The World of Theatre: Edition 2000 [1 ed.] 9781136366772, 9780415238663

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The World of

THEATRE 2000 Edition

iTi

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The World of

THEATRE 2000 Edition An account of the theatre seasons 1996-97,1997-98 and 1998-99

iTi Editedfo r the

International Theatre Institute by

Ian Herbert and Nicole Leclercq

j i j Routledge Taylor &. Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK

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First published 2000 by Roudedge Published 2013 by Roudedge 2 Park Square, M ilton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0 X 1 4 4RN Sim ultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Roudedge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint o f the Taylor &Francis Group, an informa business © 2000 Selection and editorial matter, the International Theatre Institute; individual chapters, the contributors and contributing photographers Typeset in Garamond by Xpress Design and Print A ll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in w riting from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library o f Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested World of Theatre ISSN 1564-2208

Publishers Note This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the editors

ISBN 13: 978-0-415-23866-3 (hbk)

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Contents Introduction F orew ord

vii ix Rep of Korea Kuwait Latvia Lebanon Lithuania FYR Macedonia Mexico Norway Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Senegal Sierra Leone Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Tunisia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom United States Uruguay Venezuela Wales

The World o f Theatre 2000

Argentina Australia Bangladesh Belgium (Flemish community) Belgium (French community) Benin Bulgaria Burkina Faso Canada (Quebec) China Colombia Dem Rep of Congo Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia Finland France Germany Hungary Iceland India Iran Ireland Japan Jordan Kenya

1 7 11 17 23 28 31 38 43 49 60 63 66 72 77 82 87 90 94 98 103 109 116 121 125 128 130 134 139 142

International Theatre Institute

International Events and Activities September 1997 - May 2000 273 Secretariat 303 Executive Council 303 Committees 304 List of Centres 305

V

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144 147 151 154 157 164 170 173 180 183 187 193 198 203 208 211 214 220 224 229 235 237 241 246 248 250 253 258 263 268 270

International Theatre Institute Communication Committee Editorial Board President Ian H ERBERT (UK)

Vice-President M algorzata SEM IL (Poland) Secretariat (Publications) : M ofidul H O Q UE(Bangladesh) N icole LECLERCQ (Belgium) M em b ers: Heino BYRGESEN (Denmark) Ram endu M AJU M D AR (Bangladesh) Sanja N IK CEVIC (Croatia) LjubishaN IK O D IN O V SK I-BISH (M acedonia) R egional co-ordinators: Cesar H ERRERA (Uruguay) —Latin Am erica Jung-Soon SH IM (K orea)) - Pacific Rim

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Introduction It is a great pleasure, and at the same time a great frustration, to be working on The World o f Theatre again for the International Theatre Institute. As one of the original members of the Institute’s Communications Committee, which conceived the idea of the book nearly fifteen years ago, I am very pleased that it has not only grown but become increasingly useful and authoritative over its first five editions. As the person charged with responsibility (together with the tireless Nicole Leclercq) for the latest edition, which is being prepared for the ITI’s Congress in Marseilles in May 2000,1 am amazed to find how little this valuable publication has been used by the Institute itself, and how much less it is known to the theatre world in general. It was of course a great honour to take on the Presidency of ITI’s Communication Committee at the Seoul Congress of 1997. But it was apparent then that this committee had enormous difficulty in pursuing its task, that of bringing together those who deal with the word in theatre (other than playwrights themselves) in meaningful meetings and dialogues. We no longer live in a time when sympathetic ministries of culture are able to support large international gatherings, and over the course of my presidency the Committee has been able to meet only sporadically, usually at very short notice. Most of the meetings that have been held have had the preparation of The World o f Theatre as the main point on their agenda, together with the transition to the Internet of the World Theatre Directory, another extraordinarily useful and totally unsung achievement of the Committee on behalf of ITI. Immediately after the Seoul Congress, and regularly thereafter, the Committee has called on ITI Centres around the world to supply material for both publications. When one considers that the two works are the public, printed image of the Institute, it is quite amazing how difficult is has been to secure the co­ operation of its members in creating that image. There are, of course, efficient Centres —not always the large ones, or the ones who send delegates to grace ITI functions —who have updated their entry in the Directory when asked, and delivered their World o f Theatre article on time and in line with the editorial specifications so carefully laid down by succeeding Communication Committees over the years. There are others who remain deaf to all requests, and who in consequence are not represented in the new edition of The World o f Theatre. What we can celebrate is that the new edition contains reports of the last few theatre seasons from over sixty countries —more than ever before. It should also be more accurate than ever before, to the extent that that I and my colleague Mme Nicole Leclercq have been able to work diligently together to ensure that the articles reach a readable form in both English and French, the official languages of the ITI. Many of these articles have been written for us in a language which is not the writer’s own, and it has been hard work to make some of them recognisable as the excellent accounts which they undoubtedly were in their original language. I fear that there will be times where my understanding of those articles which I have translated from the French was not as good as it should have vii

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been, and I know that Mme Leclercq would have a similar modesty about some of the translations into French. All in all, however, you will find in the pages of The World o f Theatre a reflection of the great and exciting diversity of theatrical performance that exists in the worldwide membership of the ITI. It is a matter of great personal regret to me that we are not likely to see a printed French edition of the new World o f Theatre. On the other hand, the proposed solution to the book’s distribution in French takes us excitingly forward into the communication world of the future: we have every hope of publishing it in full on the ITI’s internet website.

Ian H erbert , President, ITI Communication Committee

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The editors would like to offer grateful thanks to all those who have been involved in the production of this year 2000 edition of The W'orld o f Theatre. First and foremost to the contributors, many of whom have given their time freely and generously out of respect for the ITI. Next, to the many photographers who have supplied production pictures — we have tried to acknowledge them wherever possible. Then to all the ITI Centres who took the trouble to commission, prepare and translate the articles. Special help with translations was given by many friends around the world, of whom we mention Odette beck, Etienne van der Belen, Penny Black, Claude Carpin, Alain Chevalier, Brendan Covile, Allison Drew, Cesar Herrera, Ruth Keeley, Malgorzata Semil and Mireille Stanton. Xpress Design and Print, of Strawberry Vale, who are the printers of Theatre Kecord, offered most willingly their time and experience to help create the camera-ready copy. We thank especially those centres of ITI which were able to host meetings of the Communication Committee during the book’s planning and preparation: the Bangladesh Centre, the Croatian Centre, the German Centre and the Macedonian Centre. All the members of the Communication Committee and especially the Editorial Board helped in their own way, pursuing articles, making translations and offering essential moral support over a time of great stress for the editors. The Bangladesh Centre, in spite of the natural disasters which have again engulfed their country, have with their usual generosity given much more assistance than we could reasonably expect in such a difficult period. Finally we owe a huge debt of gratitude to the ITI Secretariat in Paris, both to our Secretary-General Andre-Louis Perinetti and to his Executive Assistant, Jennifer Walpole, who have been irreplaceable —and unflappable) — sources of help and information throughout our work. IH, NL A pril2000

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Foreword The Theatre may appear to be an archaic art of ancient origin. But we are convinced that because of this very quality it can never become outmoded and so remains very modern. It renews itself in each generation and on each occasion it is like a new beginning. In the past, by its dedication to encouraging creation and widening co-operation between theatre people from all parts of the world, the International Theatre Institute has proved what an excellent tool it can be for breaking down barriers and increasing mutual understanding in an extremely divided world. In recognition of this role played by ITI, UNESCO has established with it associative links of the highest order that can be enjoyed by an international non-governmental organisation. At the dawn of a decade declared by the United Nations to be a Decade for Peace, artists of the live performing arts are seeking ways to express their commitment to building Peace. Our experience leads us to believe that their involvement will be substantial. Each production and each performance that requires everyone’s participation creates a feeling of understanding. Fully expressing one’s own culture while also discovering the culture of others develops feelings of tolerance and respect. The two main areas of activity that the International Theatre Institute has decided to focus on over the next 10 years are, on the one hand, education, and on the other hand, communication. The recently created ITI/UNESCO Chair of Theatre and the Theatre Education and Training Committee will need to take up the first challenge. As for the second area, this is obviously the responsibility of the Communication Committee in collaboration with the General Secretariat. The publication of The World o f Theatre is one of the responses to this challenge. It provides an opportunity for all the national centres to make an evaluation of the evolution of theatre in their respective countries over the past two or three years. The successive editions of The World o f Theatre thus form, over the years, a unique collection of documents on international theatre. The publication provides a forum for all to express the aspirations of their national theatre and enables all voices, many of which, long-silenced, are only just emerging from years of resignation and submission, to be heard. The World o f Theatre participates, through the dialogue established, in the conception and the formulation of a theatre in perpetual gestation. Cultural expression in all its diversity is as fundamental as the basic freedoms and human rights. All domination by one or several cultures is contrary to peace or to international solidarity. Our survival will depend on our creating a balanced mixture and successful encounters between different cultures. As Victor Segalen wrote in his essay on exoticism, ‘Let us not imagine that we can assimilate others - races, nations or customs. Rather, let us rejoice that this can never be possible, thus leaving ourselves a more lasting pleasure: delight in diversity.’

Kim Jeon g Ok

Andre-Louis Perinetti

President, International Theatre Institute

Secretary General

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ARGENTINA FRANCISCO JAVIER In a general overview of Argentine theatre in recent years, traditional productions have been much more frequent than those seeking a more experimental form. However, it is worth devoting our attention first to the smaller group, because it is those which suggest a possible path of development for Argentine theatre. Such a movement seeks above all to produce pieces which deliberately distance themselves from everyday life, in such a way that the whole system of signifiers —space, spoken and gestural discourse of the actor, lighting, scenography —comes together to make an artistic whole with a value of its own, the result of an apparently free and spontaneous act of play. It has thus produced resonances with movements in world theatre which have always attracted Argentine theatre-makers, such as Vselvolod Meyerhold’s expressionism, Antonin Artaud’s theatre of cruelty, Tadeusz Kantor’s theatre of death, Eugenio Barba’s anthropological theatre and the imagistic theatre. So that what is told or presented appears on our stage like a reflection in a broken mirror: the spectator watches a series of fragments without being able to understand the links that join them. In this field, Elpecado que no sepuede nombrar (The Sin That Dares N ot Speak Its Name) based on the plays and characters of Roberto Arlt, is a paradigmatic work not only because it brilliantly illustrates this new tendency, but also because it expresses in an exceptional manner the porteno spirit of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires (which began life as a port). The theatre form which has portrayed us most authentically, at least as far as concerns Buenos Aires, is the discepolo, the revue sketch or playlet, which in Arlt’s works were an essential point of reference. This production was presented by the theatre group Sportivo, directed by Ricardo Bartis. Zooedipus, from the group Periferico de Objetos under the direction of Daniel Veronese, Emilio Garcia Wheby and Ana Alvarado, offers a heightening of the specific language of theatre and its ideological constructs in an attempt to put it on a plane with philosophy. In it, everything which might affect the sensual reaction of the spectator is presented violently on stage. Here, theatre merges with dance, the plastic arts, music, pantomime, guignol and scenic design. Veronese has produced other works, employing a form of concise and unambiguous dialogue, which portray engrossing conflicts, constantly hiding and revealing the changes of fortune which the characters undergo. Examples are Equivocafuga de senorita apretando en elpecho unpanuelo de encaje (Doubtful exit o f young lady holding a lace handkerchief to her chest) and Algunos viajeros mueren (Some Travellers A re Dying). In Alejandro Tantanian’s Un Cuento Alleman (A German Storyj a very open language encompasses a varied intertextuality; it consists of quotations from the work of other authors as much as his own —his own contribution lies in narratives and long soliloquies. Tantanian is also the author of La terceraparte de la mar (The Third Part o f the Sea), directed by Roberto Villanueva. Rafael R Spregelburd’s Ea Modestia (Modesty) interconnects two stories which take

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ARGENTINA

From Ricardo Bartis’ production of El pecado que no si puede nom brar (photo: Andres Barragan)

place in different times and places; the same actors each play several characters. Time and place in the play are matters of theatrical convention. In Rascando de la cru^ (Scratching the Cross), the writer puts himself into another reality to speak about Argentine matters, and in En tanto las grandes ciudades (Great Cities the While) he approaches contemporary problems through biblical themes. Dibujo sobre un vidrio empanado (Drawing on a M isted Window) and Ea mano en el frasca en la caja en el tren (The Hand in the Bottle in the Box in the Train) by Pedro Sedlinsky reveal a writer who can play in an astonishing way with strong visual images and use spoken discourse to fragment them. The plays were directed respectively by Francisco Javier and Roberto Castro. Some of these productions ran long and well enough to win praise from the newspaper critics, specialised reviews in theatre books and journals, transfers to mainstream theatres and invitations to international festivals. This happened in the case of the plays mentioned above. In the same category, mention should be made of E l Amateur (The Amateur) by Mauricio Dayub; Ea experiencia Damanthal (The Damanthal Experience) by Javier Margulis, Cincopuertas (Five Doors) by Omar Pacheco and Un Hamlet de suburbio (A Suburban Hamlet) by Alberto Felix Alberto; and plays nearer in form to visual theatre, such as Cacheta^o de Campo (A Country Cuff) by Federico de Leon, and A pocos kilometros del epicentro (A Few Kilometresfrom the Epicentre) by Ita Scaramuzza; we may also note E l caso Marta Stut% by Javier Daulte in a production by Diego Kogan, which tries to resolve an impossible puzzle behind a criminal act, the rape and murder of a young girl; Eiving, ultimo paisaje (Living, the last Landscape) by Ciro Zorzoli is a clear-sighted examination of memory and of the way in which recollection can apply a demystifying vision. These developments have also been affected by the contribution of a number of

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ARGENTINA dance-drama groups. In exploring the outer limits of both disciplines, their directors have produced a remarkably rich form of theatre. This is the case with shows such as Nucleodan^a, directed by SusanaTambutti and Margarita Bali. In the category of fantasytheatre, Silvia Vladimisky and Salo Pasik offered Espirales. The El Descueve group produced collective work, while Arnica and Anticos were groups directed respectively by Mabel Dai Chee Chang and Miguel Robles. The written dramatic text is undergoing changes similar to those to be seen in staged works. Reading it, one is confronted with characters who have lost their identity and wholeness, who have no personal history, who are dominated by ambiguity and the absence of definition, who exist more as stock figures than as the characters expected of traditional theatre. These are characteristics which appear clearly in a play by Luis Cano which has just won first prize in a city playwriting contest. Its title is Ea Bufera (The Swamp). Cano is also the author of Socavon (The Great Void). Many of these new playtexts have been published and won prizes in the growing number of competitions that are taking place. It is curious that in a time when publication is becoming more and more difficult (because of a lack of interest in theatre on the part of the publishing houses, as well as a lack of sales for published plays), there has been a great growth in self-published work, translations published in the journals —such as Teatro Siglo XX, CELCIT and Funambules—and the generous circulation of typed scripts. The same thing happens with dozens of more traditional theatre texts, often very good ones. Strange as that may seem, and in spite of the difficulties it implies to be inherent in getting a ground-breaking piece published, it is notable that all these new writers have nevertheless been able to put their work to the test on stage. This has occurred for two reasons, in my view: on the one hand, there is the interest of the actors and directors, who became interested in new forms ahead of the writers themselves (almost all the examples I have given were the work of directors and actors); and on the other, there is the increase in small theatres dotted about the city, which have given room to the most innovative and the most financially risky projects. But none of this could have happened without the remarkable response of the public. Attracted by an atmosphere of constant reinvention like that on which the cinema prides itself, stimulated by the increased speed of their means of communication, by curiosity and a desire to break the power of the critics, they have been propelled into the theatres by this wind of change. It should be added that the context for this time of renewal in our national theatre scene could not have been more propitious. Established writers of the last fifty years, such as Roberto Cossa, Osvaldo Dragun, Carlos Gorostiza, Ricardo Halac and Eduardo Rovner have continued to hold the stage, in productions by directors of very much the same generation and outlook. The direct, positive relationships they have set up with the public have created a climate favourable to the new theatre of change. In this category of theatre, which might be called the standards, we have seen runs of the following plays: from Roberto Cossa, the writer who has shown perhaps the greatest development over his career, came El Salvador (The Saviour), directed by Cossa himself with Daniel Marcove, and performed by Maria Cristina Laurenz and Hugo Arana with decor by Tito P2gurza. Griselda Gambaro was in evidence with D eprofesion maternal (Occupation, Mother), directed by Lara Yusem with design by Graciela Galan, and also with a play written in the Seventies, D arla vuelta (Taking Turns), directed by Lorenzo Quinteros, designed by Carlos di Pasquo. Actor-writer Eduardo Pavlovsky was there with Poroto (The Bean), directed by Norman Briski. Roberto Villanueva staged Ea cena

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ARGENTINA

Above: Ulises Dumont, Alicia Zanca and Jorge Suarez in Rapide nocturne aire de fox-trot by Mauricio Cartun (photo: Carlos Flynn) Below: Maria Cristina Laurenz and Hugo Arona in El S alvador by Roberto Cossa (photo: Carlos Furman)

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ARGENTINA (The Dinner) by Roberto Perinelli; another Laura Yusem production was Rapido nocturno, aire de fox-trot (Fast Nocturne to a Fox-Trot Tune) by Mauricio Kartun, starring Ulises Dumont, Alicia Zanca and Jorge Suarez; Richard Halac brought in Frida Kahlo, iapasion (The Passion o f Frida Kahlo), with Virginia Lago in the title role, under the direction of Daniel Suarez Marsal with decor by Alberto Negrin; Carlos Gorostiza, Abu, doble historia de amor (Giant Stride, a Double Lope Story), with Osvaldo Bonet; Carlos Pal's, Club Atletico madera de oriente (East Wood Athletic Club)\ Manuel Gonzalez Gil adapted and directed Porteiios from texts by Roberto Fontanarrosa, performed by Daniel Fanego, Horacio Fontova, Gabriel Goity, Osvaldo Santoro and Gaston Pauls; from Elio Gallipoli came Botdnico (Botanic)', also Tango pour Paul (Tangofor Paul) by Raul Penarol Mendez, directed by Andres Bazzalo ; Divorcio, curvapeligrosa (Divorce, Dangerous Curve) by Luis Agustoni; Cocinando con Elisa (Cooking ivith Elisa) by Lucia Laragione performed by Norma Pons and Ana Iovino; and Venecia (I'enice) by Jorge Accame. As well as these premieres there was a series of important revivals, all showing the vitality of Argentine theatre. Latin-American theatre was also in evidence in 1997 and 1999 with plays by Victor Manuel Leites, Adriana Genta, Marco Antonio de la Parra and others. And during these three seasons, there were of course productions of the great foreign classics such as Shakespeare or Calderon, and innovative modern playwrights from the world stage like Fleiner Muller, Steven Berkoff, Bernard-Marie Koltes and Thomas Bernhard. In the large regional centres, theatrical activity grew in a remarkable way, especially after the introduction of the National Theatre Law, which gave financial precedence to small theatres and amateur groups. All of this is likely to redraw the map of regional theatres, an event which has long been awaited, and produce a balanced notion of Argentine or national theatre. As for the suppliers of support skills, such as designers and musicians, they too have had to move from a creative environment based on realism to the theatre of dissent, which has allowed them to demonstrate their adaptability. Among them can be named the designers Tito Egurza, Graciela Galan, Guillermo de la Torre, Jorge Ferrari, Alberto Negrin, Alberto Bellati, Pepe Urfa and Carlos di Pasquo; and among the musicians Jorge Valcarcel, Mariano Cossa, Carlos Gianni, Victor Proncet and Edgardo Rudisky. During this time two important new events for the country took place: the Festival of Buenos Aires, in 1997 and 1999, and Argentina’s second visit to exhibit at the Prague Quadriennale of Stage Design, in 1999. In 1998 the Argentine Centre of the International Theatre Institute set up the Saulo Benavente Prize, in tribute to the man who gave great energy to the Argentine Centre during thirty years as its Secretary General. The prize celebrates overseas theatre groups appearing in our country, and has a jury made up of two very respected critics from the most important newspapers of Buenos Aires, Olga Cosentino of Clarin and Susana Freire of LaNacion, together with five members of the Argentine ITI Centre, Marcela Sola, Elisa Strahm, Juan Jose Bertonasco, Jorge Hacker and Julio Piquer. In 1998, the prize went to Anna Karenina, performed by the English company Shared Experience. It was presented at the Cervantes National Theatre during the celebration of World Theatre Day. Theatre studies have achieved a high level of development, above all in the Universities, in their research departments and their courses in theatre theory. Each year, the Getea group from the Institute of Argentine Art of the University of Buenos Aires organises an International Congress of Argentine and Latin-American Theatre. The participants in the 1999 Congress included Anne Ubersfeld from France, Marco de Marinis from Italy and Josette Feral from Canada, as well as a large number of other professors and

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ARGENTINA researchers from America and Argentina. The Institute of Performing Arts from the same faculty organised an interpretation workshop in 1998, led by the French professor Patrice Pavis, an International Critics’ Forum, organised by Ana Seoane, with the participation of ]uan Antonio Hormigon, editor of the Spanish theatre journal ADE (the magazine of the Spanish Association of Stage Directors), and a tribute to the professor and researcher Raul H Castagnino, who died recently. In this overview one should highlight especially the publishing work which has helped to spread knowledge of the work, not only of playwrights from at home and abroad, but also of those researchers who study the theatre as a cultural and artistic phenomenon.

Francisco Ja vier is a stage director o f long experience and Secretary o f the Argentine Centre o f the International Theatre Institute.

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AUSTRALIA JEREMY ECCLES There’s a strange irony at work in Australian theatre (and dance) at the moment. Just as what I see appears to be in stasis or even regressing, so the world suddenly (and belatedly) seems hungry for our product. No European festival is complete without Strange Fruit or Legs on the Wall doing their finely honed physical theatre thing; Cloudstreeth&s surely only just begun an epic touring life with 1999’s outing to London, Dublin and Zurich; and the Olympics in Sydney later this year (2000) have created a curious demand for Australia’s art - with National Weeks planned in London, Amsterdam, Hanover and elsewhere, and Aboriginal art —fantastically —to be found in the Hermitage Palace, St Petersburg, just about as far removed from its remote, degraded places of creation as it’s possible to be. Am I jaded from 17 years of professional theatre-going? Has a recent history of navel-gazing self-absorption (remember, Australia only ‘discovered’ itself culturally in the early 70s) led on triumphantly to material of quite justifiable interest to the world? Or has rationalism amongst the funding authorities, major performing arts organisations and a number of smart creators coincided to come up with highly marketable product just as Australia is achieving its 15 minutes of fame? We even scored a lengthy and sometimes incredibly silly piece in the New York Times on our tendency to turn anything into a festival. Is that better or worse than a former reputation for turning the progress of two flies up a dunny wall into an opportunity to bet on which one will get to the top first? The fact is that Australia has created an arts structure over the last few years in which the desire to experiment is positively discriminated against. A conservative Federal Government set up an enquiry —producing the Nugent Report, in which business­ persons concluded that the top end of the performing arts needed more money, more planning and a more businesslike approach. The top end said Whoopee! We all know that State governments like bread and circuses —festivals that last for a safely circumscribed length of time, make a big enough splash to bring in serious corporate funding and a few tourists, and then go decently away. The only new thing here is an artistically-unjustified diffusion out into the Bush, where voters are prepared to reject governments that fail to notice their pain. The arts are being sent to the country as anti­ racist shock troops. But major non-commercial theatres, dance and opera companies have only just realised that these brief festive splashes are a serious threat to their year-long subscription seasons. Which means that they increasingly play safe with a mix of star-driven classics and local comedies. No pain, plenty of gain. Despite which, fewer than 40% of theatre-goers surveyed by the Australia Council in 1999 for Selling the Performing A rts (a classic title from the market-driven remnants of the Maynard Keynes/‘Nugget’ Coombes ideal state arts funding body) expressed satisfaction with recent dramatic experiences. Lower down, with the prospect of less certain subsidy, smaller companies have seized

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AUSTRALIA

John Gaden and Daniel Wyllie in Cloudstreet, from the book by Tim Winton - Company B Belvoir

on an Australia Council initiative to bring international buyers in to three International Performing Arts Markets. Tailoring their work to demand, some now spend more than half their time overseas. Some of it is fine stuff. Some of it is even a reflection of Australian culture. But the case of Meryl Tankard is instructive. Possessed was a work with all the right button-pushes —Meryl, her Pina Bausch credentials unquestioned, choreographing; the Balanescu Quartet playing live; and a theme linking the athletic and the fascist. Who could resist? Few did. Breakthrough American and European tours were lined up. The Meryl Tankard Australian Dance Theatre was on its way. Unfortunately, its local paymasters in Adelaide wanted ADT to spend more time closer to home in Beltana and Burra than Berlin; and when it got to Berlin, critics felt that the ideas behind the dance failed to deal with an issue like fascism adequately. Collapse of stout dance party. Years of effort on the rocks. Tankard drained. Cloudstreet, on the other hand, is the quintessence of the case for the proposition. Company B Belvoir in Sydney and the Black Swan Theatre in Perth are two theatre companies in the middle of the structural sandwich I’ve been talking about. In Neil Armfield and Andrew Ross they have inspiring and long-serving leaders. Together they had enough pull to persuade the Sydney and Perth Festivals to invest in a Big Show, based on Tim Winton’s rambling novel —an Australian Genesis. More than a million dollars were collected, playwright and screenwriter Nick Enright cut the book down to a mere five hours, and almost enough rehearsal time was available for a top cast to carve out both living and emblematic characters representing the happy-go-lucky side, the Protestant work ethic and the Aboriginal ghosts haunting this European outpost 8

