project and beyond.  On one level, Ida’s idea can be literal. On the second day, we were working with the challenge that our stage was limited to the top of a white stool, with everything around it considered invisible. In one glorious moment, Xevi Ribas walked his fingers across the stool as a man moving towards a tree, and the stool then rose up and was held behind his face so that we could see him bite into the apple he had picked. It was like a wide shot cutting to a close-up, but achieved with the simplest of theatrical means (which are,...

The second Cre-Actors’ training course in Bologna! An important step is approaching for the Cre-Actors project: the training course held by the Italian partners of Teatro dell’Argine in Bologna. The course will run from May 26 th to May 30 th and will involve a large group of people both locally and from the partners’ countries, Sweden, Ireland and France. In order to make the most of these 5 days, all the participants have been asked to watch and read some materials about the artistic production of the Bolognese company: videos of theatre pieces, documentaries on special projects, dossiers and descriptions about artistic creations with intercultural groups and/or in intercultural contexts. Find out more by reading the Theatre-Love Letter to the Cre-Actors and the programme below, containing detailed info on the planned process. And follow us on this blog and on our Facebook page! A Theatre-Love Letter to the Cre-Actors Dear Cre-Actors, first of all… Be welcome, bienvenu(e)s, välkom...

  The 1 st training course of the Cre-Actors' project in Paris After months of stops and closures, after several virtual meetings, after so many postponements due to the still ongoing pandemic situation, on July 26 th to 30 th 2021, the Cre-Actors crew finally convened to exchange and work in person at the same time in the same place. “ At the same time in the same place”: this is really the true specific magic of theatre, as of many rituals, be them religious or secular, providing that people gather not only to “assist” in something acted by other people, but really to live an experience together hic et nunc (here and now). And what a place to start! Our first training course was held at the Théâtre du Soleil in Paris, and precisely on the stage that was hosting the scenery (and the spirit) of the new production directed by Ariane Mnouchkine, having Dominique Jambert and Vincent Mangado as wise, skilful and smiling guides, and a crew of 18 Cre-Actors from many different place...

The first CRE-ACTORS workshop in Paris is approaching! It will take place from 26th to 31st July at the Théâtre du Soleil and it will be led by Dominique Jambert and Vincent Mangado , both of whom have been members of the Soleil Ensemble for more than twenty years. They will be leading the partecipants through an exploration of the intercultural devising techniques used by the Théâtre du Soleil. This training involves teams from project's partners - Teatro dell’Argine (Italy) and Border Crossings (Ireland) - and  other actors from the Théâtre du Soleil (France). «Nearly the first week of meeting(s) on stage. How are we going to understand one another?  What language(s) will we speak? French, English, Italian, Swedish? But also Persian, Spanish, Catalan, Gaelic, Occitan?  All of them perhaps, but especially that of theatre of course! Yes, theatre can be a universal language... but not quite its text, then? ...the body! Yes, when the body expresses itself, it can be un...

After a very long wait, the core team for Cre-Actors was finally able to meet over the weekend, at the Cartoucherie in Paris: home to our French partner, the Théâtre du Soleil.  The simple experience of walking into a theatre space after so long was powerful enough in itself: and at the Cartoucherie we had the joy of not one theatre but many, with one of them - Théâtre de l’Aquarium - offering the first, incredibly accomplished live performance that most of us had seen for well over a year.  But the Théâtre du Soleil’s space at the Cartoucherie is even more than a performance space: it is a space of intense, profound holiness.    When I say “holy”, I don’t simply mean “religious” or even “spiritual”, certainly not in any doctrinaire way.  Rather, I am recognising the power of this theatre’s engagement with the most vital questions in our lives, its status as a place of contemplation, rigour and pilgrimage, its function as something distinct from the mundane, som...

The first live meeting of CRE-ACTORS is approaching at last, to start the discussion and the planning of the training courses led by the four partners! On July 3rd and 4th 2021 , Théâtre du Soleil (France), Border Crossings (Ireland), Teatro dell'Argine (Italy) and The Fence (Sweden) are meeting in Paris to plan the training which will be held by the French partners from July 24th to 30th in the beautiful theatre La Cartoucherie . An important occasion that responds to the need to share and disseminate good practices between organizations expert in contemporary theater engaged with social and cultural diversity, collective creation and with an international vocation. The three training courses will be led by Théâtre du Soleil, Border Crossing and Teatro dell’Argine in the respective countries, with The Fence as coordinator of the discussion and evaluation processes. Each of them will involve 17 network professionals and include at least 10 other participants from the loca...

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 luminosi...