Hälsningar från London från The World Children's Theatre Ensemble. Skriven av Tobias Reuter och William Stocks.

Norsk teaterråd inviterer til

symposiet Brød & Sirkus 2012

den 13. februar
på Litteraturshuset i Oslo!

Vi stiller spørsmålet hvordan kan vi skape nye arenaer for kulturell
deltagelse?  Kulturministeren Anniken Huitfeldt deltar på symposiet, der
tema kultur og fattigdom blir diskutert på en annerledes og kreativ måte.

Vedlagt finner du invitasjon og påmeldingsinformasjon.

Vi ønsker velkommen til en spennende og engasjerende dag!

Ta kontakt med Tone Hoemsnes, mobil 990 03 134, hvis du har spørsmål.

Med vennlig hilsen

Christin Sund
Generalsekretær

Norsk teaterråd
Tlf. 24 14 11 00
http://www.teater.no
http://www.facebook.com/Norskteaterrad

 

Terveisiä 80-vuotisjuhliaan viettäneeltä Hronovin festivaalilta Tsekeistä !

Hronovin kaupunki on aivan Puolan rajan tuntumassa Itä-Böömissä ja kooltaan pieni sekä kodikas. Kaikki kaupungin teatterit ja teatteritilat olivat käytössä. Festivaali koostui pääosin kotimaisista esityksistä ja muutama ulkomainen vieras toi erityislisänsä ohjelmistoon. Joka päivä nähtiin noin kaksi- kolme esitystä.

Tsekkiläinen teatteri on aina purrut minuun ja niin teki nytkin. Sudeettialueen elämään ja traagisia ihmiskohtaloita valottava esitys kohosi mielessäni sille tasolle, että toivoisin Tromssassa pidettävällä festivaalilla esityksen lyhennettynä edustavan CEC-maita (Keski-Euroopan aluetta). Lähestyvät vaalit toivat yleisöön myös paikallisia poliitikkoja ja kaupungin pormestari osallistui tiiviisti esitysten seurantaan, niin että tulimme oikein tutuiksi. Festivaalille on luvassa hyvät olot ja upea tulevaisuus myös jatkossa. Mielenkiintoinen vierailu tehtiin Miletinin pieneen kaupunkiin, n 60 kilometrin päähän Hronovista. Pienen linnan omistava paikallinen rouva, itsekin harrastajateatterinäyttelijä, on vuokrannut kiinteistönsä uljaan alakerran yhdestä korunasta kuukaudessa harrastajateatterimuseolle. Museo oli elävä ja hyvin kuvitettu katselmus tsekkiläisen (tsekkoslovakialaisen) harrastajateatterin syntyyn ja historiaan. Harrastajateatterilla on ollut samankaltainen merkitys kuin Suomessa itsenäistymisprosessin yhteydessä, ja erittäin tärkeä osuus vuoden 1968 tapahtumien jälkeisessä elämässä. Entinen Tsekin presidentti, Vaclav Havel esiteltiin näytelmäkirjailijana museon seinillä.

Näyttely oli elävästi rakennettu kuvin, tekstein, videoklipein. Netissä voitte saada käsitystä museon ominaislaadusta osoitteessa: www.amaterskedivadlo.cz

Miletinin museo on ehkä ainoa harrastajateatterimuseo maailmassa? Tietääkö joku toisen?

Harrastajateatteriterveisin,
Merja Laaksovirta
Suomen Harrastajateatteriliiton toiminnanjohtaja
Kansainvälisen Harrastajateatteriliiton AITA/IATA:n varapuheenjohtaja




Let the kids to the stage!
 

When about 120 children from 27 countries are brought together to rehearse and perform with 1000 English children, one can imagine that it is a new and unique experience.

It is the first event of World Children’s Theatre Ensemble, which has been organized by Arts by Children (ABC) – Voices for a Better World from Germany and by English Theatretrain that provides drama classes for 6- to 17-year-old children and youngsters. ABC was founded in 2008 to create an international network between children’s theatres and cultural institutions around the world. The huge Royal Albert Hall in London with its over 5000 seats was chosen to be the first performing place of children’s theatre ensemble. There were four 12 to 14-year-old children from every country, two girls and two boys. The Finns Annina Rosenqvist and Laura Tuomela from Ulvila as Tobias Reuter and William Stocks from Parainen took part in the pre-performance workshop. The event could have been even more international if there weren’t any negative surprises. A part of the participating countries including Uganda and Pakistan did not authorize visas of the participants willing to travel to England. After the children from Uganda announced that they cannot travel to London, none of the countries participating in the event were from the African continent.


Long Days, International Nights
The children who were lodging in Kensington Imperial College had eight days to rehearse their musical performance with the founder of Theatretrain, Kevin Dowsett. The theme of the performance was children’s rights. Due to the short training period the working days were long. Usually the rehearsals started around nine in the morning and lasted until five or six in the afternoon. It was commendable how intently and energetically the participants were working the whole day. During the workshop training the groups were divided into five subgroups that produced one scene for the performance. The theme and the plot of the scene were given beforehand, otherwise the subgroups and their leaders could improvise and produce the scene as they wanted. The training process went well without any bigger difficulties. The biggest problem turned out to be the differences in the English skills of the participants, which caused some misunderstanding and uncertainty with the instructions.

As a counterbalance for the rough work the organizers had planned all kind of relaxing activities. During the International Evenings children from different countries were playing songs and giving short dance performances and plays concerning their own culture. Innovative and intensive performance Suomirap made by the Finnish team was received very positively; however, afterwards there was a fiery debate about the home country of Santa Claus. The international market in which all of the groups brought small delicacies and snacks from their home country turned out to be very popular among the participants. The children were exchanging their goods with each other, althought it was also possible to taste something just by asking kindly for it. In addition to these activities there was also some time left for sightseeing in London and visiting a theatre performance. The well-known musical, Wicked, in the Apollo Victoria Theatre was a unique experience for many children.

The intensive cooperation and working created a great basis for a befriending process which happened amazingly fast. Right after the first day of work one was able to see international friendship among the children. Merely because of this sense of community and cultural exchange the project of ABC can be seen very successfull, even without seeing the resulting performance.

The performance in itself was perfect. Sitting in the auditorium of the huge Royal Albert Hall and seeing over 1000 performing children full of energy on the stage was a unique experience for everyone regardless of age and nationality. Hopefully the positive experiences about this project will encourage the organizers of Ensemble to carry on their work in the future. Projects like this are really worth organizing!

Mikko Väänänen

Photos here