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AUSTRALIA developing on the sandy fringes of a vast Continent. A little magic realism stirred the pot. At its Sydney premiere in January 1998, audiences knew Cloudstreet was important. They were engrossed and moved despite the discomfort of bleachers in a dockland shed. It must have more than doubled the value-for-money rating discovered by the Australia Council —for it sold out both on subsequent Australian tours and in Europe. Oddly, the London International Festival of Theatre rejected it as too specifically Aussie. Perhaps that was its charm? One might argue that we’re all looking for the big, culturally specific experience now that the era of the multi-national shows that began with Nicholas Nickleby and made the fortunes of Cameron Mackintosh and Andrew Lloyd Webber is over. Both of the latter have closed their Australian offices in the past year. Could this have left the tiniest of opportunities for a local(ish) musical —The Boyfrom 0 ^ —to sneak in? Did anyone outside Oz even know that Peter Allen (who married Liza Minelli and wowed them on Broadway and the Las Vegas strip with his incredible energy and I Go to Rio toons) was a scion of our New England? Luckily the autobiographical streak in his writing and the combination of Nick Enright (again) and Trevor Nunn-trained director Gale Edwards produced a show we were able to distinguish from Buddy and Miss Saigon. Maybe the world will notice too. For I have to wonder whether Joanna Murray-Smith’s play Honour, which had an impressive five month run off-Broadway, was really identifiable as Australian by factors other than the spelling of its title. In my eyes, it was competent international play-making. There’s a bit of it about. Katherine Brisbane, doyenne of ex-theatre critics and the generous heart and mind behind a Currency Press that’s done so much to put local playwriting on the map, was moved to comment recently that four manuscripts in a row followed the single, limited theme of clans gathering to mourn and/or mock a dead pat/matriarch. One of these near-identical siblings was the work of ‘the chronicler of our times’, David Williamson. Oddly, his best (of four) plays in the past three years was his least characteristic —Face to Face, a moving picture of community conferencing as it confronts the criminal and his victims. One of his more typical plays was Corporate Vibes, back in the business world with an interesting 1999 theatrical development —a lead character who’s a Koori (part-Aboriginal) woman. Political correctness? Possibly. But also a definite reflection of one of the major positives in Australian theatre in the past decade —the drive of Aboriginal theatre from the fringes into the mainstream. First there were the writers —Jack Davies, Bobby Merritt - and then there were the actors needed to put on their plays, produced and directed by whites. But in 1997 came the Festival of the Dreaming —the first and most vital of four Olympic Arts Festivals (a proper Olympiad for the first time), smashing through in all directions. Waitingfor Godotin Bunjalung, a Black director at the Sydney Theatre Company, and four one-woman shows that were funny, painful and autobiographical —stage-crafted by experienced teams of black and white, thus overcoming issues of white appropriation and establishing careers for both stars and shows. In June 1999, Sydney had four spin-offs coinciding Best thought-through was Neil Armfield’s A s You Like It at Belvoir (that man, that place again). Shakespeare’s hunt for harmony in the Forest of Arden justified links to traditional Aboriginal relationships with the land, where Bob Maza’s Duke Senior might find ‘books in the running brooks, sermons in stones’. Deborah Mailman’s Rosalind, in particular found a wonderfully amorous freedom once released from her Mosleyite court dresses. Then Leah Purcell’s powerful Box the Pony was back by popular demand from the Dreaming Festival - before The World of Theatre

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AUSTRALIA heading off to a mystified audience in Edinburgh. Tony Strachan’s State o f Shock found a Black director for the first time a decade after its stunning debut. And, perhaps least successful, Romeo & Juliet was in the hands of Murri man Wesley Enoch, but seemed, well, too black and white. In his home town of Brisbane, though, Enoch is an example of the hunger for urban Aboriginal theatre —setting up his own company, as have others in Melbourne and Perth. Sydney has the successful Bangarra Aboriginal Dance Theatre. Not only do these companies leave room for the right to fail; they have also earned negotiating rights with the mainstream. Enoch developed a musical, The Sunshine Club, through 1999 with the Queensland Theatre Company; Melbourne’s Ilbijerri Theatre Co-op has jumped off from Playbox Theatre to take its Stolen to Sydney, followed by London in July 2000. Its two-week season there by an all-Aboriginal cast will be a first. Significant things are happening on the racially neutral fringes too. In Melbourne, the writers are so hungry they’ll start theatre companies to play their works. Daniel Keene’s Keene/Taylor Project is the most powerful and consistent of them, producing 17 plays (mostly one-acters about society’s rejects) in two years from September 1997. Ranters Theatre offers the outpourings of the Cortese brothers. And David Pledger’s Not Yet, It’s Difficult proffers public performance projects that fiercely reject commodification. In Brisbane, La Boite and Rock ’n Roll Circus excite on the fringes of a city that’s become suddenly civilised. And in Adelaide, Brink Theatre’s affection for British writer Howard Barker’s work has led to its premiering his Millennial epic, The Ecstatic Bible jointly with his Wrestling School at the 2000 Adelaide Festival. If only there were nationally reflective opportunities to analyse all this. But newspapers in Australia have largely given up on consistent criticism —opting instead for the colourful, the columnists, the (ill-)considered and the con-temporary.

Jerem y Eccles is an English-born cultural commentator resident in Sydney, Features Editor o f the State o f the A rts magazine group and a c o r r e s p o n d e n tInternational Arts Manager and The Stage in Eondon.

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BANGLADESH Sailing Against the Wind: the Theatre of Survival MOFIDUL HOQUE When the British quit India in 1947, they left behind not only a divided sub-continent, cut into two separate states of India and Pakistan, but also a divided theatre: the traditional, predominantly rural performing art being superseded by an urban, so-called sophisticated proscenium theatre, evolved in interaction with western theatre practices. The subsequent development of Indian theatre has shown the aspiration of theatre artists to overcome this division through various means: fusion, rejection, conservation, purification and so forth. But for Bangladesh, the then East Pakistan, part of a strange country of two wings separated by a thousand miles and linked only by the commonality of religion, the question of form and aesthetics of theatre became a secondary issue as the question of survival became the core problem. The newly evolved state of Pakistan, in declaring itself as an Islamic state, effectively proscribed theatre, an art which defies the puritan approach of religion. Moreover, the collective practice of theatre seemed to the ruling class to be fertile ground for those who might wish to nurse the spirit of collective protest. The all-pervading fundamentalist ‘Islamic’ approach to theatre also squeezed the space of women in the performing arts. In the amateur theatre, male artists had to play the female roles. The large-scale migration of the Hindu population, due to communal clashes and riots, has also taken its toll: it meant the virtual loss of a great number of performers and patrons. Military rule imposed in Pakistan also made it difficult to practise theatre. The cumulative result of all these negative trends was that theatre found itself on the verge of extinction. When Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation in 1971, its theatre had to start almost from ground zero —and it re-surfaced with a big bang! With the religious taboos gone, the new-found freedoms of speech and performance opened up new vistas of art. Theatre became a passion for the young artists who had passed through the ordeal of armed struggle for the liberation of their motherland. The emergent theatre of Bangladesh, although its achievements are great, is now facing a serious problem of survival, which arises not from within the theatre but from outside. The development of theatre has not been matched by the necessary infrastructe, and that has created a serious bottleneck. To somebody not accustomed to the reality of Bangladesh, this requires some clarification. Theatre in Bangladesh gets little patronage from the government and therefore remains an under-developed resource. The problem is not only a financial one: the state’s attitude to theatre also plays a part. In its narrow developmental thinking, theatre has no functional role to play, so little attention is paid to theatre. Thus in spite of large-scale urbanization and various project implementations The World of Theatre

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Street theatre performance, Central Shaheed Minar, Dhaka

(photo: Mir Ahmed Miru)

Bangladesh still has no national playhouse. Dhaka, a city of 10 million people, has no proper theatre space. The two dilapidated theatre halls that are used by the group theatres have less then 350 seats each. Their stage and technical facilities are primitive, to say the least. But these two halls have nourished the emergence of new Bangladesh theatre in such a way that the Bailey Road, where both halls are situated, is now called Naiok Para or Enclave of Theatre. But the increase of non-profit theatre groups over the years —Dhaka has now over 60 —has not been matched by a growth in the number of theatre spaces. The Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation supervises the distribution of bookings for the halls: because of the acute lack of facilities, the leading groups get the opportunity to perform not more than twice a month, while a new group will consider itself lucky if they get one booking a month. The groups are ready to perform, the theatre lovers would like to see them, but there is little opportunity. With the increase in the number of groups, desperation has become great, and the groups are eagerly looking for new spaces. But these efforts have not brought any success so far. The Government has recently begun construction of a national theatre complex, 12

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BANGLADESH which was due to be opened in 1998. But because of faulty design and shabby construction, its progress has been very slow and it may not open its doors before 2001. The Department of Music and Theatre of Dhaka University established an experimental theatre stage cvMe&Natmondop in 1998, by adapting an old building. It gave the students the opportunity to present their theatrical work. At present, theatre departments have been established in three of the country’s universities. The students of Dhaka University Theatre Department have attracted attention with their new interpretations of traditional theatre form. Interacting with talented folk artists, they have reconstructed a traditional musical play, Y^mala Ranir Sagar Dighi (The Sea-like Pond o f Queen Kamala), and earned praise from the critics. Dhaka City Corporation is constructing a theatre hall at the heart of the city which has an excellent location and beautiful surroundings. When it opens in 2000 it may become a new centre of theatre, but again faulty design has crippled the building. But the show goes on. The Group Theatre Federation has now 175 members and more than 200 new plays are staged every year, most of them based on contemporary scenarios. The number of translated plays is around 20, while the figure for adaptations is double that. The preference for adaptation over translation also shows the strong tendency to depict the existing realities of society. The major productions of the last three seasons revealed this trend. Theatre, one of our pioneering groups, presented Abdullah Al-Mamun’s Meherjan Arekbar (Once More Meherjan) in December 1997. Like most other plays by Mamun it is a

Prakito Jana Katha, directed by Mamunur Rashid

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BANGLADESH realistic one, depicting the life of subaltern group —people belonging to the lower depths of society. Meherjan, a free-spirited female kitchen-worker in a cheap restaurant, who does not care much about the social norms which have strictly defined the role and place of women in society, is a target for the so-called religious gurus. Her revolt reflects the inner strength of society in resisting fundamentalism. The humorous, witty dialogue of the play increased its impact. Nagorik, the other leading group, has presented Sivapnaba%(The Dreamer), a feminist play by the up-and-coming young novelist Nasreen Jahan. This is her first attempt at playwriting and she has been hailed as a challenger to our major dramatists. Her play focused on the suppression of women’s identity and has a delicate sensuality not usually found in our plays. The surrealistic element juxtaposed with the harsh reality of malefemale relationships has heightened its effect. The play has been skilfully directed by debutant Khaled Khan, a young actor in the group. Dhaka Theatre, after a long hibernation, came up with Selim Al-Deen’s new play Banpangsul (The Tale Forest) in January 1999. Selim Al-Deen has been working a long time to reveal and reinterpret the traditional way of performance. He considers the oriental or Bengali theatre aesthetically and artistically totally different from the western form and concept. In oriental theatre, the basic approach is narrative. It is not structured in acts and never ends in a climax but has a fluidity which places more emphasis on how the story is narrated than on what it narrates. Banpangsul has an added dimension in the richness of its content. It explores the relationship between man and nature, telling the story is of a small group of Bangladesh deep in the forest of Madhupur who continue to live in their centuries-old way. The existence of this Mandat tribe is threatened by of the erosion of the forest reserve area by greedy wood-traders and corrupt Bengali officials. The play was intelligently directed by Nasiruddin Yousuff, who adhered to Selim’s ideas and aspired to create a theatre style completely oriental or Bengali. Aranyak, with a strong social commitment as always, staged Abdullahel Mahmud’s Prakritjan Katha (Tale o f the Indigeneous People). As the title suggests, the play travels back in history and searches for the roots of the national spirit, in the resistance that the people of the delta have offered to all sorts of invaders. The play tried to reconstruct the proto­ history of Bengal by showing early Buddist resistance against upper caste Brahminic revivalism and provided it with contemporary significance. Aranyak added another feather to their cap by producing Mayur Singhasan, a play within a play. A small-town theatre group, rehearsing a run-of-the-mill historical play, are gradually drawn to ponder the deeper meaning of history. Mannan Hira’s very original play was directed by Mamunur Rashid, himself a leading playwright. Another play which received critical appreciation is Circus, Circus by a new group, Prachyanat. Written and directed by Pavel Azad, talented young actor, the play is a bold statement against the rise of fundamentalism in our society. A travelling circus troupe is attacked by religious fundamentalists on the grounds that they are luring people to the path of sin through their immoral acts. Their tent is burned down, a few of the animals roasted alive and the troupe ruined. A newspaper report regarding an actual incident provoked the playwright to write and produce the play. At the end of the play the master of the troupe, like the mythical phoenix rising from the ashes, vows to reorganise and carry on the circus show. It was a major challenge for any young theatre group to produce such a difficult play, but Prachyanat enthralled the audience by their well-executed production. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, staged by Natya Kendra, was marked by superb acting. The students of Theatre Department of Jahangirnagar University staged another new 14

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Circus Circus, directed by Azad Abul Kalam

(photo: Tanzibur Rahman)

play by Selim Al-Deen, Prachja (Orientj, where different approaches to life are examined through an apparendy simple story line. After a lapse of seven years the National Theatre Festival was organised by Bangladesh Shilpakala (Arts) Academy in March-April 1998. Altogether 57 theatre groups presented performances, of which 24 were from outside Dhaka. The festival, in a nutshell, reflected the characteristics of Bangladesh theatre. Plays dealing with contemporary reality occupied a major place, followed by presentations of traditional folk plays in a new light. Next came translated and adapted plays. Adaptations occupy a significant place in Bangladesh theatre. The National Theatre Festival reflects the nature and extent of this phenomenon, with stagings of The Three Penny Opera by Bertolt Brecht, The M iser by Moliere, Gaddar (The Bastard) by Krishan Chander, Bikram OAdalat (Bikram and the Court) by Krishan Chander, Oedipusby Sophocles, Haibadan by Girish Karnad, Machine byjohn Orton, Fruits o f FLnlightenmentby Leo Tolstoy, Men Without Shadows by Jean Paul Sartre, Love is the Best D octorby Moliere, Darpan (based on Flamlef) by William Shakespeare, Twelve A ngry Men by Reginald Rose among others. The different trends and approaches in theatre also reflect the debate going on among artists and critics. On one side are the hardcore nationalists, who think that the future of our theatre lies in rediscovering the truest national form, which has been lost due to long negligence and ideological indifference. On the other hand are the proponents of modernity, who think that our theatre in the new millennium can develop only in close conjunction with the theatres of the world, and claim that the futile search for purity will deny theatre its vigour and originality. Without taking sides in the debate, one can say that we may embrace modernity while standing firmly on our tradition, and reinterpret tradition in a modernist way. The panorama of Bangladesh theatre reflects this urge in a broader way. As Ataur Rahman, veteran director and critic, noted, Ancient dramatic performance can only be meaningful to the present-day world when it inspires The World of Theatre

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BANGLADESH contemporary theatre practitioners to bring forward new work, relevant to our living and dynamic society, and shows not any rejection symptom like an alien element but rather creates a proper marriage with the modern mind.’ Winter is the time of festivals in Bangladesh. The theatre groups are not lagging behind in organising such festivities. One of the major theatre festivals was organised by Centre for Asian Theatre (CAT)- They organised an international symposium on Ibsen and invited M.K. Raina, noted Indian dramaturg, to direct the play Ghosts. In February 1999 the Bangladesh ITI Centre organised an International Seminar on the theme ‘One World, Many Theatres’ and a festival of monoplays in which actors from Sweden, Iran, Greece and Bangladesh took part. Street theatre as a genre continues to attract theatre performers. Every year in December, a Festival of Street Theatre is held at Central Shaheed Minar (Martyr’s Memorial). This open air meeting-place becomes the hub of cultural activities in February, celebrating the Language Martyrs Day. Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation organises a Street Theatre Festival during the first week of February. Cultural festivities continue for the next two weeks, with poetry recitals, political and patriotic songs, dance and, of course, drama. The show reaches a climax on 21 February when thousands of people come to the memorial to place floral wreaths. The theatre seasons of Bangladesh are vibrant and eventful, but still lacking infrastructure. Bangladesh theatre has survived without patronage from the State and society and it can be confidently noted that it will not only survive but flourish in future. But the time has come to extend it the support it deserves.

M ofidul Hoque (b. 1948), is a cultural activist and theatre critic. He is Publication Secretary o f the Bangladesh ITI Centre and a Trustee o f the Liberation Museum, Dhaka.

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BELGIUM Flemish Community Theatre Wars Great and Small: Apt Metaphors of Belgium and Flanders WOUTERHESSELS Of all the productions of the three seasons 1996-97,1997-98 and 1998-99 there is one which has without doubt entered the annals of Flemish theatre as a unique historical experience. Presented by the Blauwe Maandag (Blue Monday) company under the title Ten Oorlog (O ff To War), this contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s history plays was extraordinary in all senses of the word. For once, the company, which has for more than a decade been one of the groups which set the artistic agenda for Flanders, was given the time, space and opportunity to devise and present a marathon example of theatre of war, lasting around ten hours. Produced in association with the Vooruit arts centre in Ghent, Desingel in Antwerp and the Rotterdamse Schouwburg in Holland, Ten Oorlog had its premiere at the Vooruit on 22 November 1997. Writer Tom Lanoye (£.1958), one of the great literary talents of his generation, and Blauwe Maandag director Luc Perceval (£.1957) worked with their actors and designers for two whole seasons to write and rewrite, adapt, rehearse and present on stage a production which had to be lived to be experienced. On the eve of the new millennium, Ten Oorlog proved that Shakespeare is still well and truly a point of reference in the Western cultural identity. Of course, Blauwe Maandag is not the first Flemish company to take one or more Shakespeare plays as the starting point for work in theatre. That the director Franz Marijnen should want to stage Shakespeare (The Tempest, Othello) surprised no one. What was on the other hand surprising was the special and original attention that some new companies have brought to his plays. The De Roovers company’s project Venetie (Venice), inspired by The Merchant o f Venice and Othello, is an example. Nor is interest in the works of Shakespeare confined to the theatre —in the cinema of the last fifty years, from Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles to Kenneth Branagh and Baz Lurhmann, he has been rediscovered as the classic writerpa r excellence. It is hardly surprising that theatre and cinema artists, working at the end of a millennium which brings with it identity crises at every level, should turn to classic works of universal value. In the last three seasons, not only Shakespeare but other classics have been the staple fare of both traditional and avant-garde companies. Dramatic and other texts have been mounted either with meticulous respect or with a sense of complete reinterpretation. Shakespeare has been part of the repertoire of the major institutional theatres, KVS in Brussels, KNS in Antwerp and NTG in Ghent. The great French classics of Moliere and even Racine and Corneille have been performed by several companies in Flanders, while Chekhov and Goldoni have also been solidly present. From the German theatre, it is the The World of Theatre

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BELGIUM texts of Heiner Muller and Bertolt Brecht which have given inspiration to the Flemish stage. Ten Oorlog, which can without exaggeration be described as high stage art, was presented in three parts which could be seen together or separately. Taking part in the complete presentation, immersing oneself in the changing fortunes of Shakespeare’s royalty, was an unforgettable experience. The first part, which I enjoyed most, recounts the stories of the kings Richard II and Henry IV. It brought home to me what Shakespeare and Lanoye have in common: a sublime writing style in which the language is superbly adapted to the speech and movement of the (highly talented) actors. The presentation of Shakespeare’s language in a restrained setting gave way to physical action in the second part, in which the stories of Henry V and Queen Margaret served as a transition to the cabaret-style high point of the production, the episode dealing with Edward IV and Richard III. Thus the production evolves from a subtle playing of pure poetry, through a spectacular physical show to a finale of carnival, even grotesque, speech and action. Such an evolution, bringing with it an amazing variety of tone and effect, shows that Shakespeare lives still, as the author of plays which are not simply to be read, but inevitably destined to be spoken and played. Its ten hours were never for a moment boring, quite the contrary. Its contemporary political staging made Ten Oorlog a real feast for eye and ear, even for those who know little of Shakespeare. Ten Oorlog was the major theatre event over two seasons —Flemish critics talked of little else. Even during its preparation, it was the subject of much comment and rumour —such intensive work brings its incidents and accidents. Actors of repute stormed out of rehearsal and were replaced. The actress Els Dottermans was injured in a bad fall. In the final account, the production had a powerful effect on the theatre scene in Flanders, and indeed beyond: crossing boundaries both literal and figurative, it was rightly taken up and garlanded with awards. Selected for the festival of Dutch-speaking theatre, it won the Oce prize, attracting the attention of Gerard Mortier, himself a Belgian, who invited Lanoye and Perceval to make a German version, Schlachten, for his 1999 Salzburg Festival, with the company of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg, where it opened the 1999-2000 season. This artistic and commercial success led to the publication of the text in paperback. A series of sell-out revivals and spectacular sales of the printed text followed, and the show gave rise to a book of essays, the first time in Flanders (if I recall correctly) that a single production has been so treated. It is clear that Ten Oorlog, though Flemish in its roots, has a European trajectory. The conflicts in the Balkans were certainly present in the innermost thoughts of the writers, actors and spectators, and the Yugoslav crisis, erupting into war in the very heart of Europe, gave it a very explicit context. At the same time, the production served as a weapon in the fight against the self-centred nationalism of the extreme Right in Flanders and elsewhere. One may think of Ten Oorlog as a dramatic response to the extreme Flemishness advocated by some national politicians and their supporters. In its theatrical conception and in its use of different idioms, it goes beyond the linguistic barriers of Belgium —and in a country like ours, where every battle is a battle of language, such an act is an audacious one. In Ten Oorlog, different forms of war make their appearance. First there are the conflicts, both physical and spiritual, of the characters, the battles between Shakespeare’s major and minor nobility, not forgetting the inner struggles of the successive kings. Then, in their use of a rich palette of linguistic imagery, a mixture of languages and dialects in which the conflict ebbs and flows, Lanoye and Perceval are putting themselves on a war footing with those who would Emit the identity of the Flemish community to its Dutch language, and Belgian identity to its three languages (Dutch, French and 18

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Lucas Van den Eynde in Tom Lanoye’s Ten Oorlog

(photo: Corneel Maria Ryckeboer)

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BELGIUM German). In choosing Shakespeare as their source, and thus the English language with its international dimension, the creators have put themselves above the communal divisions and linguistic squabbles which too often divide Belgium. While the production’s language at the beginning is poetic and pure, the battles clearer, its conclusion, by contrast, confronts us with the mad, chaotic crises of ‘Richard the motherf*cking T*rd’ who addresses us in his own debased argot. The linguistic and moral decline which characterise Richard and his final speeches represent very well the war of identity which Belgium and Flanders find themselves after a series of sensational scandals such as the Dutroux affair and the fraud revelations of Dassault and Agusta. And after the wars, real in ex-Yugoslavia, linguistic in Belgium, only wreckage remains. In this atmosphere of total destruction, at the end of Ten Oorlog a child appears, singing in complete innocence. The curtain falls, and this modem adaptation of the Wars of the Roses, which can be seen as a plea for a multicultural society, invites us to rebuild the wreckage, with reason and ideas, into a balanced sense of identity.

Antwerp, City of Theatre Life It was Antwerp, that metropolis where the extreme right sadly attracts much support from its citizens, which provided the setting and the motive, springing from Ten Oorlog, for a grand alliance between Antwerp’s conservative repertory theatre, the KNS (Royal National Theatre) and the Blauwe Maandag company. Under the name of Toneelhuis (Theatre House), the new organisation opened its doors to all those who are passionate about the art of the stage. This was not the only sign of artistic renewal in Antwerp: thanks to the efforts of Eric Antonis, formerly the flamboyant director of Antwerp, 1993 Cultural Capital of Europe and since 1994 the city’s cultural counsellor, the old KJT (Royal Youth Theatre) was renamed and metamorphosed into Het Paleis (The Palace). The Palace seeks not merely to reproduce traditional fairy tales and well known stories for young people. The drive of this renewed theatre is towards new stories, new ways of telling them and new theatre forms. Likewise the Theatre House, which presents itself as open to all, opposes anything that smacks of middle-class mentality or morality and is up for any controversy. These two modern, dynamic theatres readying themselves for the 21st century represent to some extent a victory in the war between the old and the new. Toneelhuis director Luc Perceval is one of the figureheads of a qualitative, adventurous theatre life in Flanders and the Netherlands. Other talented directors of his generation who are also bringing new life to Dutch-speaking theatre are Guy Cassiers (artistic director of the RO Theatre, Rotterdam), Ivo Van Hove (artistic director of the Zuidelijk Toneel in Eindhoven) and Blauwe Maandag’s co-founder Guy Joosten, who works as a director in the Toneelhuis, the Vlaamse Opera and the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie. The creation of the Toneelhuis means that all three of the largest Flemish cities now have a municipal theatre worthy of the name. In Brussels, Franz Marijnen is still in charge of the KVS (Royal Flemish Theatre), a house which plays both ancient and modern classics (from Shakespeare, Moliere and Chekhov to Urs Widmer and Sergei Belbel). The NTG (Netherlands Theatre of Gent) has taken a new direction under JeanPierre De Decker, as a theatre where family shows are presented, with a special taste for musicals and adaptations of hit films (Tisaisons Dangereuses, Te Bal, Titanic). These three directors have each given their theatre a different, well-defined character of its own, which has led to an increased attendance in all three. Another encouraging feature of the Flemish theatre scene is the contacts which the NTG and the Toneelhuis have established with the theatre schools in Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp. The Toneelhius is also trying 20

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BELGIUM to operate as a test-bed for young companies, such as De Roovers and De Factorie, offering its stages to actors and directors who represent themselves today as experimentalists but may well form the traditions of tomorrow.

Brussels, Cultural Capital 2000 The multicultural capital of Europe, Belgium and Flanders is getting ready for the great changes of the millennium. As with Antwerp in 1993, the organisers of Brussels, Cultural Capital of Europe 2000, will ensure its presence in the streets and in the city’s artistic life. Undoubtedly, its growing importance as European capital since 1992, together with the planned 2000 events, has already provoked visible changes. For several years Brussels has had its own truly international film festival. Since 1994 it has had the Kunstenfestival des Arts. Hugo de Greef has just handed over the direction of the internationallyoriented Kaaitheater, after twenty years (1977-97), to a couple of young artists, Johan Reyniers and Agna Smisdom. Theatres and arts centres such as the Beursschouwburg, Dito’Dito, De Markten are trying with varying degrees of success to make the theatre more accessible to all. For some time the RITS, the higher institute of audiovisual and dramatic art, has found itself at the centre of these developments, and it is now expanding into the beating heart of Brussels, its Latin Quarter. Even if Brussels is a difficult city to manage, on account of its special standing, many cultural workers are striving to ensure that Brussels 2000 will be an exceptional multicultural event. Scotland’s Robert Palmer has been working —not without difficulty —to bring together the old hands and the young Turks in setting up the greatest festival Brussels has seen since Expo 58.

Little Wars This ferment in the larger Flemish theatre centres has stimulated theatrical life in some smaller towns. At Courtrai, the actor-director Jos Verbist hs given a new boost to the Antigone theatre, with a programme that is regional, contemporary and no stranger to controversy. In giving opportunities to young artists, graduates of RITS and other talented newcomers, such as Bart Van Nuffelen, Johan Petit and Geert Six, the company made a number of productions inspired by the literary work of Louis Paul Boon and the poet Guido Gezelle, the centenary of whose death was celebrated in Flanders in 1999. The Malpertuis theatre inTielt and Ostend has a new lease of life under the direction of Sam Bogaerts. Among other towns where the theatre has a serious presence may be cited Bruges (De Korre, De Werf), Malines (Mechels Miniatuur Theater, under its new artistic director Guido Wevers, De Maan, Theater Teater and De Komeet) and Turnhout (Het Gevolg and De Warande, a cultural centre with national impact). In these towns, theatre has an important mission of cultural diffusion. Apart from the success of mega-shows (Ten Oorlog and musicals such as Annie, Cats, Snow White and Les Miserables), there are a fair number of young companies which by their return to intimate theatre have sparked off ‘little wars’, typically Flemish skirmishes among people or individuals. Groups like M arthalTentatief, Victoria and the Nieuwpoorttheater confront us with folk characters, even caricatures, with family situations and other microcosms where the problems of relationships between individuals present themselves. They take as their starting point the literary heritage of Louis Paul Boon (1912-79) and the work of Arne Sierens (b. 1959). The latter is without doubt the most performed Flemish writer, with plays such as De Broers Geboers and Mijn Blackie. These companies often use non-professional actors in search of authenticity, trying to extend the limits of traditional theatrical representation. The high point of this kind of The World of Theatre

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From the Victoria production Bernadetje

{photo: Kurt Van der Elst)

work was the production Bernadetje, devised for Victoria by Arne Sierens and the choreographer Alain Platel, who wanted to create a slice of Ghent outdoor life, performed largely on dodgem cars. Its fairground atmosphere made Bernadetje a hit with all kinds of audience in the 1996-97 season, including the Avignon Festival. Several companies their projects with international theatre figures. INS (International New Stage), which has concentrated on social and political engagement, celebrated the centenary of Bertolt Brecht and the award of 1997 the Nobel Prize for Literature to Dario Fo. The 1998 centenary of Federico Garcia Lorca, too, did not pass unmarked. An end-of-millennium trend which goes against the tendency to big international productions is that of the monologue. The standard-bearers of the Flemish monologue are Peter de Graef, Josse de Pauw, Lucas Vandervost and Bob De Moor, who have certainly influenced other solo performers such as Dimitri Leue, Tom Van Dyck and Antje De Boeck. A central theme of their acts is the interior struggle of individuals ill at ease in a world which revolves endlessly around the words ‘get’ and ‘do’. The monologue, as personal storytelling, has served — and serves still —as a means of self-presentation on stage in a spirit of simplicity and modesty.

Wouter Hessels (b. 1970) was editor in chief from 1994 to 1997 o f the Flemish theatre monthly De Scene. He teaches film at the RITS in Brussels, and also works as dramaturg, translator and lecturer. He acknowledges the contribution to this article o f his brother, Joris Hessels.

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BELGIUM French Community Lines of Force and Points of Contact in the Dramaturgy of Francophone Belgium NANCY DELHALLE For some years, Belgian theatre in the French language has been much concerned with its public and a search for a greater democracy of access. Thus we have seen an increase of work in those areas we call ‘under-privileged’ and various attempts to attract the ‘non-public’, a public which (still) does not go to the theatre. Such a tendency —which likes to create its own mystique —provokes much thought. One could indeed ask oneself how far the public authorities, the principal source of funding for the theatre, should delegate to it the delicate and dangerous mission of healing social fracture. Is this the role of art? Besides, such sideshows somewhat obscure the solid work done over the years by outreach theatre. Somewhat on the edge of institutional theatre, but with no less defined structures of its own, this movement has worked hard to link the life of the ‘non-public’ with theatre, through workshops and collaborative performances in both town and country. Chance, Hope and Good Luck, for example, performed at the October ‘Rencontres’ (Meetings) in 1998, was a great popular success. Put together by the Theatre de la Renaissance under the direction of Francis D’Ostuni, the piece presents the memories of miners from the three coal-faces evoked in the title. As well as actors it puts miners on stage, immigrants who tell of their arrival in Belgium and their work in the mine. Often thought of as a form of social commentary in motion, outreach theatre has usually worked by means of collective creation, but is today beginning to produce its writers, such as Luc Dumont and Emile Hesbois, especially through its ‘own’ publishing house, Editions du Cerisier.

The Writing Explosion Writers are certainly the new bastion of the Francophone Belgian theatre. After a period in which the director dominated the field, dramatic writing saw a renewal of interest in the Eighties. New writers appeared and soon institutional structures arrived, to help the growth of the movement. Thus, the Repertoire des auteurs dramatiques contemporains. Theatre beige de langue franfaise (Checklist o f contemporary playwrights ivriting in French in Belgium, an enterprise which notably brought together nearly all the national organisations concerned with playwriting), published in 1997, included more than 140 writers. As well as Editions Lansman, Editons du Groupe Aven and now Editions de l’Ambedui have published scripts, while organisations such as Temporalia, Repliq and the Magasin d’Ecriture Theatrale have placed increased emphasis on print for lack of actual stage production The World of Theatre

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BELGIUM resources. Just recently, a Centre of Dramatic Writing has been set up in Mons, with the object of promoting and disseminating new playtexts (in the broadest sense, since it encompasses texts for dance, radio and cinema as well). We can bet that at a time of dumbing down on the information superhighway, more sympathetic avenues of collaboration will be sought with other organisations such as the theatre department of the Archives and Museum of Literature or the Theatre House, La Bellone. Although it gets writers known, and stimulates writing and creativity, all this work of promotion could in time have bad side-effects, in blurring the writing process by this move to a ‘take-home’ mentality which can ignore the performance aspect: the reality of the theatrical event. Moreover, relatively few texts are actually performed for the theatregoing public. In this respect, most Cultural Centres play very little active part, and the names of many young playwrights are known only in Brussels. Let us, however, point out the commitment of two theatres to local writing. The Jacques Franck Cultural Centre, while home to authors such as Richard Kalisz or Veronika Mabardi, is also looking for more specific themes, for example programming in 1998-99 a series of plays on unemployment. As well as Les sept jou rs de Simon Labrosse (Simon Labrosse’s Week), by the Quebec playwright Carole Frechette, we saw Transquinquennial’s Chomage (O utof Work). This company (Bernard Breuse, Pierre Sartenaer, Stephane Olivier), which works on a collective basis, has had increasing success in Belgium and latterly in Paris. As well as inviting authors such as Philipe Blasband or Eugene Savitzkaya to work with them, the company braved the language taboo to work with a Flemish company, Dito’ Dito, on several projects, of which Ah oui ca alors la (Oh That, Yes, Well) was notably successful with the Paris critics. On a rough set, a minimal decor which gave precedence to the explosive performance of the actors (aTransquinquennial characteristic), the play presents day-to-day conversations on the landing of a block of Brussels apartments. Rudi Bekaert’s text explores a group so lost in the daily grind that they have no contact with one another. In Chomage, the company satirises the bureaucracy and economic pressures that create unemployment. Here, too, the out-front movement and blocking, the tone and flow of the dialogue are organised with great precision, creating a particular rhythm which lends critical distance and leads away from realism. Besides the ‘Shower’ and ‘Harvest’ seasons, which offer opportunities for young creators, the Balsamine Theatre has continued its work on new Belgian playwriting, giving writers such as Alain Cofimo Gomez, Laurence Vielle, Veronika Mabardi, Linda Lewkowicz and Virginie Thirion a chance to make their work known. Readings are the norm, but the space does offer the chance of experiment, especially in its writers’ workshops where genres are often mixed. In 1997 the Balsamine presented Jean-Marie Piemme’s Pieces d ’identite (Identity Cards), seven short texts directed by Michel Bernard or Philippe Sireuil, who is a regular collaborator with Piemme. On this occasion, he commissioned a short piece on the theme of the deadly sins from each of nine writers. Among them may be mentioned Patrick Lerch, whose sketch used a culinary metaphor to express violence as appetite, creating an ironic satire. W ith this series (published by Editions Medianes), Jean-M arie Piemme has concentrated his attention on the problem of identity, one which has much resonance in Francophone Belgium. If it is not approached direcdy, or from the angle of ‘Belgitude’, an identity in a vacuum, it can lead to fruitful questioning, as it has from Piemme, especially in his autobiographical text, f ’a i des racines (I Have Roots). Taken with two of his plays, one of which (Cafe des Patriotes) deals with the extreme right, the other (1953) with the material emancipation of the working class and with the character of the worker’s leader and wartime collaborator Henri de Man, it is evidence of a new direction in our theatre. 24

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Rwanda, by Marie-France Collard and Jean-M arie Piemme - Theatre de la Place, Liege (photo: Alice Piemme)

Political Concerns The Nineties have seen artists getting a grip on socio-political reality, a remarkable feat in the land of ‘magic realism’. It took a growing number of what one can discreetiy call malfunctions (the assassination of a Minister, paedophile murders, killings in the Delhaize chain of stores in French-speaking Brabant, the death of a young asylum-seeker, food contamination by dioxins) to drag some artists away from their attempts at people’s theatre or citizen’s theatre. On the playwriting side, the texts of Francois Clarinval (OQT - Deportation Order), Jean-Christophe Lauwers (Lepays noir—The Black Country) and Layla Nabulsi (Le cauchemar d ’A l Capi —A l Capi’s Nightmare), texts often written in the heat of the moment in an attempt to change the social role of theatre, were presented several times as readings. If one risks talking about the return of social and perhaps political commentary to the stage, it must be admitted that the movement has a broader scope, visible in other countries and other disciplines, for example in Rosetta, which won an award at Cannes for the Liege film-makers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. While the Brecht centenary produced a number of plays and cabarets, it also led several directors back to the roots of political theatre. Wallonia, in the south of the country on the Dutch and German border, seemed to regain a symbolic significance. At least it was in Liege that Jean-Marie Piemme’s 1953 was first directed by Marc Liebens (who had a part in the discovery of the writer Jean Louvet), and there that Lorent Wanson put on CQFD, a collective piece about social security, before going on to Mons to stage Brecht’s Saint Joan o f the Stockyards with a cast of workers and unemployed from the former industriual regions of Wallonia. His production of Dario Fo’s Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay was also toured in the regions before its opening in Brussels. Another Liege company, Groupov, gave the first performances there of Rwanda 1994, a work in progress about the genocide in that country which was invited to Avignon in 1999. Born out of indignation at the West’s inertia and media lies about the genocide of the Tutsis, the play both denounces those responsible and pays homage to those whose deaths they tried to cover up. It uses a wide variety of forms - written text, documentary theatre, video images, music —to look at questions of reality and truth. The World of Theatre

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BELGIUM Records of Success Among the most prolific, or at least the most performed writers of Francophone Belgium in these three seasons, Philippe Blasband and Paul Emond deserve mention. Leaving aside the numerous revivals of Blasband’s plays, which tour regularly, and his two latest novels, he continues not only to tell stories on stage but also to question the structural codes of their narrative. His monologue L ’Invisible (Invisible Man), the journey of a foreigner, an immigrant, elevates a simple tale by its language, opening up new paths of mystery and emotion. Although Paul Emond is known for his many adaptations (The Bacchae, Don Quixote), his own plays have been presented in various theatres in Belgium and France. His characters are ‘little people’, unimportantpetits bourgeois, but he creates from them effects of burlesque and parody that take them far from domestic reality. Some of his flights, indeed, recall the magic realism of, say, Paul Willems. The success of L ’Enseigneur (The Tutor) by Jean-Pierre Dopagne, as performed by Alexandre Von Sivers, can be regarded as a social phenomenon: it has toured in France, Switzerland and Morocco, and been translated into Dutch. With Photo de jam ille (Family Portrait), he continues his reflections on the future for the young —education, oportunities taken and missed —this time from the point of view of a mother with a child at school. It is a form of fin de siecle tragedy that one finds again in Le vieil homme range (The N eat Old Man), produced in Dutch in Antwerp before being presented in French at the Spa festival. This summer festival, whose direction was taken on in 1999 by Armand Delcampe, Jacques De Decker and Cecile Van Snick, offers a broad view of the season’s successes, from the choreography of Frederic Flamand from Charleroi-Danses in Muybridge - man walking at ordinary speed to Conrad Detre% a text by the Belgian author William Cliff directed by Frederic Dussenne, taking in the cabaret-theatre of Laurence Bibot or Claude Semal on the way. Armand Delcampe, who is also director of the Jean Vilar theatre in Louvainla-Neuve in Wallooon Brabant, had a great popular hit with his production of Moliere’s Don Juan, played in the open air in a ruined abbey. The performance, a private initiative, had an extended run. Another private institution, the Theatre le Public, alternates classics (Goldoni, Moliere, Diderot) with modern work (Duras, Pinter, Cormann). As well as welcoming Jean-Marie Piemme (Toreadors, directed by Philippe Sireuil) or Philippe Blasband (Invisible Man mounted by Jose Besprosvany, Pitch by Blasband himself) it from time to time attracts lesser known young writers, such as Valerie Lemaitre with Container Kats. Theatre le Public’s policy calls into question the role of the subsidised sector: here is a theatre, which by definition should be aiming to fill its houses, taking the risk of putting on young unknowns. It is worth considering here the format taken by texts and productions aimed for this kind of audience. The director Frederic Dussenne has been prominent in these three seasons in promoting the contemporary drama to the public. As well as texts by William Cliff, he has presented Lorca, Koltes, Paul Willems and Michel Azama. In 1999 he put on an adaptation of Henri Bauchau’s Oedipe surla route (Oedipus on the Road), by Michele Fabien, who died in September of that year. Fabien, originally a dramaturge with Marc Liebens’ Ensemble Theatre Mobile when it started in 1974, soon began to write her own plays. Looking for a contemporary relevance in myth and history, she sought in her work to give voice to women, so often neglected in both. As in Jocasta, her first play to be staged (by Liebens), in which the woman takes her place in the world by expressing herself in speech, most of Fabien’s plays deal with female identity, in love (Dejanire), in art (A tget et Berenice) and in history (Claire Lacombe, Charlotte). At the Varia theatre, while Michel Delval 26

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Mossoux Bonte, The Last H allucinations o f Lucas Cranach

(photo: Patrick Bonte)

presented American authors such as David Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross), Michel Dezoteux continued his work with Shakespeare but also mounted Oktober and Leather Heads by Georg Kaiser and, most notably, ‘discovered’ in French the in-yer-face plays of the Austrian Werner Schwab, presenting several of them at almost the same time. At the Varia, too, Armel Roussel put on Howard Barker’s The Europeans in the Kunstenfestival des Arts. The magazine Alternatives Theatrales devoted an issue to each author. The newly rebuilt Thatre de Poche, as well as giving pride of place to German and English writers in a repertoire which included Tu ne violeraspas (Thou Shalt N ot Kill) by Edna Mazya and Disco Pigs by Ireland’s Enda Walsh, allowed the Belgian public to discover the Lebanese writer-director from Quebec, Wadji Mouawad, with his exploration of his generation in Uttoral.

Postscript A journey through three seasons like this tends to keep to the high road, leaving aside other valuable routes taken by Belgian theatre. Choreography, for instance, is playing an ever more important role in Belgium and abroad with work from Nicole Mossoux/ Patrick Bonte and Frederic Flamand as well as Thierry Smits, Nadine Ganase, Pierre Droulers and Michel Noiret. The Bellone-Brigittines Festival bears witness to work in other directions. And theatre for young people, which now has structures of its own for promotion and distribution, is a valuable source of new writing, from writers such as Daniel Simon, Eric Durnez or Luc Dumont. Finally, although we have lost a number of circus troupes, street theatre seems to be gaining more and more of a hold —evidence, perhaps, of an irrepressible need for theatre outside its traditional home?

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BENIN Towards a Meeting of Worlds PASCAL WANOU That Benin was considered, in the not so distant past, as Africa’s ‘Latin Quarter’, is true and needs no explanation —intellectuals and politicians from both Africa and the West know it well. Benin is equally known for its national ‘Vodoun’. But Benin is less known for the diversity of its cultural and artistic expression, particularly in the domain of theatre. Although the birth of the Benin International Theatre Festival, FITHEB, has since 1991 permitted the beginning of a discovery of our country’s theatre by our African neighbours, this opening on to the African cultural world has remained a limited one, in the sense that the festival takes place only every two years, and does not take Benin’s theatre beyond the country’s frontiers. While welcoming the theatre of other countries, we have not taken ours to them. Yet there has been no lack of theatre companies or theatrical talent. What was most lacking were the means to exploit them. Up until 1995-96 it was very difficult, if not impossible, for troupes from Benin to play in neighbouring Togo under their own resources. The few rare visits were more the result of state intervention. The economic problems created by the recession of the 80s reduced cultural expenditure to a minimum; it was, and unfortunately still is, the poor relation of the national budget. The States General for culture, organised in 1990 by the Government, after the national conference of active groups, produced some fine resolutions which have to this day remained virtual dead letters, in spite of the adoption of the Benin cultural charter in 1991. Cultural development, cultural exchanges remain pious hopes. In a word, the state has more or less surrendered, contenting itself with a few rare cultural and artistic events. In these conditions, how can the theatre of Benin, for all its highly appreciated qualities, go out to meet other worlds? How can it pass through the bottleneck? The actor is by nature a being who hates barriers; they only inspire and inflame the muse. Benin’s theatre and its practitioners are no exceptions to this universal rule. In the course of these three seasons, Benin’s actors have learned to take charge of their own affairs. A new generation of actors and directors has seen the light of day, full of determination and hope. They have chosen to launch themselves into the professional theatre, as the only means of bringing the theatre of Benin to a meeting with other worlds. The results of these three seasons speak for themselves. The movement has taken two routes, first with the international festivals organised in Benin, notably the festival ‘Racines’ (Roots). The oldest of the international gatherings, FITHEB, is a festival which brings together every two years a dozen or more African troupes with varied horizons, over a two week period, to distil ideas and experiences. Its principal objectives are to mark World Theatre Day (March 27) and to contribute to the development and dissemination of Benin theatre. The last festival took place in March 1997 and included brilliant contributions from three Benin troupes. Their quality and

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W assangari’s Atakoun, which has toured extensively

(photo: Nicole Leclercq)

professionalism were acclaimed by all. With this fourth edition, then, FITHEB had come of age. It has now been totally restructured, with an independent administration and new terms of operation on a clear legal basis. The new vision of FITHEB is to go forward from its African origins and open itself to the other continents. The fifth festival will take place in March 2000, with its new dynamic bringing it into contact with new worlds. As for the ‘Racines’ festival, this is a strictly private initiative, in contrast to FITHEB which is largely financed by the state. Created and directed since 1977 by a young cultural promoter, Igor Agueh, this festival takes place annually at Porto-Novo and is centred The World of Theatre

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BENIN around a Benin company, with several other companies coming from the continent of Africa. Its coverage is therefore not as great as that of FITHEB, but it ploughs a useful furrow. Its distinction is that it takes place in one town, whereas FITHEB circulates in five different ones. ‘Racines’ had its third edition in March 1999. The second path taken by Benin theatre in these recent seasons to reach out to the world is the one taken by this new generation of bold and determined actors and directors, who have decided on professional or semi-professionalism. The professionals have chosen to devote themselves completely to theatre. The semi-professionals continue in other activities besides theatre. The members of this new generation are not yet many, but they have developed followers, and are more and more the object of attention. One of the key groups in this Benin theatre experience is Wassangari, which enshrines it in spoken stories set in a quite rigorous scenography, linking our traditional theatre with the classical Western model. The spectacle is a total one, compelling admiration. Those who buy shows need have no anxiety —Wassangari have toured successfully over the last three seasons in both Africa and Europe. Their list of achievements is impressive: Ouedo (Rainboiv) toured to African festivals in Burkina Faso (FITD and FITRO), the Ivory Coast (FAR and MASA), FITHEB (Benin), RETIC (Cameroun) and FESTHEF (Togo). Atakoun, now touring, has already visited FITH and FITMO (Burkina Faso), FITHAP (Togo), the Carthage Theatre Days (Tunisia), the Festival des Realites (Mali), RETIC (Cameroun), the festival of Francophonies in Limoges (France); it has been seen in Belgium, and at Benin’s own Racines. But Wassangari are not the only group seeking these more distant encounters with world theatre. Alougbine Dine’s Nomad Workshop is more and more to be found, with productions such as: The Tine, which was seen in FITHEB 1997, toured extensively in Africa and France, and received the UNESCO Prize at MASA 1999. Errance (Wandering), which has toured in both Africa and France. As well as these ‘dinosaurs’ of world encounter, there are other companies such as the green theatre of Urban Adjadi, which has toured in Africa, France and the Caribbean. Dance, for its part, has not stayed on the edge of this movement. The national ballet has made a long tour to Asia, specifically in China; the Super-Anges (Super-Angels) troupe has been to Europe and the US, the Towara Artistic and Cultural Ensemble has been to the Ivory Coast (for MASA) and to Europe. So, ‘Towards a Meeting of Worlds’ has been the new theme of these last three seasons in Benin. Such a meeting needs to be kept up over the years; Benin’s theatre will be the gainer from it. This is what we have to take as the objective of our work.

Pascal Wdnou, actor and playwright, is President o f the Benin Centre o f the International Theatre Institute.

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BULGARIA KAMELIA NIKOLOVA (1996-97) and VENETA DOYTCHEVA (1997-99) 1996-97 The Bulgarian theatre in 1997 resembled a person under stress, a resemblance of embarrassing preciseness. At first sight, its conduct during those twelve months seemed normal enough: in other words it produced premieres and revivals, organised press conferences, sold tickets and received audiences. Behind those numerous pretended ‘habitual gestures’, however, there existed a concealed hysteria, a desperate anxiety to work at any cost in the obvious absence of adequate motivation or objectives —an absence which made those gestures chaotic, hollow and somewhat out of place. The reason for the stressed appearance of our theatre is well known —the necessity to give up being an organism designed, directed, financed and controlled by one absolute centre and to start looking, independendy, for a place in a society which is itself undergoing a process of restructuring into a civil one. It can be said this is the stress of ‘attaining majority’ in the sense Kant perceives it, the stress of the transition from a limited but carefree existence under the aegis of Authority to thinking and acting with ‘one’s own reason’. The problem is that, in order for this transition to majority to be possible, it is necessary that the upbringing that went before should have foreseen it and prepared for it. The situation with the Bulgarian theatre is just the opposite: for several decades it has been prepared (through both encouragement and punishment, carrot and stick) for an eternally sheltered life, an institutionalised infantilism. Theatre’s forcible abandonment by Authority —the Authorities —was bound to have dramatic consequences. The best thing that can be expected, in this case, is for it to behave like a foundling child: to reproduce, in a disorderly, chaotic and dysfunctional manner, the gestures and movements it has been taught, the only ones it knows. Anything else would have been a display of genius, a miracle. However, both in life and in art, not least in the theatre, miracles seldom if ever happen. The exceptions do not contradict the foregoing dismal conclusion. On the contrary, they rather confirm it. Only a few personalities have remained stable enough to escape the stresses of today’s Bulgarian theatre. Thanks to their individual particularities, they have found ways to solve the problem of their majority. In other words, they have their own clear personal strategy for self-realisation through theatre. In general, these personalities can be divided into two groups —people who regard the theatre as their home, which they have to build and take care of —a place in which they accumulate energy and process it and from which they send messages outwards; and people who perceive the theatre as a journey, part of an alien world which they are just passing through, in which the things they create are nothing but stops on the way. However, it is logically absurd that a society, a civil society in particular, should depend on exceptions The World of Theatre

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BULGARIA and be founded on them. In this sense, nowadays our theatre can no longer be considered a healthy and normal one. There are only disparate representatives of it, who are trying (regardless of the general situation) to behave as such. The great majority of theatrical society as a whole, those who do not count among the exceptions, continues to refer to ‘the rules’, out of in-built conditioning. That is why the manner of the Authorities’ withdrawal from the sphere of theatre, which is taking place now, is of utmost importance. Theatre is, by definition, a combination of viewing and performance. It does not exist without the spectator. From the spectator’s viewpoint, the state of the theatre in the year 1997 confirms the suggestion made at the beginning of the text. In most cases, the audience has instinctively recognised and queued for tickets for performances by those theatre-makers who are behaving ‘normally’, and left empty seats in the theatres of those who are trying to conceal their stress behind a simulated ‘normality’. Some of the most representative examples for the first group in the 1997 are lliria at the Drama Theatre of Varna, Tanya-Tanya at the ‘fringe’ Sofia Little City Theatre Behind the Canal, the one-man show The Lady with the Dog; The King is Dying at Bourgas Drama Theatre, Trying to F/y at the Theatre of the Bulgarian Army; Alpine Lights at the National Palace of Culture, and The Tempest at the National Theatre. Iliria is a production created by Galin Stoev after Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the Sonnets. Love as a means of communication, of winning battles and inflicting blows, is the issue the director is most interested in, an issue he finds and extracts from the texts of the English playwright. He turns the performance into a hazardous walk on the tightrope that divides the grotesque from gravity, loud rejoicing from suffering, affection from loneliness —by the end of which all the players have fallen off. 27-year-old Olya Mukhine’s play Tanya-Tanya, now known throughout Europe, as well as its production by director Yavor Gardev, hauntingly remind us of Chekhov. But at the close of the 20th century both text and stage performance are hopelessly tired of representing the banal sufferings of ‘a man going nowhere’. Author, director and designer (Nikola Toromanov) are interested more in their methodical, mechanised repetition in time. The performance is an ingenious visual demonstration of the play’s mechanics, with its power added through the talented co-operation of the actors. With his production of The Lady with the Dog, after Chekhov, the actor and director Marius Kurkinski was celebrated as a theatrical wonder. For an hour and a half a succession of Chekhov characters pass through the amazing body, soul and mind of the actor, with their real life equivalents reflected in music and movement, which in one way or another remind us of them. Kurkinsky barely manages to contain them: they struggle amongst themselves, they argue, fight and strive for a place of their own and for attention. He introduced to our theatre a genre it had not known before —the one-man show. The Lady with the Dog is its most representative example. Director Borislav Chacrinov’s The King Dies (Le roi se meurt) is the first production of Ionesco’s play in Bulgaria. The text provides pretexts for many references to contemporary political issues, but neither the director, the designer Chaika Petrusheva, or the leading actor Yossif Sarchadjiev have been tempted by that, instead seizing the opportunity to touch upon the profound existential concepts of the renowned absurdist playwright. In their interpretation the King is the real ‘king’ of absurd drama —someone who desperately strives for power and possession to avoid death. It is not the individual crimes caused by lust for power that are the central topic for Ionesco or the artists, but the tragedy of the person himself who is condemned to live through that lust. Trying to Fly is one of the most significant texts in contemporary Bulgarian drama. In 32

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BULGARIA the genre of the theatrical fable, Yordan Radichkov discusses the eternal issue of the contradiction between man’s efforts to be elevated above the earthly, and the petty everyday conflicts and ridiculous incidents one often tends to be involved in. In his staging, director Krikor Azaryan places special emphasis on the gravity of the problem in its Bulgarian context, at the same time suggesting a solution. The topic is discussed through the means of the infectious grotesque theatre, ‘opposed’ to the lyrical episodes —a means of expression that the company of the Theatre of the Bulgarian Army perfectly masters. It is not by chance that director Vazkresia Viharova decided to produce PeterTurrini’s Alpine Lights for the first time in Bulgaria. To the belief, banal for the end of the twentieth century, that others fail to see us because our own personality is no more than a copy of a published biography, already overused by the media to the point of staleness, the text offers concise, direct expression. For years now this director has sustained her interest in exactly this transition from meaning to sign, to a material form which mainly affects the senses. Her production relies on the bodies of the actors (graduates of the Theatre Department at the New Bulgarian University) and the ‘body’ of the space (Zarko Uzunov). The result is a performance unusual to our practice, without which our season would have been poorer, to say the least. The Tempest by Shakespeare at the National Theatre was the season’s box-office block-buster, in the typical spectacular style of the director, Alexander Morfov: in the ‘magical’ atmosphere created by Svetoslav Kokalov and Petya Stoikova, classical texts are ironically inverted, naive interludes of clowning intervene and sudden moments of lyricism break the pattern. The audience’s pleasure was shared by the specialists, who considered The Tempests successful continuation of the directors’ Shakespearean series.

1997-99 For reasons not concerned with this article, it has been a professional necessity for me to make the acquaintance of a major part of Bulgarian theatre production since the start of the 1997-98 season. On top of my normal theatregoing I have found myself having to see a lot of theatre that I would not normally choose for myself. This element of compulsion quickly showed its advantages: because of it, one notices things which might not be so obvious in different conditions. It gave me an opportunity to put the big popular successes into context alongside the critics’ favourites and other, less representative productions. And it gave me chance to analyse the whole picture in terms of a combination of elements which, it would seem, have a validity for the whole of Bulgarian theatre, more important than isolated traits which apply only to certain genres. The 1997-98 season began with difficulty and drama, as the theatres tried to live with the attempts at institutional change that were beginning. The mechanisms of subsidy which guarantee material security are a basic condition for the smooth functioning of the theatre system and enable it to produce aesthetic ‘product’. The tension arising from an attitude which would see any change as dramatic, even potentially fatal, is not the only presure bearing down on those concerned. Without their personal ‘capital’ of spiritual equilibrium they cannot hope to produce their labour. The difference between (on the one hand) a sensitive artist, brimming with personal and social commitment, and (on the other) an interpreter who is damaged as a human being, is like the distance between a prophet and his disciple. In theatre, individuality is the creative force, and the individual spirit its driving power. The concern of the individual, albeit an unstated one, should be to define the self as the real object of any change in the theatre system. In most cases, theatre people found The World of Theatre

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BULGARIA themselves the object of abuse: the outside wodd accused them of unwillingness to accept the new reality, of timidity and suspicion. They met with no understanding in return of the price they were being asked to pay. And since it is quite obvious that they were ready to surrender themselves —and their artistic capability —completely, it would really be more logical to ask what the rest of the artistic world was ready to give up for them. It is not abnormal for creative people to be ‘privileged’: it is in acknowledgement of this that society agrees to finance an activity which has no practical function, interest or purpose. Such a social consensus is at heart a consensus about our shared values. There remains an impression that the elevated status of the artist is a hangover from the extravagant wooing of painters in the past. In our time, we are beginning to recognise art as an essential factor in the maintenance of a healthy society, and we are beginning to restructure the theatre network to play a major part in this. For want of any real commitment in this direction to compare with that in other social domains (social security, reconstruction, psychological help), the artistic minority feel betrayed. Individualism, the diversity of human sensibilities, our inability to predict, fragility, the right to fail, the need to take creative risks —all these apparent caprices are in reality factors which have to be protected financially or psychologically before the system can function. At present, the theatre system is protected only to the minimum point of efficiency, and cannot rely on the generous parameters which previously fed its creative energy. Starting from a state of pressure, which quickly turned into an addiction to stress, the 1997-98 season presented a strange theatrical picture by its end. The most characteristic element of the season has been its representation, by theatrical means, of a society with no values, or rather a society which is becoming aware of its lack of values. The theatrical realities offered to the public are straying into a problem area which for them remains obscure. Basically, what argument can it put forward to persuade the audience that the life they share has more importance than merely getting through the day? The assumption that our theatre is concerned with offering an important existential question to society may be proved by a look at the season’s programme; a huge number of plays claiming to be serious, classical, or contemporary —and it must be admitted that this is indeed their nature. Directors have been putting out a glittering array of titles and innovative themes, turning to great texts. They have been attracted by writers and works that seek to explain this complex social conditions in which mass movements predominate; works that touch on the phenomenon of mass emotion, texts which analyse shared delusions or beliefs, plays which try to open our eyes and help us see the truths which are hidden in the darkness of the void, and bring them into visible relief. Those which have been aesthetically successful are very varied in their nature: it would be possible to develop from them a scale of degrees of artistic importance in the field of study of mass obsession. A successful production at the National Theatre, Gorky’s The Toiver Depths directed by Alexander Morfov, puts a contemporary slant on its social message. The play makes a direct and radical comment. As well as the social rejects, the detritus of society, we see the emptiness of the society that is built above the depths. Degradation is total, power only illusory, hope another word for stupidity. All that is left is the couldn’t-care-less spirit of the play which allows us to find hope in the possibility that artistic expression is just as important as ethical expression. The Master and Margarita brings together the artistic forces of the Bulgarian Army Theatre and the private theatre La Strada, interweaving Bulgakov’s complex narrative with images from virtual reality, cartoons, and documentary footage. Its director Stefan Moskov has always had an especially caustic awareness of mass reactions and their 34

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BULGARIA manipulation. For him, ‘Modern Times’ in Russia are the terrible picture which one sees in the mirror where a society without real values parades itself. Disintegration is irrevocable as prices go through the roof and radiation levels go off the scale. The power of words is seen as a treacherous weapon by several plays using radically different language. It is the word which can intoxicate and which can kill; the word which gives birth to a desert in place of life; the word which must be recognised as a living force which can be at the same a means and an end. A number of directors have shown a similar attitude towards manipulation; for Yabor Gardev in The Dream o f Odysseus at the Sfumato Workshop Theatre, the grandiose absurdity of the greatest manipulator of them all, Odysseus, stops in their tracks anyone who dares to wrap themselves in the cloak of verbal communication; for Krassimir Spassov vsxMuch Ado About N othingat the Bulgarian Army Theatre, great feelings disappear under a welter of witty speech; for Leon Daniel in Pygmalion at the National Theatre, any human experience begins as a game of words, and ideologies are more frightening than physical or spiritual imperfection; for Krikor Azarian in Henry II at the Bulgarian Army Theatre, man’s destiny is lies and painting is mere gilded decoration. It covers up deception rather than revealing the complexities of elements that are naturally noble — man dreams of fantastic constructions of words, words, words. While for Borislav Tchakrinov, in Becket at the Varna State Theatre, the notions of duty, honour and faith are nothing more than jugglings with scraps of ideology, screens for driving ambition. The common factor of these productions, each so different in style, is its view of the mass mindset in all its ossification, inertia and terminal sclerosis. The capacity of theatre to focus attention on the effect of mass emotions, to attack them from a different angle with new weapons of aesthetics and thought, shows it has the potential to overcome its own lethargy. Meanwhile the question of individualism remains in the background, perhaps because of an uncertainty about whether it really exists as an absolute value or perhaps because it is so difficult to express in its essence. Several directors and actors have made attempts to affirm that each of us has a proper claim to be of ultimate value and the true object of the social mechanism. The best demonstrations of this proposition do not come from impressive visual juxtapositions of the individual and his universe but from the use of more profound means. To list some recent performances in which it has found expression Stoyan Stoev (Father Nono in Odysseus on the Road to Ithaca, directed by Leon Daniel at the BAT) Atanas Atanassov (Fedya Protassov in The Living Dead, directed by Bina Haralampieva at the Little Theatre Behind the Canal) Maria Kavardjikova and Vesselin Rankov (Rita and Alfred Aimers in Little FLyolf directed by Plamen Markov at Theatre 199) Valentin Ganev and Reni Vrangova (Prof. Higgins and Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, directed by Leon Daniel at the NT) Yossif Sartchadjiev (The Captain in The Father, directed by Borislav Tchakrinov at the Bourgas State Theatre) Stoyan Mindov (Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Nikolai Lambrev at the Plovdiv State Theatre) Stoyan Aleksiev (the King in Becket, directed by Borislav Tchakrinov, Varna State Theatre) Although they are not the unchallenged favourites of the public and the critics, these productions represent the other part of current theatre’s engagement with society. It The World of Theatre

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BULGARIA has a human face, giving value to emotional vulnerability as a real human force; it turns human contact into a natural and inevitable pursuit; it promotes solidarity' in the name of responsibility and openness. Bulgarian writers, too, must take their share of responsibility as we complete this picture of emptiness. A single new text drew the attention of many managers and directors in their search for public favour. Hristo Boytchev’s The Colonel Bird has all the traits to make it appear an analysis which is not only of our time but also of our place. Unfortunately, as a result of the weakness of its dramatic form, the play loses the energy and purity of intent that it lays claim to at in its opening scenes. The same text was given productions at opposite ends of the artistic spectrum, from inappropriately nationalist propaganda wrapped in an outmoded and unattractive style (Simeon Dimitrov’s staging at the Pernik State Theatre) to a production of great artistic elegance (from Plamen Panev at the Pleven State Theatre). A title that turned out to have the makings of a repertory standard was Sand Pusgle by Yana Dobreva: an intelligent attempt to show the feelings of today’s woman on stage, those of the author as much as those of her characters, although even those productions which tackled it most successfully, such as that of Elefteri Elefterov at the Pleven State Theatre, had difficulty in translating its obviously literary origins to the stage. Svetoslav Ovtcharov’s play Amore Desperado, which the author directed at the Sofia Municipal Theatre, is like a piece of old film that has been preserved and restored. The power of its writing offers great opportunities for good actors, which were well taken in this production. In the same combination of author-actor-director, Kamen Donev made a strong bid for attention at La Strada Theatre with his Pay Attention!-, a series of dramatic miniatures showing a lively social awareness, with a vivid and dramatic use of dialogue, which was able to play with unexpected ideas in situations and make gently ingenious use of the language of theatre. The differences in imagery of these new Bulgarian works do not obscure the underlying pattern that unites them, a strong desire to make a statement, to show commitment ( albeit in a tangential manner) by taking a position on the painfulness of life today. Myth and myth-centred ways of thinking, feeling and living give hope that in the face of all our hesitations in an unstable world, we can still find a stability, something unchanging and universal by an unblinking contemplation of the void. It seems very likely that there will be many future excursions into the territory of interpretation through myth. The fact that today’s theatre offers so many completely opposite paths that still converge on its strange, civilising platform is evidence of the speed with which Bulgarian theatre has set out on this path of which we yet know so little. It is right in the middle of this quest that ‘myth-making’ meets ‘text-making’, in plays such as Blind Tiresias directed by Ivan Dobtchev and The Dream o f Odysseus directed by Yavor Gardev at the Sfumato Workshop Theatre. The same theatre can accommodate non-theatrical texts of a sacred nature, like Marius Kurkinski’s interpretation of his The Gospel According to Matthew, and Boyko Bogdanov’s production of Slaveykovt^i at the Little Theatre Behind the Canal, while finding space for respectful readings of modern classics of myth-interpretation such as Zdravko Mitkov’s staging of Cocteau’s Ta Machine Infernale at Sofia Municipal Theatre The last refuge against the void is play, caprice, amusement: the most stylish and expressive entertainments in this mode came from Lilia Abadjieva: her version of Gogol’s Marriage had its official premiere during this season; her Hamlet at the Sliven State Theatre and equally her version of Goethe’s Sorrows o f Young Wertherat the LittleTheatre Behind the Canal had the audacity to take on the big names of world theatre, and give pleasure 36

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BULGARIA by drawing back their curtains and poking into unauthorised corners. ‘Unofficial’ theatre (be it in choice of venue, subject or manner of expression) is sdll mostly a distant ambition, a cherished possibility. It does exist, but uses up so much energy in its attempts to storm the heights that its creativity is drained by the simple struggle for the right to exist. In this strange field of unclassifiable activities which all the same have a personality of their own, mention should be made of Portraits, directed by Sani Saninski at Theatre 199, Brad Fraser’s Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature o f Love in Vladimir Petkov’s production at the Sliven State Theatre, Vineta, the Drowned Town produced by Stoyan Gueorguiev at Rousse State Theatre and I f You Don ’/ Know, Why A re You Asking? directed by Elena Panayotova at the Karpeia Theatre.

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BURKINA FASO Burkinabe Theatre at the Crosroads ETIENNE MINOUNGOU In the last few years the performing arts, both dance and drama, have enjoyed a new dynamism in Burkina Faso. The reasons for this springtime of the stage in this small sub-Saharan country can be traced to a few important developments: —The setting up of an infrastructure for training, production and distribution —The increased professionalism of all stage work, helped by the development of performance spaces and festivals —A growing public interest in the theatre In addition to the home-grown dynamic there is a mushrooming of shows born of co­ productions between local companies and artists from further North (both players and directors).

The Schools Most of the actors on stage now have come from the UNEDO stage school (Union des ensembles dramatiques de Ouagadougou) which was created in 1990 by the academic and playwright Jean-Pierre Guingane, with the backing of the Centre Culturel Francais of Ouagadougou and French co-operation. This school has seen six intakes of students pass through its doors and has trained 90 actors since its inception. From its third session it has been housed in the Espace Culturel Gambini, the home of Jean-Pierre Guingane’s Theatre de la Fraternite. Until then, actors learned their trade on the job, as part of a troupe and in the course of their work. Thanks to this school, there has been a marked improvement in standards of acting. Another establishment opened in September 1999, at the home of the Atelier Theatre Burkinabe (ATB) the other major troupe in the country. It is directed by Prosper Kampaore, another academic. This centre for the theatrical arts is geared principally towards the training of animateurs and cultural entrepreneurs for develop-ment projects. Its host, the ATB, specialises in the theatre of social intervention. Besides these two permanent structures which offer two-year courses, there are also numerous short courses on offer, put on by visiting teachers from abroad. In the last four years they have come from France (Catherine Daste), Switzerland (Otto Huber), Sweden (Martha Vestin) and Belgium (Jonathan Fox). Nowadays, thanks to these new opportunities and the new structures in place, the standard of acting has improved considerably. Some actors like Alain Hema, Odile Sankara, Ildevert Meda, Charles Ouattara. Eric Zongo, Alexis Guiengani and Etienne Minoungou, to name but a few, have become very well known.

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BURKINA FASO Cultural Spaces At about the same time, several private theatre spaces sprang into existence and started to function from 1996-1997. Their existence not only gave performance and rehearsal space but also created a meeting place for ideas and people and a place where people fresh out of drama school and fertile in ideas could experiment. Many companies found these spaces the answer to their problems, after struggling to confine themselves to the terraces and gardens of private homes. The ECG (Espace Culturel Gambidi) created by Jean-Pierre Guingane, opened its doors in 1966 and today occupies an almost unique place in the region. Over some 5000 square metres it encompasses an range of infrastructures and equipment capable of accommodating any level of production. It includes a 600 seat open-air theatre and an 80-bed accommodation unit, backed by an administration service well equipped to deal with the effective promotion and sale of cultural products. Its aim is to serve the creation, production, diffusion, training and animation programmes. In the same year, Prosper Kampaore also started his theatre which has now two auditoria, one covered and one open-air, with seating capacities of respectively 250 and 600. Two dormitories of 30 beds and an administrative service add to the scope of this theatre. The government, which has until recently left the promotion of national culture to the voluntary sector, inaugurated in January 2000 The Theatre National Koamba Lankoande, which can seat 700 and is fully equipped for professional productions. The presence of all these spaces has increased the independence and scope of theatremakers, who until now had to rely heavily on the Centre Culturel Francais, the only available space and one to which access could sometimes be difficult, given the priority given to French productions.

Festivals Two large international theatre festivals are organised every other year in Burkina Faso, in Ouagadougou.: The FITD (Festival International de Theatre pour le Developpement) and the FITMO (Festival International de Theatre et de Marionettes de Ouagadougou). Both celebrate their 7th year in 2000, the former in February and the latter in October. FITD, organised by the ATB is a festival of Forum Theatre productions which attracts hundreds of artists and dozens of troupes from the five continents. The second, also biennial, is an initiative of UNEDO, welcoming the richest and most original creations from SubSaharan Africa. Besides these two major events, we must note the arrival of two new ones. The Festival Talents de Femme, organised by the association of the same name, attracts women artists who are coming together to fight against the exclusion created by a traditional mentality that expects women to confine themselves to the home, considering women performance artists as prostitutes. The Festival of Yeleen’ba Storytelling, created by Hassane Kouyate in 1997 and organised every other year at Bobo-Dioulasso, the country’s second city, adds to the celebration of theatre in Burkina Faso. These festivals, through the meetings and exchanges that they entail, have helped to give a direction and improve the quality of work done in the last few years. They have enabled actors and directors to open their minds and gain insights into the artistic endeavours of people in other countries and continents.

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BURKINA FASO Theatre Competitions In 1997 Prosper Kompaore’s ATB initiated a drama competition within the schools and colleges of Ouagadougou. Dozens of schools took part and all benefited from the training and the awards offered. Even if those whose talent the competitions unearth do not follow up on it until later, the motivation of the pupils is creating a public that wants to visit the theatre as much as the cinema. For the professional troupes and companies, The Ministere de la Communication et de la Culture du Burkina, which has latterly become the Ministere de la Culture et des Arts, has initiated the ‘Grands Prix Nationaux du Theatre’ to reward, since 1997, the most original creations of the season. The competitive spirit engendered between the various companies encourages them to strive ever more strenuously to improve scenery, production, direction and acting. In 1997 the first prize went to \m trilogie de Boulaye by Moussa Sanou, directed by Moussa Sanou, produced by Traces Theatre de BoboDioulasso. In 1999 it was the turn of L ’o r du Diable by Moussa Konate, directed by Prosper Kompaore, played by the Atelier Theatre Burkinabe.The jury also awards prizes for best design, best production, best actress and best actor.

Bringing Professionalism to Stagecraft The elements described below can be considered the main reasons behind the dynamism of the companies in the last four years and the principal cause of the arrival on the scene of professional dancers and actors. In 1994 the Theatre de la Fraternite, in a co-production with NORAD (the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Co-operation) and the National Theatre of Oslo, put on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It was directed by Stein Winge, assisted by Jean-Pierre Guingane. This event was crucial in bringing about a change in the attitudes to scenery, acting and direction, and revealed a new concept of acting space and style. After this experience a wind of change was felt in the 1996-1997 season. In 1996, in the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Jean-Pierre Guingane and performed by the Theatre de la Fraternite, the work on the psychology of characters in a single family reached a standard rarely achieved before. The character of Walter, played by Mathieu Kabore, achieved such an intensity and packed such an emotional punch that it quite won over the audience. Unfortunately the play was only put on four times, in March and April 1996. This was a significant start. Gradually a creative style of production began to replace the mere staging of a text, with a few indications of movement for the actors, which had been the predominant style hitherto. A more serious approach to acting and direction started and became more evident in subsequent seasons. In 1997 the Compagnie Theatre Eclair made a remarkable job of acting in a very sober space at the CCF when they put on Chekhov’s The Proposal The direction, by Ildevert Meda, relied on the particular work he undertook with the cast, made easier by the fact that it was a small one. The same approach characterised Le baobab merveilleuxby Jean-Pierre Guingane and the Theatre de la Fraternite. Les travaux d ’A riane, an adaptation of Caya Makele’s short story by Gerard Navas, presented by the Compagnie Fadjirilolo, relied almost entirely on one character: a woman. For the first time, a Burkina actress, Anne-Marie Bere, took risks on stage with a non­ theatrical text and a non-linear story woven around memories and dreams. The play was huge success and after FITMO 98, received invitations to numerous foreign theatre festivals, including Limoges, Brussels and Carthage. 40

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BURKINA FASO During the 98-99 season, there was a noted preference for plays with a restricted cast, often no more than one or two. Fidelite cravachee was likewise an adaptation for the stage of a non-theatre text played by a single actor. It was based on a story by Mali writer Habib Dembele, directed by Etienne Minoungou and played by Etienne Guiengani. These two artists from the Theatre de la Fraternite plan to make a working partnership. Starting from improvisations they have created Dur dur d ’etre comedien (It’s Hard to Be an Actor) followed by Lesprisoniers, one of the most significant plays of the season. To date this tragi-comedy has played at least thirty times and is set to tour throughout Europe in May, June and September 2000. Two shows with large casts were presented during the 98-99 season. Theatre de la Fraternite’s The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt toured in Switzerland (Geneva, Bellinzona, Zurich). U or du diable by Moussa Konate was played by the ATB. The theme of both plays, the power of money, captured the interest of the public. Ta derive de Talamabere, a play written and staged by Moussa Sanou, touched on the fairly conventional theme of the conflict between tradition and modernity. The company successfully resolved the problem by playing on the strength of the spoken word and the caricatures inspired by real life and marked by the linguistic and sociological traits of the West of the country. This treatment gave the characters a degree of depth and believability, with burlesque and humour rubbing shoulders together. One must add to this effervescence of creation the emergence, in the capital, of new companies at least seven new dance or theatre companies. Many of the artists concerned consider themselves professionals, since they rely entirely on the work for their livelihood, something which has hitherto been extremely rare. Until recently, apart from short lived experiments by the Theatre de la Fraternite, only the Compagnie Feeren of Amadou Bourou paid a regular monthly salary to their actors. Lastly, we must mention the two large co-productions of the last two seasons 19981999 and 1999-2000 . The first, Noces , an adaptation of A Wedding Among the PetitBourgeois, by Bertolt Brecht and L ’Os de M or Tam, a tale written by Birago Diop, was based on a very noble intention. The two directors, Jean-Marie Lehec and Hassane Kouyate, wanted to share two experiences, two styles and two ways of approaching a text and of staging it. Unfortunately the production was unconvincing and a planned tour of Niger and Mali was abandoned. The second co-production, Prometheus Bound, by Aeschylus, directed by Matthias Langhoff from the Theatre National de Bretagne and Irene Tassembedo from the Ballet National du Burkina, opened in January 2000 and charmed the public. For the first time in Burkina, about sixty musicians, dancers and actors from both Burkina and France played side by side, with ambitious sets and direction. Played in French and in Moore (the national tongue) the play, based on the theme of political resistance and well served by Matthias Langhoff’s production, was certainly of interest to a public that identifies with Prometheus for local political reasons. But the show was a success above all because it was so spectacular. It is impossible to discuss the theatre in Burkina Faso without talking about the place that is played by the Theatre of Social Intervention. Without going into too much detail, it can be said that it has reached every village and every urban community. It has become in the last few years an effective means of mobilisation for development. Most companies make their living out of contracts for this type of theatre —Erneto Boal’s theatre of debate or forum theatre. To quote an example, the Theatre de La Fraternite has put on successively the following plays: -1996 Je nepaiepas (I Won’t Pay) (the problem of taxes) The World of Theatre

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BURKINA FASO -1998 Tu ne tueraspoint (Thou Shalt Not Kill) (the problem of lynching thieves.) -1999 Le bonheur dans I’urne (Luck in the Box) (the technicalities of voting) The performances attract people in their hundreds if not in their thousands. It is no doubt at this level that the theatre appeals to its public, much more so than at the level of the “theatre of authors” which is still seen as elitist. The influence on dance and the effect on training of the various creations from the Compagnie Salia ni Seydou must be stressed at the outset. Before the setting up of this company by Salia Sanou (a former pupil of the Ecole de Theatre de l’Unedo and dancer in the Bonogo troupe under the direction of Jean Ouedraogo) and Seydou Boro (himself a former actor with the Compagnie Fereen of Amadou Boudou), African choreography in Burkina Faso was still in its infancy. The success of the company with the creation of Le sieclefou (1995-1996), Figninto oeil troue (1997-1998) and Taagata, le voyageur (1999-2000) brought the emergence of other companies, notably Blandine Yameogo’s ‘Dafra kan’, and Ousmane Bodolo’s ‘Kongo ba\ The three creations of the Compagnie Salia ni Seydou are the most memorable dance events of the 1996 2000 period. They use the body for a deep exploration of Man, his destiny, his relationships with other people and with life and death. Figninto come from the Bambara word for blind. It looks at the value of friendship when we can’t give it enough time for communication or attention. And when death comes, before we have made time to listen to one another, the void is here: tenacious and cold, right before our hollowed eyes, to remind us that the time for love is not quantifiable. The show was extremely successful in Europe and in Africa and was awarded prestigious prizes (Prix decouvertes RFI, 2nd prize in the New African Choreography Meeting in Luanda, Angola 1998.) Even though the inspiration for the artistic direction of the dance is rooted in local tradition of the land, their choice of creative, contemporary and African themes makes a strong statement. To sum up, it seems that the theatre of Burkina Faso is at a crossroads, with the rise of a new generation of creators. In the next few seasons, we can expect a greater level of professionalism and a globalisation of themes, even if the creators continue to be deeply rooted in the aesthetics of their homeland.

Etienne M inoungou is an actor and director in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso

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CANADA Quebec Local Voices, Global Appeal GILLES MARSOLAIS Despite the fact that the biggest hits from the past are being revived in increasing numbers, Quebec theatre continues to offer a varied, creative and dynamic program. Quebec plays forge bonds between the two linguistic separatisms (French and English), and also build bridges with the new multicultural communities. Quebec theatre is occasionally controversial, yet always draws large crowds and much media attention across the province. In fact, local plays are now being acclaimed in international settings. Quebec theatre attracts roughly 3 million spectators annually, out of a population of over 7 million. The numbers are impressive even though no one has officially established how many people are true aficionados. It is estimated that they range anywhere from 15,000 to 50,000. There are some 200 professional companies active in the province, and over 300 shows are open to the public each year.

Jean-Pierre Ronfard in Les Mots - Nouveau Theatre Experimental

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CANADA In fact, Quebec theatre has never had so much to offer as it does now. New graduates from professional schools, refusing to wait for the job that may never come, are founding their own companies or becoming creators and producers in their own right. They call themselves Theatre Audubon, Theatre Kafala, the Absolutheatre— names that speak volumes about their attitude towards difficult times. Our theatre is increasing its worldwide outreach thanks to tours, international events and stagings of Quebec works in foreign countries. Ambassadors for the genre include Normand Chaurette, Robert Lepage, Denis Marleau, Les Deux Mondes and Le Theatre Sans Fil. The repertoire over the last three years has included more local plays than foreign works, but this is somewhat misleading: the bulk of Quebec plays are performed in youth, experimental and puppet theatres, while foreign plays dominate the programming for the general public. One exception to this practice was the Compagnie Jean Duceppe’s 1997-98 repertoire, which was devoted exclusively to local writers. This state of affairs, however, has not dampened the spirits of Quebec writers: in 1997, the Centre des auteurs dramatiques (CEAD) boasted a membership of 187 writers— twice as many as four years earlier. The search for quality at each stage of production is the concern of all Quebec artists, the majority of whom are products of professional theatre schools. The fact that the Association des producteurs de theatre prive has appealed to the Academie quebecoise du theatre to replace the ‘summer theatre’ category with a category called ‘private theatre’ at the annual Masques ceremony (the equivalent of France’s Moliere awards) is a sign of the times. The APTP’s request shows their intention to shatter the image of summer theatre as cheap entertainment. Their contention is that private theatre—whether performed in summer stock or as part of a regular season—is as concerned with quality as subsidized theatre is. ‘Private theatre comes out of the dark’ was the theme of a symposium that aimed to distance the genre from pubs or barns. In fact, private theatre has spawned high-calibre entertainment like Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s Le Ubertin, Feydeau’s M onsieur Chasse and Jean-Pierre Ronfard’s La Mandragore. The larger subsidized companies have maintained their regular pace—between 4 and 7 shows a year— as well as their public’s loyalty. But it is the directors, rather than the companies themselves, that leave their mark on the shows; this is inevitable since the companies are not permanent troupes, and artists shift from one theatre to another. Claude Poissant had his work cut out for him when he staged Victor Hugo’s Lucr'ece Borgia for student audiences at Theatre Denise-Pelletier. Brigitte Haentjens, with her superb Combat de negre et de chien by Koltes, Dominic Champagne, with his spectacular DonQuichotte, and Lorraine Pintal, with an audacious rereading of Les oranges sont vertes by automatist poet Claude Gauvreau, distinguished themselves at the Theatre du Nouveau Monde. Wajdi Mouawad directed two diametrically opposed pieces at Theatre de Quat’Sous —Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, which helped the student audience appreciate the depth of the tragic genre, and Harry Gibson’s adaptation of Trainspotting, an unsettling look at the universe of young drug addicts. Alice Ronfard scored with her staging of Gombrowicz’s Ivona, Princess o f Burgundy at Quebec City’s Trident theatre; Rene-Daniel Dubois gave a stunning perspective of Michel Garneau’s Les Guerriers, at Espace Go; and Denis Marleau confirmed his talent in adaptation and directing with his impressive Urfaust, based on Goethe and Pessoa, at Theatre Ubu. Of the other outstanding productions, Serge Denoncourt’s in particular deserve to be singled out. Denoncourt, who directs three or four productions a year, was successful with all of them despite their varied themes. His productions of pieces by Michel Marc 44

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From Wajdi M ouawad’s adaptation (with Dominic Champagne) of Don Quixote - Theatre du Nouveau Monde (photo: Roland Lorente)

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CANADA Bouchard, Pan Bouyoucas, Eduardo de Filippo, Chekhov, Gorki, Steven Berkoff, Corneille and Mozart are faithful to the original, yet original in their own right. A brilliant director, he staged a compelling performance of Chekhovian figures in Je suis une mouette (non, ce n ’estpas pa) at the Theatre du Quat’Sous, and a magnificent end-of-millennium piece, Gorki’s Summetfolk, a TNM/Trident co-production. As stage direction gradually becomes the focus of theatre, it is understandable that many authors of the new generation, like Dominic Champagne, Jean-Frederic Messier, Michel Monty, Michel Nadeau, Alexis Martin, Wajdi Mouawad, Marie-Christine Le-Huu, Olivier Choiniere, Patrice Dubois and Liik Fleury are also their own directors, and sometimes even choreographers and composers. They want to be in charge of every aspect of the show. And while some of these authors continue to see the text as the focus of the play, others seek to present shock value imagery; a practice the critic Philip Wickham calls ‘fragmentation playwriting’ Generally these artists use violent or original imagery worthy even of Antonin Artaud’s praise. Some plays, like Les Quatre Morts de Marie and La Peau d ’L lisa by Carole Frechette, and Une tache sur la lune, by Marie-Line Laplante, are counterpoints to the predominandy male playwriting tradition. Some of these authors also write for youth theatre, an important component of Quebec theatre. Many artists, in fact, devote their entire lives to it. Two youth companies, Le Carrousel, which lately presented L ’Ogrelet by co-director Suzanne Lebeau, and Le Theatre de l’Oeil have recently celebrated a quarter-century in the business. Youth theatre aims to be entertaining yet does not shy away from serious themes like the death of a mother (Normand Chaurette’s Petit Navire) or AIDS (Louis-Dominique Lavigne’s Tu peux toujours danser). A trailblazer in the unexplored universe of teen theatre, Lavigne recently updated his 1982 classic, Oil est-ce qu’elle est m agang! In addition, Jasmine Dube has crafted two new plays, L 'Arche de Noemie, and Le Bain. Both pieces confirm her status as a leader in the genre. After years of effort, La Maison Theatre, a coalition of over 20 youth companies, has given youth audiences a priceless gift— a magnificent hall with a 400-seat capacity. The opening of the hall has helped bolster youth and family attendance at youth productions. With some 30 companies dedicated exclusively to puppetry, Quebec is fertile ground for the craft. Over the years puppeteers have managed to convince the public that puppets can appeal to adults as well as children. The Theatre de l’Oeil has seen its patience rewarded with three Masques for Le Porteur, which captivated audiences of all ages. La Semaine mondiale de la Marionnette, held in Jonquiere every second year, is the only international theatre event which takes place outside of a large urban area. Jean Asselin and members of the Omnibus company are working on a production that showcases their mime training. To mark the 100th birthday of French master mime Etienne Decroux, Omnibus organized a major event entitled ‘Les voies du mime,’ featuring shows and discussion groups. On another front, the line between dance and theatre is becoming increasingly blurred —to the benefit of both arts —as demonstrated in many pieces like those by Paula de Vasconcelos and Dulcinee Langfelder. Still plumbing the depths of his creative energy, the unstoppable Jean-Pierre Ronfard continues to spearhead the Nouveau Theatre Experimental. L’Espace Libre was transformed into a classroom for Les mots, a play in which actors and spectators sit at their desks like well-behaved pupils. As though by magic, the play stops using words to express thoughts, and suddenly the words become the focus themselves. Sheer delight! Still in the area of experimental theatre, notable contributions were made by the Momentum company. They created 12 Messes pou r le debut de la fin des temps, a series of 46

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Le Vampire et la Nymphomane - Chants Libres

(photo: Yves Dube)

plays designed for non-theatrical venues, for example, a bus that takes passengers on a so-called authentic guided tour of Montreal’s rich and poor areas. The Grand Theatre Emotif du Quebec presented three performances of a new show each month during the year just to break the rules and challenge the traditions of the theatre. In Nudite, where actors played in the nude, the audience had to be nude too. The third and final performance never took place because of police intervention. Strange, isn’t it ... nudity on stage hardly causes a ripple but it’s still taboo in the audience. The past three years have seen scores of projects aimed at bringing the two main communities, English and French, together, and integrating Quebec’s growing cultural communities. During the same season the Theatre de Quat’Sous staged three works by Canadian George F. Walker, while the Centaur Theatre staged English versions of Michel Marc Bouchard’s Les Muses Orphelines and Michel Tremblay’s Encore une fois, si vous le p e r m e t t e The Black Theatre Workshop will soon be marking thirty years of work in the Black community. The multiethnic Teesri Duniya Theatre is headed by Director Rahul Varma, whose Counter Offence was produced in French at La Licorne under the tide L ’A ffaire Farhadi. Montreal’s Yiddish theatre received attention from l’Academie quebecoise du theatre through a celebration marking Dora Wasserman’s 40-year involvement with the genre. Each season the Saidye Bronfman Centre presents Yiddish theatre classics like The Dyhhuk. The Theatre d’Aujourd’hui presented Nocturne, by Greek Quebecer Pan Bouyoucas. For his part, Wajdi Mouawad likes to incorporate childhood memories of Lebanon in many of his creations. While operas are basically concerts with costumes and no true dramatic value, some exceptional productions suggest that the advent of genuine musical theatre is imminent. For instance, this past season the Opera de Montreal brought us Janacek’s Jenufa, directed by Bernard Uzan, and Chants Libres performed Serge Provost’s Le Vampire et la Nymphomane, using Claude Gauvreau’s ‘exploreen’ language. Lorraine Pintal experdy guided The World of Theatre

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CANADA the exuberant cast of singer/actors. The Quebec theatre world was greatly affected when Robert Gravel died suddenly at the age of 51, shortly before the opening of the 1996-97 season. Co-founder of the Nouveau Theatre Experimental and the Ligue Nationale d’Improvisation—where he was a dominant figure—actor, dramatist, director and ironic inventor of ‘non-acting,’ Gravel was a jovial presence with wide-ranging influence. Several events were held this past season to mark his passing, including Theatre du Nouveau Monde’s recreation of his Durocher le milliardaire, which faithfully reprises Gravel’s stage direction from a few years ago. Though gone, Gravel is still a formidable influence. Actor Raymond Cloutier set the theatre world on its ear with a statement that the major companies were churning out too many shows. He said they were being straitjacketed by subscription programming instead of working to increase their audiences. Many fellow actors agreed. There’s a derogatory saying in Quebec that goes, ‘When you play 20 nights it’s a flop, but when you play 22, it’s a hit.’ That is not far from the truth. Some shows are discontinued at their peak, bumped by the next play on the program. Since the actors spend more time rehearsing than actually performing, they can barely reach the pinnacle of their craft in 20 performances or less. Besides, they can’t earn a living from theatre. Playing three major roles in one season barely pays enough to rise above the poverty line Owing to the success of several plays from last year, the 1999-2000 season will feature an unusually high number of repeat performances, bringing these plays to a wider audience. This does not mean, however, that the rigid structure of the theatre season, and the problems this poses in terms of mining the success of a play, are done away with. Will companies and the groups that subsidize them agree to fewer productions in order to reach a larger audience and provide artists with better working conditions? Stay tuned for the answer in the years to come. Quebec’s new minister of Culture and Communications, Agnes Maltais, distinguished herself as a theatre manager prior to making the transition into politics. She is therefore well aware of the aspirations and problems of the theatre world. Let’s hope that Quebec gives her the opportunity to help a cause she deeply cares for.

Gilles Marsolais is an actor, director and drama professor. He directed M ontreal’s Conservatoire d ’a rt dramatiquefrom 1979 to 1981 and now teaches acting, playwriting and directing there.

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China is a country of many nationalities and a long history. At a time of increasing cultural exchange in the world, Chinese Traditional Operas as well as the 90-year-old spoken theatre, have a growing influence.

Theatre in 1996 The productions of spoken drama and the various traditional operas in this year showed a realistic trend. Many of the performances were based on true stories of the exemplary heroes who built socialism. For example, several performances in the form of traditional operas (such as Snoiv Spirit o f the Plateau: Kong Fansen, Impressions o f Kong Fansen, and the stage drama People’s Servant: KongFansen) depicted the great communist leader who devoted his life to the work of helping the Tibetan people. Other plays, like Good Person Runwu, Factory Director, Master Worker Xuhu, Red Fight and Green Fight, and traditional operas like Duan Zhijun, Soul o f Faw, Fire-Fiendand Sea-Buckthorn Flower, portrayed examples in other fields. Most of the writers and directors of these realistic plays tried to create artistic figures instead of a factual copy of the person. The traditional opera troupes still mainly perform historical plays, ranging from the Dayu Period (before 2100BC) to the end of the Qing Dynasty (1911 AD). Butterfly Dream, Ma Fing Road, Tartar Reed Flute, A YoungMan’s Journey, Sun Wu, Pan Jinlian, Xi Shi Cuts o ff the Rope are all plays about historical figures and events that have been treated on stage before. Song o f Eternal Sorrow, Qian You Mountain ’s Heaven Book, The Snuffbox, Qianlong Settles a Lawsuit, are new historical plays, dealing with historical events that had seldom been written about before. The Chinese Princess Turandotis a Chuanju Opera based on the Italian opera bearing the same title. In comparison with its original, a westernized Chinese story in operatic form, the play regains more Chinese characteristics by being performed in the Chinese traditional opera form. Only a few stage dramas produced this year dealt with historical events. Bloodshed Azalea is a play about the activities of the Anti-Japanese Union. Flaming Kapok Blossom described thejapanese evil acts of virus testing in South China. Spirit o f Spring and Autumn-. Zeng Guofan, and First R^ank Common People: Xu Zhimo portrayed historical figures. At the end of this year, Shang Yang, a tragic play about the life of Shang Yang, a reformer in the Warring Kingdom Period (457-221BC), was performed in Beijing to a positive response from both the critics and the public, with a much better box-office than other plays. Spoken theatre productions showed theatre artists in pursuit of diversification. Many genres could be found, such as ‘Fantasy’, ‘Black-box’, ‘Psychological Experiment’, ‘Absurd’, ‘Light Comedy’, ‘Situation Comedy’, ‘Analytical Drama’, ‘Inner City’, ‘Emotional’, ‘Amorous’. All of these labels manifested the writers’ emphasis on developing content, style, form, or character. Some plays, such as Remold A mericaund Wind and Cloud o f Olympia, extended the realm to the outside world. I Love Mozart, a psychological play, The World of Theatre

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CHINA analyzed the ‘dangerous age’ in an extremely free setting of space and time. Black Sister features an Orang-Outan as protagonist. The Last Days o f the Dinosaurs gave human speech to animals, like a fable. In response to the call for more children’s plays, this year saw more than ten new productions, such as U ttle White Tortoise, the puppet show The Tittle Drummer King, the children’s Pingju Opera Big Forest, the children’s traditional opera White Cloud’s Diary, and the fairy tale White Horse Feifei. These plays paid attention to ideology, seeking vividness, interest and delight. The boom in military drama is a special Chinese phenomenon. Military productions are no longer bound to a simple theme or subject within the army. In general, their artistic standard is higher this year than last. Plays causing a big stir in Beijing or nationally include the musical White R^eedFlower, Red Cotton Blossom, presented by the General Political Song and Dance Ensemble and the Beijing Military Region Comrades in Arms Song and Dance Ensemble; the play Hot Blood, Sweet Spring, presented by the Beijing Military Region Comrades in Arms Spoken Drama Troupe, City Bugle, by Guangzhou Military Region Comrades in Arms Spoken Drama Troupe; 'Xiangjiang R iver, by the Air Force Political Spoken Drama Troupe; The Distant Clattering o f Horses’ Hooves, by the General Political Spoken Drama Troupe, and the perennial musical Sea Wind Blowing In, by Nanjing Military Region Frontline Spoken Drama Troupe. White Reed Flower, Red Cotton Blossom is based on the true story of an exemplary patriot, Han Suyun. Though the show has a lot of operatic characteristics, it was produced in the form of a musical, combining the basic elements of drama, dance and song, in order to attract a larger audience. Among other military productions this year, Beijing Military Region Comrades in Arms Peking Opera Troupe staged a number of short Peking Operas reflecting life in the army today, as soldiers see it. This offers good possibilities for the development of Peking Opera in the army. The American musical was introduced into China only in recent years. Everything is still at an early stage. The Central Academy of Drama set up a musicals class, which trains actors and directors, in 1995. Their first production is The Cat That Wants to Be a Man, a musical borrowed from Shiki Musical Company of Japan. The play was successfully performed in Japan in 1996, followed by a Beijing appearance. As the first to be performed by specially trained actors, the production is significant in the development of the musical in China. As a result of the growing popularity of musicals, more scripts were published, such as Black Stars, a tragic student love story, The Guitar, I f I Could Live My Life Again and Folk Songs o f the City. Wildernessis a brilliant opera, so successful that many experts consider it a breakthrough in Chinese opera. A Smile Over the Kailas Range and the song and dance drama Hero o f the Snowfield: Kong Fansen are more treatments of Kong Fansen, the communist model. There were also some song and dance dramas from minority nationalities, including Children o f X i Bo, Attack on the Bridal Carriage and Embroidery Girl. Two phenomena were evident in this year’s performances. One is the entry of private enterprise into the performance market, investing in commercial performances for profit. Candied Haws on a Stick and D on’t Worry about Your Looks belong to this genre. The other phenomenon is that co-operation between theatres and outside producers has been established. A good example of this was the ‘Ten-thousand Kilometre Tour of Peking Opera’ organized by Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe, which assembled more than a hundred actors and performed a dozen excellent plays. The tour went to five provinces and eight cities, and lasted nearly two months. It expanded the Peking Opera’s audience, and explored a new path for the Opera’s commercial development. 50

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The Gorilla and the Pop S ta r- Shanghai Stage Drama Art Centre

Two international exchanges on Eastern Theatre were held this year. One, the 1996 Eastern Theatre Exhibition and Symposium, was joindy sponsored by the China Art Research Institute and Hebei Provincial Culture Department. It was held in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei province, in May. As well as eight domestic theatres, there were also three theatres from Japan and India giving wonderful performances. Theatre experts from the three countries discussed Eastern theatre tradition, similarities and differences and the relations between the countries. The other event was the third BeSeTo (Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo) Theatre Festival, hosted by the Chinese Theatre Association and the Beijing Culture Bureau. The festival is held annually, in the three capitals in turn, to promote theatre exchange in the eastern countries. The previous two festivals were held respectively in Seoul and Tokyo. This time, China presented the opera ZhangQian, a Quju opera, The Opium Jar, the stage drama Candied H am on a Stick, and a demonstration by winners of the Chinese Theatre’s Plum-Blossom Prize. Korea presented the play Spring Comes to Mountain and Field and three episodes of dance drama. Japan sent an experimental production, Sophocles’ Flectra. The festival also held symposiums discussing the theatre situation in the three countries and the relationship between western and eastern theatre. In August, the China Art Research Institute and the Chinese Theatre Association held the 1996 Chinese Theatre Exchange and Academic Symposium. For the first time, theatre experts from the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan joined in cultural exchange. The programme of performances included the Beijing People’s Art Theatre’s Master o f Beijingand eight other plays from mainland China, Daughter o f the Second God, A. G irl’s Dream, and Journey to Kushan Mountain from Hong Kong, the musical Necktie and High Heels; in total 13 plays were performed. The performances and symposium were very successful and it was decided that a theatre exchange and symposium on Chinese theatre be held alternately, every two years, in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and The World of Theatre

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1997 The theatre troupes were very active in this year. Some of last year’s good plays, such as the Peking Opera The Wildcat and the Crown Prince, the drama The Geologist, the farce One, Two, Three —Go, the Huiju Opera The Story o f Eiu Ming, the opera M iss A ’Mei, and the dance drama Border City were still as popular as in 1997. Many theatres, apart from making preparations for the Fifth National Theatre Festival and 90th Anniversary Celebration of Chinese Spoken Drama to be held by the end of the year, also mounted a number of new realistic plays as well as adapted historical plays. Some of the new works were the Peking Opera The Ups and Downs o f Tong Rentang Pharmacy, the Xiangju Opera Saving the Child, the musical Heroic Story o f Si Mao, the play Timely Born, the Chuanju Opera ChangingFaces, the Flower Drum Opera Red Eiana, the Luju Opera Bitter Cauliflower, and from the Beijing People’s Art Theatre Fish Man, The First Fane Residents' Committee, Antiques and others. 1997 saw the handover of Hong Kong back to the motherland of China. A lot of plays about it, of varying quality, were put on stage. And for the 70thAnniversary of The People’s Liberation Army, quite a number of military plays were produced, some of which were very successful. These are the general characteristics of Chinese theatre productions and performances during the year. There is no doubt that the successful development of military plays could be seen as an impetus to the development of Chinese theatre as a whole. From the wide range of subjects and their deep themes, a new view of life is revealed. Good examples are Crouching Tiger on Zhongshan Mountain and The Guns Rirnble. Though the former told a historic story and the latter a modern one, both plays stressed the importance for soldiers and officers of renewing their values at the time of reformation. Veteran and The S t y ’s the L im itw ell portrayed a hero and an ordinary soldier, both of them devoted to the cause of the army. Tears o f the Perfumed River and The SongEmperor’s Terrace, though in different theatre forms, reflected the same subject —the Chinese people’s spirit of revolt against foreign invasion —at the timely moment of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland. Men Drawn up fo r Battle and The Soldier’s Sister focused on the life of ordinary soldiers and common people. Generally speaking, the military theatre this year developed a more artistic technique. Typical examples could be found in Veteran, where dock and scaffold were used symbolically; in The S t y ’s the lim it, a moving stage expanded space and time; the drum beating sound in The SongEmperor’s Terrace had an effect similar to the freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting; the overlapping and blending of space and time in The Soldier’s Sister. The clever use of these theatrical approaches much improved the artistic standard. This year saw the Seventh National Eugene O’Neill Symposium and Theatrical Performance Week, which theatre people called an ‘O’Neill Mini-Festival’. Altogether five productions were staged. The Guangzhou Dramatic Theatre presented^4»?w Christie on their big stage. Wang Xiaoying, director of the play, made good use of the simple conditions, setting the performing area at one side of the big stage and adapting a balcony into a cabin, which ingeniously expanded the space. Being short of funds, Shanghai theatres brought two pieces of ‘poor theatre’. Shanghai People’s Art Theatre produced a monodrama Before Breakfast, which used only a heavy curtain as background. Shanghai Drama Academy presented A ll God’s Chillun Got Wings. Zhang Yingxiang, director of the play, cut the play from several acts to two acts, and reduced the characters to only

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Greenhouse Girl - China Youth A rt Theatre

two roles. Guangdong Dramatic Theatre presented Beyond the Horizon, directed by Bao Qianming, a professor of the Central Academy of Drama. The production was realistic in scenery and action, with the actors exquisitely and accurately portraying the characters with a deep psychological understanding of their inner world. The French play Knock, ou la triomphe de la medicine, starring Jiang Wen, the leading film actor in China, caused a great sensation. Produced by the Beijing Junxian Culture Development Company and Fantasy Workshop, it received both praise and criticism. Plays in small theatres still carried a strong sense of experiment. Green House, presented by the China Youth Art Theatre, described the modern pursuit of a ‘Spirit Home’. Passing New Year’s Eve with a Single Woman was produced by the China Culture and Art Company and Nanjing Dramatic Theatre. Mou Sen, a freelance director, continued to experiment in his work, which tried to reflect ‘real life’. He directed a chamber play, Pouring Out, at the Beijing Chang’An Grand Theatre. He took a ‘pure’ stage performance form, ruling out all forms of scenery and props on stage, and put the audience in direct contact with the actors’ performance. The most compelling intimate theatre play was Sartre’s Morts sans sepulture, presented by the Central Experimental Spoken Theatre Troupe and directed by Zha Mingzhe —a great psychological challenge to the audience. On the operatic stages, a strong ‘Red Cyclone’ was blowing (Red stands for ‘revolutionary’). Many excellent revolutionary operas of the 1970s, such as The WhiteHaired Girl, SisterJiang, Red Guards o f Honghu Lake and Red Coral' were revived and attracted a big nostalgic audience. Some big opera houses mounted gala evenings such as National Classical Opera Gala and Selected Episodes from Chinese and Western Opera Classics. These performances were valuable for the popularization of opera in China. The Central Opera House presented the Italian opera Turandot, directed by Xu Xiaozhong and Chen Dalin, and the Chongqing Song and Dance Ensemble staged The Goddessfrom Mount Wu Shan under the direction of Chen Xinyi —both highly rated by the audience. The World of Theatre

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CHINA The musical is still a new field in the Chinese performing arts. There were no musical performances until the late 1980s. Since then, various opera troupes and stage drama troupes at all levels (including military troupes), have successively made attempts in all aspects. Musicals appeared as a vital force in the 1990s with more and more productions and a higher artistic standard. Some of the outstanding musicals this year were West Side Story (produced by the Central Academy of Drama), The Emperor’s New Clothes (produced by the China Children’s Art Theatre) and The Heroic Story o f Si Mao (produced by the Zhuhai Musical Troupe). In Beijing, there are four institutions that train musical actors and directors, respectively the Central Academy of Drama, the Jingyi Musical School, the Beijing Dance Academy and the Musical Actors Training Class (sponsored by the China Musical Research Institute and Body Dance Art School). They are planning to set up a professional theatre. Hong Kong, which this year was returned to China, boasts a large group of professional playwrights, directors, actors and stage-designers. Their theatre, which has a style of its own and reflects the culture of its small community', is an important component of Hong Kong’s serious arts. Hong Kong has a performing system that combines professionals, amateurs and students at three levels. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council sponsors both professional and amateur theatrical performances. On its 20th Anniversary, the Hong Kong Dramatic Theatre hosted an All-Chinese Plays Season, which stretched between 1997-98. In addition to other theatres in the Region, Beijing People’s Art Theatre and many other mainland theatres were invited, and together they performed many excellent plays such as Spirit o f Spring and Autumn (written by Wu Shuang, directed by Xu Xiaozhou and Wang Xiaoying), Master o f Beijing (written by Zhong Yingjie, directed by Ren Ming), 1941 (written by Chen Ganquan, directed by HeWeilong), Hove Fife in a Fortress (written by Du Guowei, directed by Yang Shipeng), Wild Man Dwelling in Wind and Rain and Who Sent the Perfumed Tea o f Dreams? (written by Du Guowei, directed by Yang Shipeng, starring Wang Mingquan). In October., the Chinese Theatre Association and the Guangzhou People’s Government held the fifth China Theatre Festival in Guangzhou, featuring plays that reflect modern life and manners. There were quite a number of plays based on Hong Kong’s return, intended to raise the nation’s patriotic and heroic spirit. Many old plays were readapted and revived: the Peking Opera The Wildcat and the Crown Prince, the farce One, Two, Three —Go, the plays Geologist and Crouching Tiger on Zhongshan Mountain all caused a big stir. The 90th Anniversary of Chinese spoken theatre, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the China Federation of Literary and Arts Circles, was held at the end of the year in Beijing. The Party Central Committee and State Council highly praised the historical status and function of Chinese spoken theatre. Xu Xiaozhong, Vice President of the Chinese Theatre Association and president of the Central Academy of Drama, give a report entitled T he Long March of Chines Spoken Theatre’. To summarise his report, Chinese spoken theatre, on continuing path of nationalization, takes a realistic aesthetic as its core while allowing different schools to exist. On December 29, as part of the celebration, a three-day symposium on development strategy was held. Altogether eighteen productions, including Respect, Men Drawn up fo r Battle, and A Big River Flowing took part in the celebration, which continued from December 25 1997 to 11 January 1998.

1998 On January 6, President Jiang Zeming watched Crouching Tiger On Zhongshan Mountain, presented by Nanjing Military Region Front-line Spoken Drama Troupe, as the climax 54

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How Steel Is Tempered

of the 90th anniversary celebration. After the show, Jiang declared that ‘Spoken theatre has a dramatic development today. It has a great artistic charm that can not be replaced by any other art form. This theatre event, which takes place during the turn of the millennium, has a dynamic effect on the development of Chinese spoken theatre.’ The year’s theatre productions showed the following features. Firstly, most of the realistic works have reflected the transformation of modern society, and achieved a deeper revelation of the complexities of personality in their characters’ inner world. Some experimental plays have reached a higher artistic level, with new ideas and features. The Rickshaw Boy (Peking Opera), Kong Yiji (Yueju Opera) and Swing Support (Huangmei Opera) were good examples. There also appeared, on the stages of 1998, a lot of plays depicting the ideals, pursuits, embarrassments, sadness and love of the common people, such as Greenhouse Girl, presented by the China Youth Arts Theatre (directed by Wu Xiaodong), The Officer and His Men Catch a Thief presented by Beijing People’s Arts Theatre, and Pleasure out o f Pain, presented by China Welfare Society Children’s Art Theatre (play by Ouyang Yibing, directed by Huang Yilin). A remarkable play called A. Street o f Gossip, with its creative style and audience-pleasing content, was very well received by the public and rewarded with a good box office. In the field of traditional operas, performances to be mentioned are YangNaiwu and Xiaobaicai presented by China Pingju Opera Troupe, Teahouse by Beijing Quju Opera Troupe, The Village with the Gordian Knot (award winner at the Liaoning Provincial Art Festival) by Shenyang Pingju Opera Troupe, Ban Qiao Weeps Three T im esby Fuxin Peking Opera Troupe, and December Snow in Guandongby Jinzhou Pingju Opera Troupe. A Peking The World of Theatre

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CHINA Opera production tided Little Feng, which tells a story of how a heroic girl defeated a sorcerer and a snake demon, was performed for children by HuBei Provincial Peking Opera Second Troupe. The revised version of Fifteen Guan(Guan is a unit of old money), by Jiangsu Provincial Kunju Opera Troupe, aroused intense academic and artistic contention. Hunan Provincial Qiju Opera Troupe’s Narrow Corridor, Wide Corridor, a modern play about workers’ life in the form a of traditional Qiju Opera, successfully covered a serious subject in a light comedy style. The play was highly acclaimed both by public and critics. There were many excellent classical plays in this year, most of which showed both the playwrights and directors’ respect for the original works along with talented innovation. Out o f the Palace, Back to the Palace, staged by Zhejiang Huanglong Yueju Opera Troupe, The Butterfly Lovers, Dream o f the Red Chamber, and The Emerald Hairpin by Ning Bo Small Hundred Flowers Yueju Opera Troupe were good examples of this kind of play. Zhejiang Small Hundred Flowers Yueju Opera Troupe produced a highly controversial play, Kong Yiji, from a very famous novel written by Lu Xun, an eminent writer in modem Chinese literature. Directed by Guo Xiaonan, the play is experimental on a high artistic level. It toured widely in China to such cities as Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Quanzhou and Xiamen and was a great hit wherever it went. Many people wondered: ‘Can Madame Mao Weitao (the most famous Yueju Opera actress) play Mr Kong Yiji?’, ‘Does Mao’s Kong Yiji conform with Lu Xun’s?’, ‘Is it still a Yueju Opera?’, ‘Can this adapted opera preserve the old audience?’ By raising such questions, Kong Yiji rapidly became a big talking point. Another successful play, The Rickshaw Boy, presented by Jiangsu Provincial Peking Opera Troupe and directed by Shi Yukun, won a gold medal at the Second Peking Opera Festival for its creativeness in the portraits of Xiangzi and Huniu, the two leading characters in the play. There were not many productions in the field of Western Opera: Q u Yuan, joindy presented by the General Political Opera Troupe and the Armed Police Art Troupe, and General She Leng, presented by the Inner Mongolian BaoTou Song and Dance Ensemble, were works of some importance. Needless to say, the opera that drew worldwide attention was Puccini’s Turandot, directed by Mr. Zhang Yimou, a leading Chinese film director. He set the opera actually in front of the Forbidden City of Beijing. Many tourists from around the world came to watch the splendid performance. At the same time, another production of Turandot, in the form of Chuanju Opera (a traditional opera form in Sichuan province), also came to Beijing. This version, directed by Wei Minglun, showed a more vivid portrayal of the characters in comparison with Zhang’s gorgeous work. The meeting of the two plays in Beijing wrote a new page in the history of Chinese cultural exchange. Secondly, intimate theatre drama prevailed in the theatre field and strongly influenced the whole cultural market. Though the sector appears to be thriving, the artistic level of small theatre plays varies greatiy. Many events took place this year. First, the China Youth Art Theatre hosted an International Chamber Theatre Festival in Beijing. Plays included a so-called ‘horror drama’ — Suffocation, performed joindy by The Opposite Shore Workshop and China Youth Art Theatre, the dance drama Genesis by Hong Kong Contemporary Dance Ensemble, Miss Julie Has Left Yuan^hou Street, by Theatre Fanatics of Hong Kong, and 2000, by Taiwan Shakespeare’s Sisters Troupe. The Central Academy of Drama also held a 1998 International Theatre Invitation Festival, including such plays as The Story o f the Human Fish (Japan), Twelfth Night (UK), etc. The Literature Department of The Central Academy of Drama held a chamber theatre festival on the theme of ‘Theatre And Dream’, which included four plays, Blood Over Heaven and Earth, 56

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From Ren M ing’s production of Waiting fo r Godot - Beijing People’s Art Theatre

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CHINA The Past Returned, For Love o f a Dog, and Eight Generations o f Husband and Wife. All four plays were written, directed and performed by students, and performed to the public in the studio of the China Youth Art Theatre. They were given high attention in theatre circles from the pedagogic aspect. In October., Shanghai Theatre Academy and Toronto University jointly held the 1998 Shanghai International Chamber Theatre Festival. It attracted groups from Canada (The Disaster), USA (When Sharks Bite), Japan (Falsehood), Singapore (Angel o f Desire) and China (Secret in the Office, On The Way, etc.) performing nine plays in all. Beijing People’s Art Theatre staged Clear Sky A fter the Rain, directed by Li Liuyi, and China Youth Art Theatre staged Greenhouse Girl, directed by Wu Xiaodong; There was a special studio theatre play titled The Joy O f Football, written by a soccer fan, played by soccer-fan actors, and performed free for soccer fans. It was said to be the first ‘public welfare’ drama in China, but in performance looked more like a football club reunion; Shanghai Huju Opera Troupe staged a chamber theatre play Shadow, which opened up a new way of performing traditional opera. Thirdly, Beijing’s stages were, for a time, dominated by experimental plays, most of them foreign classics. Among them was A D oll’s House, already the most performed foreign play of the ninety years, which was jointly presented by the Central Experimental Drama Troupe (CEDT) and their Norwegian counterparts. The story was adapted to a Chinese background in the 1930’s with Nora, still a Norwegian girl, married to a Chinese husband. Peking Opera and Chinese folk music were integrated into the play. CEDT invited a Norwegian actress to perform Nora. She spoke both English and Chinese. The play enjoyed great popularity among a young audience, especially college students; The Theatre Workshop of Solo Performing Art Consulting Company staged Ostrovsky’s play Pavel Kotchakin, which drew a group of young, vigorous and talented actors. The play was full of idealistic passion and creativeness, but was not financially successful. Beijing People’s Art Theatre first staged Beckett’s Waiting For Godot at their small theatre under the direction of Ren Ming, followed by Three Sisters Waitingfor Godot, by the famous director Lin Zhaohua, in their big theatre. Lin creatively combined Chekhov’s realistic Three Sisters and Beckett’s absurd W aitingfor Godot, two entirely different styled plays, by the thread of ‘waiting’. But the audience response was cold. China Youth Art Theatre mounted a new version of The Threepenny Opera on the occasion of 100rhAnniversary of Brecht. Madame Chen Rong, the theatre’s veteran director, employed many operatic and dramatic techniques such as solo, tutti, dance, virtual action and so on. She strictly followed Brecht’s dramatic theory, which distanced the spectators from identifying with the characters on the stage. China Children’s Art Theatre put on a Japanese version of the musical Blue Bird, which was enjoyed by audiences of all ages. Beijing Culture Zongheng Development Company and CEDT presented an Italian play, Fo’s Accidental Death o f an Anarchist, directed by M engjinghui. All of these productions marked a high tide in the performance of foreign plays. Fourthly, military plays continued to make distinct achievements. 1998 saw a year of unprecedented major flooding in China. PLA soldiers played an important role in the anti-flood battles. Many plays on the subject, such as Baptism o f Fire, A Big River Flowing Eastward, and Born on the First o f August, won Best Play awards in the all-military drama festival. The General Political Drama Troupe presented Against the Wind to celebrate their 35th anniversary. All these plays were full of vigour and a strong sense of our age, reflecting patriotism, heroism and the spirit of devotion and sacrifice to one’s work. China needs more knowledge of the masters of world theatre. This year saw three symposiums on Shakespeare. In Beijing, The Institute for International Exchange of the

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A Severe T e s t- General Political Spoken Drama Group

Beijing Foreign Economic and Trade University hosted a ‘Shakespeare Day’; another ‘Shakespeare Day’ was held in Shanghai by Shanghai Drama Academy and the China Shakespeare Institute. The two units also joindy held an International Symposium on ‘Shakespeare in China —Performance and Study’. Symposiums, performances, exhibitions of photographs and books have nourished a Shakespeare fad in China. This year also marked the 100th Anniversary of Bertolt Brecht. The Sino-German Friendship Society, the Foreign Studies department of the China Social Science Institute and the Chinese Theatre Association held a meeting and international symposium in Beijing. The direct line between Brecht’s drama and Chinese traditional operas was discussed. The important influence of Brecht’s theories on Chinese modern drama was also stressed. During the Shanghai International Art Festival, held in May, more than 20 plays were premiered, including the spoken drama plays The Colour o f Deeds, by Shanghai Spoken Theatre Arts Center, The First Master Cricket, by Tianjin People’s Arts Center, Shang Yang, by Shanghai Spoken Arts Center, Theme and Variation, by Shanghai Spoken Arts Center, Big Circus, by Shanghai Modernist Theatre Company; the Peking Opera Precious Lotus Lantern, by Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe, Pansi Cave, by Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe, The Legend o f White Snake, by Shanghai Traditional Theatre School; Y u eju Drama Two Stage Sisters, by Shanghai Y ueju Drama Troupe, YangNai Wu, by Shanghai Y ueju Drama Troupe, and other traditional plays. At the end of the year, The Fourth National Congress of the Chinese Theatre Association was held in Beijing, some 13 years after the third congress. It was an important review and summing up of CTA’s previous work. A new leading group was elected, with Li Moran as the Chairman of CTA, and Zhang Geng as Honorary President.

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COLOMBIA The Story of a Country Told by Its Theatre DIEGO LEON GIRALDOS Today’s theatre practitioners in this South American country use their various artistic languages to encourage introspection and reflection in the midst of the current conflicts —but also to entertain. Colombia may be the most violent country in the world but it is also the new focus of a theatre that is alive and still growing. The strong current of the so called New Theatre —born in the early 60s in a country in transition from peasant to urban society —put Colombia at the centre of the world theatre boom. Enrique Buenaventura and Santiago Garcia became the pioneers of the collective creation, a conversational approach to dramatic creation. Those were years in which the political struggle for power, the living conditions of the working man and the displacement of entire human groups due to the war were the focus of attention for the Colombian theatre community. Theatre was a political tool to go along with rallies and trade union struggles but it was also a means for journeying across the country —for feeling it —travelling in artistic convoys armed only with plenty of enthusiasm and no money. The various tours of La Candelaria, Teatro Libre, Teatro Experimental de Cali, La Mama and many others produced shows that attracted audiences because they could see themselves on the stage. From the point of view of productions, those were years of endless activity. Buenaventura and Garcia became masters in the field of collective creation and their opinions on the subject influenced various universities at world level. Theatre was closely related to the strong leftist movements that started revolutions in the American continent. Many an artist was persecuted and tortured because of their opposition to totalitarian regimes. Their stories are now an integral part of the continent’s history and are told — with laughter and tears —to the accompanying warmth of wine and a bonfire. Many did not make it. The 80s were transitional years in which the ‘global village’ started to connect peoples from remote places with the major cultural centres and we began talking about cultural diversity. Colombia looked itself over and felt it was part of that crisscross of approaches to reality that was permeating world art. While the national theatre festivals and the tours of the various groups around the country brought us nearer to ourselves, the visits of great world masters and international companies opened our eyes. The International Theatre Festival of Manizales (in the coffee-growing area of the country) had been born in the more intense years of the New Theatre movement, with a strong academic and experimental profile. It continued to take place, though with various long interruptions due to lack of funds. The event was a wonderful opportunity for us to establish contact with the unmet needs of Latin America, with peoples that spoke our language and had similar needs. Grotowski was one of the first great ones that 60

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COLOMBIA came to our country, deeply influencing the passionate practitioners. Until then, in the 60s, only the teachings of Seki Sano were discussed. He had been a great teacher and trainer of actors, mainly focused on exploiting the talents that later would be arriving at a new medium: television. In 1988 the Ibero-American Theatre Festival of Bogota was born out of an ambitious idea of imitating the traditional theatre festival that takes place in Caracas (Venezuela). Hundreds of Colombian spectators were greeted by an amazing pandemonium of colours and forms of expression to which they had never had access —at least in such quantity. The performance of ‘Los demonios’ (‘The Demons’) by the Spanish group Comediants made the Church authorities rend their vestments and cry ‘Sacrilege!!’ Theatre had become an alternative for all those that had no intention to pray during the Holy Days (the festival takes place at Easter). Anyhow, in the minds of the artists crazy ideas about this new way of communicating an old art form started to grow. The first years were dedicated to the classics, to receiving the visits of recognized world masters like Eugenio Barba, Anatoli Vasiliev, Theodoras Terzopoulos. Almost unnoticed among them, the furtive whispers of innovators and explorers of different approaches like Tadashi Suzuki, Sankai Juku, Tadeus Kantor and Ismael Ivo were also heard. The brainwashing had taken place and the drama schools took on new life —aspiring theatre practitioners got in touch with dramatic languages other than those of the traditional masters. The birth of a new country, the technological invasion and the travels abroad of many artists by means of grants and scholarships, allowed the expansion of a cultural kaleidoscope beneficial to all. Today, according to official statistics from the Ministry of Culture, there are 73 governement-subsidized theatre venues in Colombia —out of which 32 are in Bogota alone. Approximately 5,000 people make a living out of this activity (including technicians, artists, playwrights, performers and producers). There are 700 known theatre groups and 8 formal higher drama schools plus a host of unofficial workshops. During the last ten years, theatrical activity sky-rocketed —the number of artists doubled and the trade became more of a profession. Today, the theatre of social interest is still upheld by the more traditional practitioners, living side by side with the new directors, who are much less prudish when the time comes to experiment. As a rule, violence is the main subject of these productions. However, it is a violence shown by means of new dramatic resources, with none of the ostentatious speeches typical of earlier times - rather with a lot of visual elements. Presently, Colombian theatre is in very good health due to the fact that the years of merely copying passing fashion are long past: dance theatre, anthropological theatre, ritual, pantomime, no text, surplus technological paraphernalia, etc. During the 80s our theatre was perceived as a continuous struggle between what it had been and the cosmopolitan movement it wanted to be; now it has achieved its fondest desires. Discussions often became heated argum ents and there were continuous confrontations on what was to be considered theatre and what was not. For instance, the videomaker Patricia Aguirre was thoroughly dissapointed when she applied for the national theatre grants four years ago and was rejected. At the time she was told, ‘Your idea is neither theatre, nor playwriting, nor dance, nor visual arts...’ They were right! Only after the visits of people like Bob Wilson were we able to understand what the erasing of the barriers between the various artistic disciplines really meant. Today, Aguirre is putting the final touches to a crazy project that includes multimedia and audience interaction, a sort of performance-video-installation that will be presented at the IberoThe World of Theatre

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COLOMBIA American Festival in 2000. Therefore, it is no longer surprising to know that big audiences are attracted to shows like those of Fabio Rubiano, a young (35 years old) actor-director-playwright who has managed to bring teenagers and college students to the theatre. He communicates in languages closely related to modern life, to the speeded-up urban rhythm, the ephemeral and the technological, but without losing sight of social concerns; speaking about Colombia, about mankind, its soul and its shattered illusions. From the training point of view, drama schools are graduating young people who needn’t follow the guidelines usually found in videotapes and old books —full of wellworn theories and ways of approaching the dramatic scene. Nowadays, young people that want to become actors, playwrights and directors have an whole range of shows available. Theatre is very much alive, in spite of the recession that has wreaked havoc in the more stable companies. Some had to close down. Others, deciding to come to terms with rampant consumerism, started paying more attention to the box-office. However it may be, at least four shows of varied styles open in Bogota every week. Last year, on the occasion of the Theatre Festival of the Caribbean held in Santa Marta, the International Theatre Institute (ITI) brought together representatives from many countries who bore witness to the strenuous efforts of cultural workers to give hope in the midst of war. In the meantime, the fortunately ambitious Ibero-American Festival has educated the audiences, increasing their awareness —they are no longer easily fooled! Conventional theatre and every other kind of theatre live together, with a common goal: to entertain, to encourage reflection and to work locally to put an end to the troubles of a country considered to be the most violent in the world. In the midst of the terrorist attempts and the kidnappings, there are still people in this country who believe they can change the mask of terror for the warm smiles that linger after a good show. Colombia throbs with its theatre.

Diego Leon Giraldo S is a culturaljournalist who has won the Interamerican Press Society Award (SIP Award, in Spanish) in the category o f In-Depth Journalism and is currently the theatre specialist o f El Tiempo (The Time), Colombia’s newspaper o f greatest circulation located in the capital.

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Democratic Republic of CONGO The Perpetual Struggle of Hidden Talent NONO BAKWA We often hear that there is no real theatre activity in Congo, or even that there is no theatre at all. That is simply an impression which arises from the fact that there has been little outside contact with this large country for three decades. The Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) covers a huge area of 2,345,000 square kilometres. Its population of over 50 million, divided into 450 ethnicities each with an astonishing cultural richness of its own, has for long remained outside the global cultural dynamic. Any culture which is not open to others is likely to wither, so that the artists and other culturally engaged people of the Congo, imprisoned by the absence of opportunities for exchange, have been unable for many years to make their art more competitive in the process of its development. True, in 1969 a Congolese National Theatre was set up, with separate departments for theatre, music and ballet. For a long time, this was the only company to tour the world, including both Europe and the USA, with theatre and dance performances. These were too few to be truly representative of a culture as multi-dimensional as that of the Congo. Furthermore, the existence of national theatres in Africa was closely tied to the political systems which set them up. The decline of the Second Republic and its political system sounded the knell for both the Congolese National Theatre and Congolese theatre in general.

Birth of a Conscience Towards the end of the Seventies, then, members of the Congolese artistic and cultural community realised that they would have to take their own action and not wait for a push from the public authorities, who for the most part had no particular cultural agenda. Thus a number of structures saw the light of day which could support the creation, diffusion and promotion of cultural product by private enterprise, such as L’Ecurie Maloba (an association of theatre artists), Arts and Events (from Mikanza), the Theatre des Intrigants, and Arts Promo. The movement quickly spread throughout the Republic, although with varying levels of commitment. In Lumumbashi one could observe the Train Culturel and companies such as Mwondo Theatre, which visited the Festival of Francophonies in Limoges, France. In Mbuji-Mayi, companies such as Mbongo Theatre raised the standard. It is true that developments such as L’Ecurie Maloba were not the norm, for the simple reason that Congolese artists needed to earn a livelihood. Cut off The World of Theatre

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CONGO for years from the rest of the world, they became part of a system which saw the arts as leisure activities —there were more important things to do. There followed a lack of external co-operation, and the total cultural isolation of the country. No more overseas cultural centres, no more financial help, no more touring. It was necessary to fight determinedly against this situation and turn it around. All the organisations that were set up had the common aim of restoring the arts and culture of the Congo to their proper standing in the world cultural consensus, by creating networks of distribution and publicity that would promote exchange and openness, and set cultural activity firmly in place as part of the process of development. Once more the spark took fire.

The Theatre Situation Today Today the Congo is taking its place more and more in the great theatrical gatherings, and companies are again touring the world with notable productions. The Theatre des Intrigants has toured twice in Europe, to Belgium, France and Switzerland, with Landu Mabaya’s Misery and Maxime Ndebeka’s The President., both directed by Michel Faure. L’Ecurie Maloba takes part regularly in the big African theatre festivals, such as MS AS A, FITHEB and RETIC. They set up and supervised a multi-lateral creative project based on Nono Bakwa’s text Kardiak A rrest, with artists from Angola, Benin, Belgium, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville, France and the Democratic Republic itself. The production which resulted toured in Belgium, France and more recently in Cameroon. The group Crasa took part in the Womens’ Voices festival in Belgium and was also invited to Sweden after taking part in the 1997 MASA. Other groups, such as IRED Theatre and Tam-Tam Theatre, have been seen at African festivals such as FITMO, FITD in Burkina Faso, and the special Wandara at Bangui. MASAQ has welcomed groups from the Congo every year except 199, and they have been well received.

Dramatic Writing The literary output of Congo is not enormous, since there are hardly any publishing houses remaining in the country. Theatre publishing has suffered the same fate. In spite of this, works by Congolese authors have stood out in major competitions and others have been published by European houses. Congo’s most recent success was the award of the grand prix in the RFI theatre competition to Mumbere Majomba for his play The Last Envelope. Two other Congolese were among the finalists. In another success, Ngaki Kosi took the prize in the competition A Stage for Democracy’ organised by the province of Hainault in Belgium, with his play The Trap. Mention should also be made of the workshop production of Nono Bakwa’s Kardiak A rrest in Limoges in 1997, which made a big impression with its bold and contemporary approach. There are also fine Congolese writers outside the country, who bring honour to the Congo with publications of note, among them Pius Ngandu Nkashama, Professors Mudimbe and Ngal, and Emongo Lomomba. A number of plays have also been very successful in performance in Congo, even if they have not been published: Coco Ndankwom’s Why I A m in Phase, Kalema Mboyu’s Lucifer, Cheik Fita’s Less Than a Man, Kiluba Mwika’s God I I r.

Congo, Land of Festivals To talk of theatre in Congo is to talk of festivals, especially all those great opportunities for meeting and exchange which have been set up by private producers which year by 64

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CONGO year are opening up Congolese theatre activity to the world. L’Ecurie Maloba organises the International Festival of the Actor (FI A), a festival of professional theatre which began in 1990 and is now in its sixth edition. It has been visited by companies from Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon, Togo, the Central African Republic, the Ivory Coast, Belgium and France. Les Intrigants organise the Congolese Theatre Days for Children and Young People (JOUCOTEJ), which have reached their thirteenth edition. Marabout organise the Meeting of Educational Arts (CARE), a festival of urban theatre, in its seventh edition, as is the French Schools Drama Festival, DRAMSCOF, organised by M Majuscule (Capital M) theatre. Other new festivals are emerging, such as the festival of Menkao, and the Meeting of Storytellers and Griots.

Conclusion We can do no better for a conclusion than to borrow that of Pius Ngandu Nkashama in his study Le Theatre ^airois: vers une dramaturgie fonctionelle\ ‘Thus, for the people, theatre would be the best means of experiencing at one and the same time the supreme suffering and the supreme hope of the miracle workers, which they have longed for in vain . . . Theatre is present in this country as a cultural example, and it would be unjust to consider it ineffective, as less diligent commentators often do. In spite of its capacity to mislead, it exists as a crucial social discourse which may be seen as offering a reading of social reality which goes beyond the continual crises, the indiscriminate violence, the failed revolutions. It is the theatre which will bring back the true language of hope to the young people of this nation.’

Nono Bakwa, communications director o f the Congolese ITI, is a writer, director and actor ivith twenty five yea rs’ practical experience in his country. He is the creator o f the multilateral project Kardiak Arrest, and the present director o f L ’E curie Maloba.

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CROATIA Let the Angels Speak Out in Croatian □ ELIMIR CIGLAR It was an easy matter for a sarcastic American critic writing in Newsweek in April 1996 to claim that theatre in Eastern countries existed for the apparatchiks to be able to laugh and cry over their own fate. Culture in the countries until recently behind the Iron Curtain, born in pain and under all types of restraint, can certainly be of interest to both itself and the world beyond. Enriched by fifty7 years’ experience of separation from ourselves, God and Nature, neither we nor our jailers have remained the same. On the contrary, we share the realisation that all of us - the jailers and the jailed —were the victims of that monstrous communist ideology. During the 19th century, the theatre in Croatia played a crucial role in opposing the colonial influence of the Hungarians and the Austrians, by giving form to the Croatian literary language in its three dialects. This identity is still guarded jealously today by four national theatres which incorporate opera, ballet and drama. In addition, in Zagreb alone, there are some twenty active theatres financed fully by the City Council and another forty or so theatre companies partly financed by the City. As in the era of communism, the theatre has continued to be an anthropological laboratory of sorts. An example is the &TD Theatre which, as a student fringe theatre, was able to lay bare the communist system without any particular problems — but the theatre had only some two hundred seats. When Ivo Bresan’s Performance o f 'Hamlet'in the Village o f Mrdusa Donfa (Predstava Hamleta u selu Mrdusa Donfd) dealing with the perniciously primitive activities of the political commissars, was produced for the screen during the 1970s, it was threatened with being banned. Even members of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union came to Zagreb by specially chartered aircraft in 1979 to protest at the scene in Tom Stoppard’s Travesties, staged at the &TD Theatre, in which V.I. Lenin danced the foxtrot.

Acting Visions - from Words to Movement During the 1990s, too, the theatre has continued to be a centre for freedom and the re­ examination of current times. As regards the use of words, it seems that many of the best productions were simply struck dumb. The playwright faded away and the allpowerful director was replaced by the actors or even by the collective; bodily movement became the essential mode of expression at the expense of the over-valued perfect elocution which had been nurtured in the previous epoch, in the twilight of what was, in fact, theatre classicism. The tonal method conceived in keeping with Petar Guberina’s famous phonetic method by Dr. Branko Gavella, father of the modern Croatian theatre, founder of the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb and mentor to many of today’s most influential directors, cries out for reinstatement. 66

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CROATIA The 1996/97 season was marked by what was probably the best production of the 1990s. The actor Rene Medvesek was commissioned by the Zagreb Youth Theatre company to write and produce a play for them. His Bucket (Hamper) is made up of several linked dramatic situations from which the actors construct a show about lost individuals and things against a scenographic backdrop of discarded items. Bucket really does probe the theatre and acting art. It was the first in a series of silent productions, in which the actors used the Bozo the Clown technique in a collective acting effort, speaking only one word, burbica, or lily-of-the-valley, and, with a series of screams, created a wondrous world, interesting to both children and adults. Bucket would not lend itself to transference to the page, and would be inexpressible on film or in any other art medium. It came about as an acting workshop, as an actors’ protest against work in which the actors speaks the texts of others under the pressure of the director’s notions, losing their own identity in the process. Here, they express themselves through mimicry, gesture and movement. People who have been discarded make a whole new world from things which people have discarded, and, finally, a flying-machine made of rubbish with which they will fly somewhere far away. Although from the outset the play captivated the critics and audiences of all ages, it caused a series of unfortunate misunderstandings. Some chose to see in it a yearning for reinstatement of the monarchy and mourning for the disintegrated Yugoslavia. This imputation was rejected by the actors themselves and the director at a public forum held in Germany at the Theater an der Ruhr, in which they defended the innocence, simplicity and apolitical nature of their art. Further attacks and objections have appeared more recendy (Zare^ 1999, the critic Natasa Govediae), claiming that Bucket is constrained by a Christian worldview, since it expects release from suffering to come only in the next world. After several years of absence from Croatian stages, the mime theatre bloomed again in 1996. The conviction that theatre is merely a talking book was soundly challenged by Matko RaguO’s newly-founded Exit Theatre. It is no accident that he, too, is a trained actor and not a director or writer. Natasa Lusetiae’s (she is also an actress) Imago was a 1995 production based on the motifs of the anti-psychiatry book by R D Laing, Knots; then John Godber’s Bouncers (1996) directed by Matko RaguD in his adaptation of the play to Croatian circumstances and the Croatian language, shows how the actor really is the stuff that dreams are made of. RaguD was really the co-author of all three plays. Bouncers speaks about ordinary people, people on the margins, children from the suburbs whose lives unfold in a restricted setting bound by alcohol, and dreams of sex and fights. This play fascinates with its preciseness, furious rhythm and, finally, the lightning speed of its denouement, and it has won over young audiences, while at the same time affirming the status of independent production. Even working outside institutions has been institutionalised, inasmuch as Matko RaguD has received support from the City of Zagreb —premises for his theatre, and partial programme funding. However, RaguD is refurbishing the premises from his own pocket.

Directors Following Actors in the Search In 1996, Georgij Paro achieved outstanding success with his direction of Hugo von Hofmannstahl’s Everyman, using classic creative techniques at the summer festival in VaraD din. The actors of the Croatian National Theatre in VaraD din once again proved themselves in the excellent production of Miroslav KrleD a’s Twelfth Night (Kraljevo), an expressionistic drama dating from 1914, which the promising young director Borna Baletias shaped with contemporary means of expression, primarily from the dance and mime theatre, integrating them successfully with the words. Another young director found his The World of Theatre

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CROATIA voice without the help of a writer and a huge stage: in 1997, Bobo Jeleite directed Observation (Promatranja) at the VaraD din Croatian National Theatre, an unusual production created within the framework of a new realism, revealing the world of the actor as compassionate and ethereal, and thus similar to everyday life with its multitude of small joys and sorrows. This production is a serious deconstruction of the theatre. The actors lead the audience through their intimate premises on the other side of the stage —wardrobe, corridors, pieds-a-terres, terraces —otherwise hidden from the eyes of the audience out front. From the cellar to the roof of the theatre, the onlookers are confronted with everyday situations of silence, unrest, the impossibility of establishing contact, and the loneliness of the actors. The relationship between clerical worker and client, mother and child, lovers, everyday passers-by, and the actual, not theatrical, course of time, are all ways in which Bobo Jeleias instructs the onlookers on how to bear and understand theatre actuality and reality. Improvisation is the fundamental creative process in Observation-, here the art of the actor is the essence, and the onlooker is deeply embarrassed at this intrusion into the actor’s privacy.

Croatian Theatre on World Stages In 1997, Croatian theatre had several successes on stages outside the country. Audiences at the Mittelfest, the Festival of Central European Theatres in Cividale in Italy, were delighted with Georgij Paro’s direction of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Nathan the Wise. The need for humanity instead of blind service to dogma, the confrontation between three cultures and faiths in mutual co-existence and respect, and the underlying similarity between them, were all skilfully shaped by Paro in a production which avoided superfluous attractions and relied on the actors from the Split Croatian National Theatre to bring it distinctively to life, that night in the fortress above Cividale. The young playwright, Ivan Vidias, saw his play Measles (Ospice) premiered at the Gavella Theatre in Zagreb, under Kresimir Doleneiae’s excellent direction. What adults call youthful insanity, and the more aware among them the terrifying shock of recognition of the world of grown-ups, has been shaped into a play for today. Vidiae transcribes the dialogue of everyday life and builds his powerful dramatic situation in short, simple sentences shorn of beauty and even meaning. In July 1998, the play was well received at the Central European Theatre Festival held at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London; in the same year it was premiered in English translation at London’s Gate Theatre. In 1997 an international production, Bacchanalia, written by the Macedonian playwright, Goran Stefanovski, and skilfully directed by Branko Brezovec from Croatia, was one of the guests at the famous festival of new theatre, Eurokaz. The production was developed by the Youth Cultural Centre in Skopje and Interkult from Stockholm. This powerful ritual play penetrates exhaustively into all of its actors, turning them inside out like a glove. In a confrontation between the cultures which collided in south-eastern Europe, Brezovec brought on to the stage actors of diverse mentalities, speaking different languages —ethnic Albanians, Serbs and Macedonians —almost prophetically foretelling the bloody Kosovo conflict. The show was an authentic cry against war in a world in which ‘the Gods have died, either of shame or mortification’.

A Return to Classicism and the Playwright The following season, 1997-98, was marked by Chekhov’s trilogy directed by Paolo Magelli. The Cherry Orchard was produced while the war was still on, and was followed by Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters. These three plays collected almost all the season’s theatre awards. 68

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Vili Matula in his award-winning solo Munchhausen

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CROATIA Three j ’/jters was performed in Bogota at what is probably the largest world theatre festival, in the dilapidated auditorium of the oldest theatre there, theTeatar Faenzo, which served for years as a porn-cinema. The six performances played to packed houses and, finally, the army had to be called in to restore order among the multitude of people wanting to see the play. The venue which Paolo Magelli utilised so skilfully for his play was perhaps the best possible symbol of Colombia, staked out between the narco-mafia on the one hand and the desire for spiritual uplift on the other. The three women are trapped between ‘the old which still has not passed and the new which still has not arrived’, in a town whose inhabitants say that all roads come to an end there. Colombia —with all the races melded into one, and compassion for the Europe which came to stay after having extinguished the golden culture of their forebears. Magelli ennobled the desecrated theatre which the desire for profit had transformed into a porn-cinema and a ruin. He tore down the curtains, removed the seats, erected a pre-fabricated stage and sprinkled its floor with a thick layer of sea-sand upon which the three aristocrats fought for each breath and each step. His Uncle Vanya penetrates even more deeply, perhaps, into the relationships between Chekhov’s characters. With his fleetness, attentive study of character and wise stylisation, Zlatko Vitez excelled in the title role. One of the best shows during the season was the Zagreb Croatian National Theatre’s 1997 production of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams by an American guest director, Steven Kent. It was as though Elia Kazan’s film had stepped down from the screen and became entrapped in our stucco and gilt to find it all somewhat stifling in that colonial Austro-Hungarian architecture. The Croatian actors were up to the challenge, particularly Dragan Despot and Alma Prica. Steven Kent again delighted everyone at the National Theatre in Zagreb the following year with Arthur Miller’s Death o f a Salesman. In 1997, after first-class plays at the Gavella, the Croatian National Theatres in VaraD din and Osijek, Lada Kastelan’s The Last Link (Posljednja karika) was performed at the Ivan von Zajc Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka. The play examines male misconceptions over the last half-century from the standpoint of the women who have had to look on and bear it all. Says the author, undoubtedly the best dramatist of the Croatian younger generation: ‘I am a woman: my writing come from inside my female skin and from my female experience which is, in any case, essentially different from that of men. My first person singular as an author is of the female gender and that is simply the way it is. When I am asked, as I often am, why the lead characters in my plays are usually women, is that inferring that they should be men? I really don’t see why they should be.’

Modesty Pays The art of the actor distinguished the 1998-99 theatre season. The best plays were produced under modest circumstances. Following the playwright and the director, the scenographer and the costume designer, disappeared, and even the fellow actor on stage. The actor was left alone, facing only the audience and the stage lights. In 1998, the actor Vili Matula put on an exceptional monodrama —Miinchhausen —which he produced himself. As the audience watched, with the help only of Matula’s voice and his supple body, Miinchhausen circled the globe, transforming into the Turkish Emperor, the Empress Maria Theresa, a wolf, a horse... testifying to the fact that anything is possible in art, even a man becoming a global metaphor. The production enjoyed a two week run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, together with another acting feat, from □ eljko Vukmirica, who first directed himself as M r Single at the Exit Theatre in 1999. Is it possible to express without words the horror of nothing happening in everyday life, simply through

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CROATIA the action of the actor? It is! Using only the onomatopoeic sounds of solitude, Vukmirica used mime to tell the story of a lonely man. ‘The all-powerful director has defaced the theatre’ says Vukmirica; and he is giving shape to a real experiment at the Exit Theatre, trying to bring down the barriers which language sets up on the stage. After Edinburgh, M r Single travelled to London and played for five days at the Gate Theatre in the festival called The East Returns to the West. The Croatian playwright Slobodan Snajder reinforced his international reputation with his play Nevjesta odijetra (Bride o f the Wind) about the Croatian actress Gemma Boise, premiered in Bochum, Germany with Werner Schroether directing. He confronted the fate of the individual with the powerful structure of the collective and the male world in which the heroine is active. ‘Acting in a foreign language is just as difficult as flying. But once you manage to do it, you can go a long way’, says Gemma, the tragic heroine dying well in the Art Nouveau era. In this period, too, the major international recognition went to the most prolific and frequently performed Croatian dramatist and writer, Miro Gavran. The Central European Time awarded him the prestigious prize as Best Central European Writer of 1999, which is given by a group of leading Hungarian intellectuals. Art Nouveau is also the main theme of the exceptionally well-received &TD Theatre production of Maja Gregl’s Alma Mahler, directed by Ivica Boban. To each epoch its art, to each art its freedom —the Art Nouveau catchphrase fits well with Ivica Boban’s master workshop which gave rise to this production, intentionally played in an auditorium which seats only one hundred. Maja Gregl wove her drama around the real situation of the frustrated artiste whose fiance, and later husband, Gustav Mahler, court conductor and composer, demands that she suppress her own ambitions so as to enable him to create. ‘You are not a person, and you cannot be one’, he says. Alma M ahler is the story of people from Central Europe who chose art instead of money and power. The Empire which made this possible for them collapsed before their shocked eyes, and only Kokoschka in his paintings foresaw the war and, finally, the fascism which destroyed the Austrian tradition of equality between Jews and non-Jews. On the still living alluvium of that spirit among the Croats, Ivica Boban has built a world strangely like our own. In that sense, this play was born at the intersection of the Art Nouveau, Bauhaus, postmodernism and the apprehension of what is waiting for us as we cross into the next millennium. Croatia is truly a theatre country, which is rediscovering itself as a participant in the life of Central Europe and then of the whole continent. Although it experienced the Renaissance and the Baroque at the same time as neighbouring nations, it also endured an unfortunate fate which kept on repeating itself. During the Renaissance, a traveller from the Dubrovnik Republic was watching a miracle play in Italy played in the Italian language, but the demons in the play spoke in another language. That language was Croatian, sufficiently incomprehensible and exotic for the Italian audience. Since that time, theatre is one of the means by which that attitude towards us has been changed. To put it another way, the jailers and the jailed have started to take down the walls of their prisons. We can look forward to the day when the angels in the theatre speak out in Croatian.

Uelimir Ciglur was born in 1962. He graduatedfrom the Zagreb University Faculty o f Philosophy, then studied at the Zagreb Academy o f Dramatic Art. A fterfive years as a professional actor, he took ajo b with Vecernji List, the Zagreb daily which has the largest circulation in Croatia. Since 1989, his theatre and literary critiques have appeared regularly in the daily and weekly press. He recently published a novel, and is now preparing his master’s thesis. The World of Theatre

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CYPRUS CHRISTAKIS GEORGIOU From different quarters comes a similar message: theatre on a world wide scale is passing through a phase of crisis, both economic (small audiences, stiff competition from TV soap-operas, and aesthetic (erosion of values that deprive the theatre of its most promising clients). In 1996 the Bonner Biennale, one of Europe’s biggest drama festivals, published a declaration, stating that the Bonn authorities had reduced the financial assistance to the Festival to such an extent that it endangered the smooth functioning of the Festival. However, in spite of this crisis, the theatre manages to survive on a world-wide scale and set before man a mirror in which he can confront himself, face to face, with some of his real problems. In 1998 the Cyprus Centre of the ITI financed a survey by the Research Team of the Cyprus College (a non-state college) into the theatregoing habits of the Cypriot people. As far as theatre attendance is concerned, its findings were very discouraging. Only a small percentage of Cypriots regularly attend theatre performances. In view of the fact that our professional theatres (four in Nicosia, one in Limassol, one in Larnaka) give performances in all the main towns and rural centres of the island on a regular basis, this is disturbing. The suggested causes are both subjective and objective. The objective ones include the presence of five TV stations and numerous radio stations, broadcasting throughout the island, and a large number of discotheques, night-clubs, night spots, tavernas with live music and so on. The latter are the by-products of a highly developed tourist industry —Cyprus annually receives 2,200,000 tourists, practically four times its population. However the objective causes reveal only half the truth. The theatres themselves must bear a certain amount of responsibility. In many cases they have failed to renew their manpower (actors and actresses); their choice of repertory cannot be regarded as absolutely satisfactory; and infra-structures, especially in the countryside, are far from adequate. In view of this the Cyprus Centre intends to establish a committee to study the theatre situation and make suggestions for a healthier theatre policy. The state in Cyprus subsidises the theatre mainly through the Theatrical Organisation of Cyprus (THOC). THOC’s budgets for the years 1997,1998 and 1999 were respectively, in Cyprus pounds, 2,345,000, 2,450,000 and 2,590,000 (the Cyprus pound is worth just under US$2).The whole system is far from satisfactory, for THOC, apart from being responsible for theatre development in general, runs its own theatre company. It is only natural, therefore, that this company should receive the lion’s share of the money available. Not surprisingly, there is a widespread feeling among theatre people that THOC’s two functions should be administratively separated. The annual subsidy the non-state theatres receive varies from $160,000 to $180,000 —without this subsidy no independent professional theatre could survive. Apart from the financial control it exercises, THOC does not interfere with the theatrical policy that each company follows .These theatres are free to adopt any repertory that appeals to them and employ any director, actor or .

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CYPRUS designer they want. Apart from THOC, the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture have funds of their own with which they can subsidise all forms of art, including theatre. However, only on rare occasions are independent theatres financed by the Ministry, for example for visits to other countries like Australia, the UK or Greece. The Ministry mainly assists non-professional theatre groups and schools. It also tries to arouse interest among different sections of the Cyprus people by financing theatre workshops run by professionals for non-professionals. Apart from subsidising professional theatre groups, THOC spends money on infra­ structure works which if used rightly will eventually contribute to theatre development. During the three-year period we are examining, the old municipal market of Saint Andreas in Nicosia, which had fallen into disuse due to the emergence of big supermarkets, was turned into a small theatre and used for some time by the musical theatre Thespis. In Paphos a new open-air theatre, modelled on the ancient amphitheatres, was built and named Markidion after the Markides brothers who were pioneers in theatre work in their town during the early years of the 20th century. There has also been an effort to build small theatrical spaces, which could function not only as theatres but also as cultural centres, to satisfy the needs of small peasant communities. Money has also been spent on improving existing theatres: the experimental stage of THOC operates in a space that was previously used as a warehouse by the technical services department of the organisation. The orchestra of the Makarion openair amphitheatre was covered with a fine wooden stage surface and can now be used not only by theatre groups but also by ballet companies. The private sector also took an interest in this field: an old cinema, the Rialto, was bought by the small shopkeepers’ co­ operative savings society and renovated into a modern theatre at a cost of about eight

Left, Chr. C h rysa n th o u , S. S to u vra ki in M ixe d Up by N L a ska ris - T h e a tro P raxis; right, I Shiafkali, M. Vasiliou in The House on Mouson Street by G Agesilaou

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CYPRUS million dollars. The two major banks of Cyprus are also interested in contributing money for the promotion of theatre activities on the island. Foreign groups (mainly from Greece and the UK) are invited to present productions, as well as actors and playwrights of international repute. A significant development during this period has been the establishment of experimental stages (usually called second stage) to function alongside a theatre’s main stage. The State Theatre was a pioneer in this respect. Both THOC and Theatre One established new stages, on which they have produced these plays which could be described as experimental. On these occasions mainland Greek and German directors were employed by the state theatre, which added to the experimental character of these productions. In 1997 THOC produced three plays on its second stage: Judgement by Barry Collins (based on the story of some Russian prisoners of war trapped into cannibalism in an attempt to survive), directed by the young director A Paikos; Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, directed bv the German director and scenographer Frank Hanig, and Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, directed by Ph Stasinos. In 1998 THOC took experimentation even further. The first play on the second stage was Tony Kushner’s version of Corneille’s I J ‘Illusion, an attempt to rewrite a classical French play with strong modern overtones. The play was directed by the Athenian C Arvanitakis .The second production was an even bolder experiment. A Greek Cypriot dramatist, George Neophytou, collected a number of songs and passages from Brecht’s plays and incorporated them in a single unit under the title: About Love and N ot Only. His director, SI Kotsikos, used a professional singer and a professional musician with three actors to present a very interesting performance of some aspects of Brecht’s work. The two other professional theatres of Nicosia, Satirikon and Theatre One, set up their own experimental stages, the latter creating a small theatre space next to its main one with a seating capacity of about 100. Satirikon put on the Bulgarian play Socrates’ L^ast Night, by Steven Tsanef, directed by St Kafkarides, and Theatre One produced three plays: two Cypriot plays, Istoria by Maria Mannaridou Karsera and The House in Mouson Street by Agisilaou, were directed by Maria Karsera, while Andreas Christodoulides, the group’s founder, directed Tom Kempinski’s Duetfo r One. The main stage of THOC followed a more conservative policy, in the sense that most of the plays selected belong to the classical international repertory. During this three year period, the State Theatre produced only one Cypriot play; Irenas Adamidou Ioannidou’s The Meeting, and that on the experimental stage, apart from Christakis Georgiou’s translation of Barrie Stavis’s The Man Who Never Died. It is high time everyone connected with the theatre realises that true Cypriot theatre cannot exist without Cypriot plays. For a number of years THOC has been regularly participating in the Epidaurus Festival with either an Ancient Greek tragedy or a comedy, which limits the number of non-classical plays that can be produced. In the period under examination, two of Aristophanes’ comedies (Lysistrata directed by Ch Shopahas and Peace directed by D Chronopoulos) and two parts of Aeschylus’s Orestia (Choephori and TLumenides, directed by N Charalambous) were produced and presented at various festivals in Cyprus and Greece. The Renaissance and the immediate post-Renaissance period was represented by Christopher Marlowe’s The Jeiv o f Malta, directed by A Pantjis, and Moliere’s Tartuffe, directed by A Kritikos. The 19th century was represented by two plays, a comedy called Babylonia by D.Byjantion and Anton Chekhov’s Uncle I dnya. .Finally, the 20thcentury was represented by Lorca’s Yerma, Dario Fo’s Steal Less and (as mentioned) Barrie Stavis’s 74

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From Satiricon Theatre’s production of Harold and Maude by Christopher Higgins

The Man Who Never Died.. Satirikon is the second oldest theatre of Nicosia. In the past it gave emphasis to contemporary Greek plays. In the period we are examining there has been a slight change, with greater emphasis given to the modem international repertory .Their opening play of 1997 was Romeo and Juliet, a hilarious parody of Shakespeare written by Bost, one of the greatest comic writers of post-war Greece. It was directed by P Polycarpou. Two Cypriot plays were staged in 1997 and 1998, Karagio^is as M ayorhy A.Koukkides, directed by St Kafkarides, and Ttofallos Klonaritis by M.Pitsillides, directed by Chr Zanos. From the international repertory there were Wedekind’s Lulu, also directed by Zanos, and Joseph Stein’s Fiddler on the R oof’ directed by St Kafkarides. The last two plays of 1999 were directed by Despina Bebedelli, who returned to Nicosia for a short period after a successful career as an actress in Athens. They were Harold and Maude by C Higgins (in which Despina also played the lead) and The Abduction o f the Pope by Zioa Mbenthecour, which made clever use of video scenes successfully linked with live ones. During the three-year period 1997-99 the main stage of Theatre One presented six plays, also with an emphasis on the modern international repertory. The small complement of Theatre One’s actors and actresses plays a decisive role in their play selection. Artistic director Andreas Christodoulides directed four of the plays: What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton, Salome by Oscar Wilde, Death Trap by Ira Levin and La Cage aux Folles by Jean Poiret. A play called Famagusta the Royal City, based on the work of Cypriot poet Kyriacos Charalambides, was adapted and directed by Ph Photiades, while The Game o f Love and Chance, by Marivaux, was directed by Evis Gabrielides .Both these theatres adopt a more

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CYPRUS daring line than the State Theatre, both in the selection of plays and in their presentation. The provincial theatre Praxis, based in Limassol, also gives performances in Paphos, Larnaka and Nicosia. Four of the eight plays presented by Praxis during 1997-99 were Greek ones. An interesting experiment was the reconstruction by Ch Samouilides of Pitini, an Attic comedy by Kratinos which has survived in fragmentary form. It was directed by Monica Vasiliou. The three other Greek plays were Moursela’s The Friends, A ll M ixed Up, a 19th century comedy by N.Laskaris, and Vsath&s’ Madam Sousou, directed by N.Charalambous as kind of light musical. From the international repertory came Dario Fo’s M ama’s Marihuana is Sweeter, the Serbian play The Professional by Dusan Kovacevic, directed by Z1 Pakovic, Vargas Llosa’s Kathie and the Flippopotamus and Carl Sternheim’s Die Hose (Knickers). Apart from the municipal theatre and a small privately owned one, Limassol has acquired an old cinema, the Rialto, built in the early 30s, and turned it at a cost of eight million dollars into a beautiful hall for theatre performances, concerts and films. The Scala theatre company operates mainly in Larnaka but also gives performances in Nicosia and elsewhere. Theatrical adaptations of famous novels have been a major feature of their repertory: Nikos Kazantzakis’ famous Captain Michalis, adapted by Costis Colotas and and Dostoevski’s Brothers Karamazov, adapted by A1 Solomos, attracted considerable audiences. Of the remaining eight plays staged during 1997-99 two were Greek, Psathas’ comedy The Thief is Shouting and Thomopoulos’ Male-Female, directed like the novel adaptations by Y Voglis, the theatre’s artistic director. From the European repertory Scala presented six plays: A Turbulent Night, by Ion Caragiale, Sylvia by A R. Gurney Jr, Pathelin’s Farce (Anon), Dario Fo’s Accidental Death o f an Anarchist and Beaumarchais’ The Marriage o f Figaro.. In the field of dance we have the work of Diastasi, a semi-professional group of dancers who give performances not only in Cyprus but also abroad. There is also the work of Roes, which by combining dance, movement and mimicry touches on some vital aspects of human problems. Ariana Economou with her small but very efficient group does pioneering work in this field, bringing together dance teachers who every two years produce a complete ballet. Valuable work is also done by Nadia Nicolaides who in co-operation with her brother, the internationally known choreographer Lambros Lambrou, artistic director of the Austin Ballet Company (USA) organises every summer workshops that culminate in original performances. Creative work is being also done in the fields of Shadow Theatre, by Lena Spanou, Puppet Theatre by Amarandi Shitta and children’s theatre, where the children themselves are the actors, by Lina Zeniou Papa and in the theatre workshop, The Melissi (Beehive) of P.Andreou. All Cyprus’s theatres stage special plays for children, giving regular performances on Saturdays and Sunday mornings. Attendances are far higher than those for adult productions.

Christdkis Georgiou is President o f the Cyprus Centre o f the ITI, form erpresident o f the ITI Playwrights Committee and a member o f the ITI Playivrights Forum. He has participated in all ITI congresses from 1985 to the present, and is an author and adaptor o f plays, as well as writing novels and short stories.

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CZECH REPUBLIC Nothing Dramatic Happening in the Czech Theatre MARIE RESLOVA Money comes first The last few seasons have passed quietly in Czech theatres. Everyone has grown used to the limitations of the state and city purses, which enable essential expenditure to be just about covered. So far, the grant system has not made anyone a living, but it is beginning to function in a small way. From time to time (although less and less often) theatres manage to wheedle a crown or two out of the pockets of sponsors. Paradoxically, most sponsorship money is raised from sponsorship agreements with the semi-state institutions of large theatres already well endowed by the state. Theatre workers outside the large centres have had to come to terms with existence on the bare minimum. After the audience crisis of the early 1990s, theatregoers have begun to return to the theatres — some of them for reasons to do with social status, others seeking theatrical entertainment out of a distaste with the actual manifestation of the long-dreamed-of consumer society, others again looking for something (at least in their imagination) more permanent than the rate of exchange of the crown.

Former ‘amateurs’ and indifferent professionals In recent years, two Czech theatre directors have alternated as victors in the imaginary contest for the Alfred Radok Award, the symbolic honouring of the best theatrical production of the year: Jan Antonin Pitinsky (b. 1955) and Petr Lebl (1965-1999). The first of them has no permanent engagement, and in spite of the fact that he directs around five productions a year, cannot accept all the guest work he is offered. The other has for the last six years been artistic director of what is clearly the most recognised Prague theatre —the Theatre on the Balustrades. The paradox of contemporary Czech theatre is that neither of them studied theatrical direction as a profession. In the second half of the 1980s, the declining years of socialist Czechoslovakia, a number of theatre workers —middle-generation contemporaries —preferred personal experience and more liberated, amateur work to conventional study and practice in the official theatres. At that time, in the makeshift conditions of the ‘Culture Houses’, and to a certain extent for a ‘closed society’, several legendary productions came into existence which foreshadowed the powerful quality of imagination and somewhat hermetic sensibility of the Czech theatre of the 1990s (for example, Pitinsky’s M other and Lebl’s Grotesque). The flood of talent from the ranks of these ‘indisciplined’ amateurs, unusually disposed towards a startling and inward-looking insight into the staged work, encouraged

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CZECH REPUBLIC a strengthening of rather dangerous tendencies in the Czech theatre: the informal organisation of theatrical activity and the ‘substituting’ of theatrical and acted elements by the use of design, stylisation, personalities and subjective relationships and experiences. However, it is worth noting that the most highly valued productions (Pitinsky’s stagings of Thomas Bernhard’s Ritter, Dene, I 'oss and The Theatremaker or Lebl’s stagings of Chekhov’s The Seagull and Ivanov) emerged in cooperation with experienced actors who were attracted by the unconventional creation of these directors and who knew how to fill out the exaggerated fantasy of their imaginations with multi-layered skills. Meanwhile, where this life-giving conjunction is missing, it is apparent that even the legendary imaginative powers of a Pitinsky or a Lebl have their limits and their cliches. Many of the large ‘stone’ theatres in the Bohemian and Moravian metropolises, including the National Theatre and Vinohrady Theatre in Prague, have followed a less encouraging development in recent years. Constantly repeated acting routines and conventions are often endowed here with a personal signature or stamp of confidence, whilst the dramaturgy is cautious, consisting of a safety net of guaranteed classics, occasionally a boulevard comedy or, at the opposite extreme, a blind leap into the treacherous waters of original work (the National Theatre), without the theatre being capable of influencing the quality of the text or making a rational estimate of the risks which might ensue. The social status of these theatres is great —most of them employ television and film stars and are permanently sold out. Unfortunately guest productions by talented young directors have so far shown no evident results — in these monoliths there is no possibility of working on the basis of personal relationships and trust, and the best-laid plans and ideas founder on professional inadequacies on both sides.

Hopeful prospects It is at least encouraging that there are places in the regions — linked mostly with the name of a director or the work of a specific group of young talents —which have drawn the attention of theatre specialists. In these places theatrical work is being created at a more direct level, in close contact with the public, whilst the genius loci of the town often plays an important role. For the last few years of the questionnaire set by the leading theatre journal Svet a divadlo (World and Theatre), the Klicpera Theatre in Hradec Kralove has come near the top of the ‘theatre of the year’ category (in 1998 it was the overall winner). Under the leadership of Vladimir Moravek it has produced some provocative Shakespearean stagings as well as a cycle of contemporary plays under the title The Night o f the Antelope. The Municipal Theatre in Zlin has regularly made use of J A Pitinsky’s personal connection with his native town (productions of Franz Kafka’s Trial, Helmut Schwab’s Prasidentinneri), whilst in Ostrava the little theatre Arena has attracted attention, as well as the standard of work in the National Theatre of Moravia and Silesia. The Drama Studio of Ustf nad Labem has presented original Czech plays regularly and with an understanding for the genre, and in Plzen the actor Antonin Prochazka has been writing one satisfying situation comedy after another... Other promising developments —reactions to the new social situation —include the hot-bed of alternative theatre linked with an interest in the possiblities of movement and musical expression; the ‘site specific’ movement; ethnic culture; and eastern philosophy... It has its own centres (amongst the most important are the Prague club Roxy and the Akropolis Theatre) as well as its own festivals (Next wave, Four days in movement, Alternative...), not to mention a strong following among the younger generation.

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Theodora Remandova, Bohumil Klepl in Peter Lebl’s production of Chekhov’s Ivanov- Divadlo Na Zabradli, Prague

Windows on the world both celebrated and execrated As late as 1993 there was virtually no large nationwide theatre festival in Bohemia or Moravia, let alone an international festival. Contact with abroad was still minimal and the Czech theatre contentedly dreamed its provincial dream. Nowadays some disturbance is caused (although it hardly amounts to an arousal from this comfortable lethargy) first by the prestigious international festival ‘Theatre’ (run by the same group around Svet a divadlo as the annual Alfred Radok Awards) and next by around two dozen other festivals. The performances seen here are not only fine examples of professional standards and artistic invention, but from time to time a mirror of Czech narrow-mindedness and lack of tolerance. In this connection a specific importance can be attached to the Prague Festival of German Theatre, which was held for the first time in 1996. For centuries the Czech theatre developed in a close relationship with the German theatre, and this annual survey of leading productions from German-speaking countries aims to renew this natural continuity of mutual inspiration and cooperation interrupted by the Second World War. A similar key role has been played for the last five years by the theatre Archa, the only Prague stage which regularly hosts and, in its own projects, cooperates with foreign companies and artists (Robert Wilson, DogTroep, Min Tanaka, DV8 and many others). This is the way that doors open to a more generous view of theatrical possibilities.

Original plays - the salt of the theatre 1998 brought with it the largest ever number of new theatrical works entered in the annual competition for the best original play held by the Alfred Radok Foundation. The total of 82 entries in this most recent competition is approximately double that of previous years. As well as theatre workers and absolute beginners, their authors include people from a wide variety of practical professions. There can be no reliable explanation for The World of Theatre

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Radek Holub and Eva Holubova in Peter Lebl’s production of Chekhov’s Iv a n o v - Divadlo Na Zabradli, Prague

such an enormous jump in the figure. One possible reason —maybe somewhat idealistic —is the possibility that along with growing and ever more complicated social problems and conflicts, there is also a growing need to express them in the form of the drama.

Boom in theatre building Since 1996 there have been more theatre spaces built or reconstructed in Prague than in several preceding decades. This record of success can be attributed mainly to the commercial success of the first big Czech post-revolution musicals —Les Miserables and Jesus Christ Superstar. In the last three years alone, thanks to multi-million crown private investment, three big musical stages have opened and another is under construction — even though there is a threat of over-saturation of the potential public, and it is already clear that the bombastic successes of the musical pioneers are unlikely to be repeated. Thanks to a combination of local authority grants, donations from foundations, public collections and private means, a remarkable building has been created for the first specialised ‘theatre of mimes’, Alfred in the Courtyard. The celebrated clown, mime artist and pedagogue Ctibor Turba stands as the patron of both the company and the premises. A similar combination has resurrected the Fidlovaka Theatre, conceived as a ‘folk’ stage and essentially constructed within the theatre’s abandoned and devastated old building. It is typical that both stages — each for completely different reasons —are fighting for survival thanks to the shortage of funding sources for running costs. For the 80

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Dido and A eneas by Purcell, directed by J A Pitinsky - J K Tyl Theatre, Plzen (photo: Marta Kolafova)

time being, it is completely impossible in the Czech Republic to run a completely private theatre company, apart from the aforementioned musical productions.

Conclusion It can be hoped that after ten years in ‘market-place’ conditions the Czech theatre already has the worst behind it. It has learnt to adapt to the new situation thanks to the legendary Czech ability for improvisation, which has helped and still helps theatre workers to adapt to makeshift conditions both technically and existentially. And even more importandy, it has not lost its other typical features — its sense of humour or its self­ irony.

Marie R eslova is a critic andpubliciat, trained at the Theatre Vacuity o f the Prague Academy o f Arts. She is currently editor o f Divadelnf Noviny (Theatre Journal)

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DENMARK The New Danish Drama - a Well Kept Secret PER THEIL Theatre crisis or no, on the threshold of the millennium the theatre seasons 1996-99 have in many ways emphasised the significant role that the new Danish drama has played in the past ten years. Our theatre, indeed, has been in constant crisis throughout the nineties, but the mere number of new Danish plays is a sign that it isn t a total loss. Quite simply, we have never seen so many new young dramatists as today. And the plays themselves —as petty and fashion-conscious as some of them may seem —have been remarkably good and, in some cases, innovative. Or, as the American playwright Deborah Bailey Brevoort has explained it in a newsletter, based on her experience on a study tour of Danish theatre in summer 1998, ‘I found the theatre scene in Denmark to be vibrant and exciting and one of the best-kept secrets in the world. I was astounded that there were so many theatres there. I was even more astounded by the amount of new work that's being done and by the commitment that your theatres have made to Danish playwrights.’ She concludes: ‘It's unusual and admirable. And to top everything off, the work was good — very visual, physical and well-produced.’ Ms Brevoort is not referring, however, to the most spectacular performance of recent times —the national drama. It is a drama that has now been going on for decades —and during the last two years quite intensely - due to the fact that the Danish National Stage has fought for a new and better theatre complex, in which there would also be room for smaller, and therefore more appropriate, auditoria for Danish plays not suited to the big houses. The first ambitious project to build a new house was abandoned. In the autumn of 1998, The Royal Theatre celebrated its 250th Jubilee, and the debate was dramatically focused on the question of maintaining the trinity of theatre, ballet and opera. The actors wanted a new theatre complex, the opera singers wanted a new opera and music house. Some politicians defended the three-in-one approach, while others opposed what they saw as an outdated tradition. The debate was concrete, indeed, but it illustrated first and foremost the key issue: the fundamental identity crisis of our modern stage society. The Royal Theatre will, it has finally been decided, remain a three-in-one house. But the Minister of Cultural Affairs has succeeded at least in getting the finance for a new theatre complex. To be precise, it is an enlargement of an already existing theatre building: a former power station, Turbinehallerne, which is used for Royal Theatre performances and situated relatively close to the old Royal Theatre. There have been other dramas on the public stage. Autumn 1998 culminated with a campaign by extreme conservative reviewers against the artistic director of the Drama Department, Klaus Hoffmever, who gave a strong profile to his first season at the Royal 82

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Morti Vizki’s Utvetime (Nightmare) - Badteatret

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(photo: Gorm Valentin)

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DENMARK Theatre (1997-98) by programming no fewer than seven new Danish plays; in the previous season there were only two. The country's reviewers —though not all of them —wanted a national theatre much more popular, broad and classical in its repertoire. At the same time, many of the reviewers themselves were accused —by representatives of the theatres —of being too elitist and too narrow-minded in their reviews of Danish theatre in general and musicals in particular. Denmark is certainly a dramatic nation, both in these arguments and when it comes to the real stuff, that is the more serious plays, which have dominated the repertoire throughout the nineties and not least in the last two seasons. The Danish new wave of playwrights has two dominant genres: the life-style theatre or post-modern comedy that has tried to reflect the young generation of the nineties; and the mythological theatre - all those literary (or poetic) attempts to reflect ourselves as spiritual rather than members of a society on the edge of the time, with or without the vision of ultimate destruction. Post Apocalypse on stage. With the post-modern theatre of reality, Denmark (and Copenhagen in particular) has for the first time developed a genuine, young and visible theatre of its generation. It is defined by a predominantly post-absurdist writing and acting style, in which the driving force, first and foremost —as with so much else in these times —is irony, along with a neurotic-desperate narcissism as the expression of a whole generation, who bear witness to the period’s chaos and lack of identity, but distance it into a kind of game in which laughter is an antidote to pain. One of our young dramatists, Lars Kaalund, has during the last few years made a spectacular contribution to the post-modern theatre with his portraits of modern couple relationships, now in violent plays borrowing from the film thriller, now in plays reflecting the £«Vg«j/skirting the edge of the grave. Last year he made his debut as the new artistic director of one of Copenhagen’s most challenging theatre buildings, Ostre Gasvasrk, a former gasworks built in 1878 and since 1983 used as a stage primarily for musicals. He announced, perhaps as a reaction to many of his own ironical plays, that the time has now come to deal with the classic stories and the great emotions: love, no less. And as regards his production, Donna Juanna, an entirely new piece built on the Don Juan theme and written and directed by himself, it was obvious that Lars Kaalund was continuing his investigation of the modern couple relationship and the idea of love. A group of chequered relationships was portrayed in the ironical sense, but at the same time erotically linked to the stranger from outside, the female and fatal seducer herself; Donna Juanna. The conclusion of the play was not clear, but the audience sensed a flirtation with death and a serious attempt by the author to view life as such in a more religious light. The playwright Line Knutzon took a similarly new philosophical step with her latest play, Soon the Time Will Come, (Snart hammer tiden) which was performed at the young generation's cult-theatre in Copenhagen, Dr Dantes Aveny. Line Knutzon has throughout the nineties represented the young post-absurdism, where playing with the theatre of the absurd as a form has resulted in a conscious dramatic indiscipline, life-style portraits based more on language than on plot development. In Soon the Time Will Come, two 30year-old couples are confronted with the concept of time and the question: whatever became of it? The characters all seem to have lost their sense of time, and consequently the sense of life itself. It is a very amusing text, her best play so far, which in many ways reflects modern existence as such: from motherhood and family ties to the loss of love and (once again), the lack of identity. The list of Danish life-style comedy-writers during the season of 98-99 also includes such names as Bo Hr Hansen and his Kush Hours (M idti en myldretid)', Soren Fauli (originally 84

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DENMARK a filmmaker) who made his debut as a playwright on Dr Dantes Aveny with Spiral o f Failure (Fiaskospiralen); a satirical comedy dealing with movie-stars; Nikoline Werdelin, who is known for her cartoon strips about her generation’s life- and cafe-style, and who made her debut in 1997 with Prospective Buyers (Uebhaveme). In this season she directed her second play, The BlindPainter(Den blinde maler), which was at the same a comic tragedy and a tragic comedy about a painter and all his women. We are, in other words, talking about the temporal drama as one of the major directions within the new Danish drama of the nineties. That is, about plays that are characterised by being extroverted and in a perpetual dialogue with their times. But in so saying, are we also speaking of real social portraits? No, I don’t think we are. Particularly not if we compare ourselves with the political statements made on the foreign scene, for example the social and sexual rebellion among the young British dramatists —most are familiar with Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Tucking, performed all over Europe and in Denmark as well in the season 1998-99. Not to mention the social realist —or social hyperrealist — Lars Noren, whose Personkrets 3:1 has been quite a success in both Sweden and Denmark. The piece was performed at Betty Nansen Teatret in the autumn 1998 and has recently been given a Danish prize for best production, praised for its authentication of the theatre’s language. Viewed in this light, much of the new Danish drama most typical of the times —and most bound to the times —cannot be said to be political. Attempts at a drama that has tried to formulate statements about the times which contain a social reality have been made, though, by Nikolaj Cederholm: Paradise {Paradis, 1997); by Jess 0rnsbo, the godfather of many young dramatists of the nineties; and by Astrid Saalbach, who is also reckoned one of the best playwrights in Denmark: Morning and Evening (Morgen ogA ften, 1993), The Blessed Child (Det velsignede barn, 1997), Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust {Aske til aske - stev til stev, 1998). An outstanding trilogy as a social, political and spiritual portrait of the modern indivual's fate. So much for the time-conscious side of the new Danish drama. So much for what can be called the extrovert side of playwriting in the nineties. Perhaps as a counter­ reaction to the young generation of theatre ironists, the new Danish drama in the late nineties has also started to become contemplative. Interest in the interior world and in the spiritual dimension, the soul itself, has become the choice for playwrights. It has given rise to more or less symbolist or surrealist, sometimes purely mythological dramas. Not least, it has meant a much greater poetic and linguistic approach to the stage, where monologue and inner conflict, rather than dialogue and external action, have defined the form. Soul drama, as the pieces could be called collectively, is expressing an immersion in the self and the soul, which has been their aim. The playwright Morti Vizki seriously consolidated his role as the myth-maker and mystic of Danish drama with Lighthouse, (Fyrtarnet., 1998 at the Royal Theatre), which has a civil war as its outer plot, and uses the relationship between a soldier and a mongoloid child to articulate a longing for paradise lost; human fraternity and the land of childhood and brotherhood. Vizki has had two more pieces performed in the season 1998-99. In Dion, the god Dionysos is fetched back in the figure of a young guy, who claims the right to great and irrational chaos —all of the sensual and underlying forces in the individual — and as such appears as an angel of darkness; tempter and seducer, prophet and killer - a modern Antichrist. The piece was performed at Aalborg Teater as well as for the Radio Theatre. And in his latest piece, Nightmare {[Ulvetime), brotherhood (a key theme in this playwright's work) is tested again as a fragile possibility in a world and in a decade where human fellowship —and the nature of family —seems to be limited to ritual membership in a football club. Nightmare is more mysterious perhaps than necessary, but in places The World of Theatre

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DENMARK typical enough of the religious-mythological revival which is defining the theatre of the late nineties. Here, with Morti Vizki, it is given form in the tribal fellowship, in the almost sacred collection of football memorabilia, and in the branding which its two male characters perform on each other, expressing in part a ritual brotherhood, and in part a stigmatising —the image of the suffering human being. And so we have distanced ourselves from the post-modern theatre and its extrovert focusing on the individual as a social phenomenon, in favour of a far more mythologically oriented, introverted investigation of the individual as a spiritual phenomenon. Jokum Rohde's Nero, Peter Asmussen's Bones (Knogler) and Astrid Saalbachs Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust ate all recent plays where we hover in a kind of new —labyrinthine — space, where the directionless, and so saying identityless, individual stands; this space contains life's meaninglessness, which also becomes that of the piece itself: The world — and the theatre as a mirror of the world - is smashed. Seen alongside the late-nineties interest in focusing on the great classics, in particular in the season 98-99, in the theatre it marks a concern with the great emotions, where we as human beings are placed in a framework of destiny rather than of life-style. The very presence of new indigenous drama has been a living —perhaps the most living —factor in Danish theatre of the nineties; it has been a qualification in itself. We are speaking of a historic breakthrough as regards the number of new plays and new playwrights. The future must show whether Denmark is also able to produce playwrights of world calibre. On the other hand, the nineties’ poetic itch to write has already provoked an unusual amount of interest abroad, not only in the other Nordic countries, but almost everywhere in Europe: Kirsten Delholm and her performance theatre, Hotel Pro Forma, are regularly invited to present new and and older works abroad. Some twelve Danish plays were presented on foreign stages in 1998, and Morti Vizki's masterpiece, The Lighthouse was performed in the spring of 1999 in Debrecen: the first Danish drama ever seen in Hungary. From one of the best-kept secrets in the world to a world-wide success? Danish theatre still has a long way to go, but we are trying hard —now and in the years to come —to be seriously revealed.

Per Theil m ites theatre criticismfo r the daily newspaper, Berlingske Tidende, and lectures at Copenhagen University’s Department o f Theatre Science.

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ECUADOR EDUARDO ALMEIDA NAVEDA In order to better understand theatre in Ecuador today, and before we look at its development, it is important to take account of the fact that it has always been able to maintain its independence from government influence, be it central or local. The major characteristic, in fact, of the country’s theatrical development over the last thirty years is that it has been able to keep going with hardly any support or subsidy from the state. On the one hand this has allowed companies to be completely free, in choosing their repertoire, of either approval or interference from any source which might seek to constrain or censor their activities On the other hand, this distancing from state interests has made it impossible for Ecuador’s theatre to benefit from any state aid or grants, which might have made its development easier. If, therefore, theatre production in our country has been able to survive and continue, in spite of crises, restructuring and forced bankruptcies, and in spite of the fact that successive governments have been uninterested in the progress and orderly development of the theatre community, this has only been made possible by the dedication and drive of individual theatre-makers. So that, during the Eighties, apart from occasional help from institutions such as the Central Bank of Ecuador in Quito (our capital city and centre of cultural provision), theatre activity has been able to count on only a limited amount of economic support, which has largely gone towards helping to spread the work of a few companies at local or national level. This financial assistance was intended either to support the presentation of theatrical work in poorer areas without proper theatre spaces, or to organise seminars and workshops for children and young people, thus promoting and spreading the art of theatre to those who had not previously been able to experience it. Unfortunately, the economic crisis of the Nineties has brought to a standstill the country’s chances of undertaking cultural and social projects, and the existing, infrequent subsidies have gradually diminished to the point where today they have completely disappeared. This has contributed in a very obvious way to the end of the workshops and other activities which brought some cultural nourishment to the more deprived areas. At present, there is no longer a single theatre group which has been able to receive or hold on to any support or subsidy, public or private. In the last five years, numerous troupes have either ceased to exist altogether or considerably reduced their activities. A few actors and directors have been able to keep up their work on television, in poor quality programmes made in response to the current commercial demands of the medium. Others have gone into academic work. As for Ecuador’s writers, their presence has hardly been noticed for these five years: they continue to write, but their plays are rarely seen for the reasons that have been mentioned. In these last three seasons, the trend of theatre companies’ productions has been towards comic and popular works, a few of them notable for a certain irony, and even faint echoes of comment on the current political scene. There has also been a renewal of interest in collective creations or stage adaptations of national or Latin American literature, a method of work very popular throughout Latin America during the Seventies. The World of Theatre

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Gerson Guerra in E l agitado paseo del S r Lucas

{photo: Randy Krarud)

The experimental groups have been taken up with themes such as solitude, sexuality, and revolt, attracting a mainly young audience. There was an increasing presence of groups which concern themselves with student audiences, such as the School of Theatre of the Quito Central University, and the city’s Polytechnic University, both of which present productions each year as part of their courses. In the last three seasons we have also seen the University of Manta’s Theatre Festival, in September, which invites small companies from Ecuador and the rest of Latin America. As for the local councils of Quito and Guayaquil, the country’s two most important towns, they have continued to organise festivals which have brought together companies from Ecuador, Latin America and, very occasionally, from Europe. Dance in Ecuador has always had the greater part of any state support. Official budgets have always paid attention to the art form, which has strengthened those organisations which keep up a year-round programme, such as the Compania Nacional de Danza and the Ballet Ecuatoriano de Camara. Other less influential groups have joined in what is called the Independent Dance Front, with its headquarters in Quito, as is the case with the two other companies mentioned. It should be mentioned that the latter two companies maintain a professional company of Ecuadorian and overseas performers, and receive an annual state subsidy to support their educational activities and their dance productions. The Dance Front has smaller means, but it can be said that in general, dance in Ecuador has better spaces, buildings and grants than the country’s theatre.

Eduardo Almeida N aveda is a stage director andpainter, and director since 1970 o f the Teatro Experimental Ecuatoriano. He is the author o f ten plays and a number o f essays, among them the history o f twentieth century theatre in Ecuador and the national articlefo r the World Encyclopedia o f Contemporary Theatre. 88

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ECUADOR ECUADOR-NOTABLE PRODUCTIONS Season 1996-1997 Romeo and Ju liet Shakespeare. Arteamerica, director Alejandro Pinto. Guayaquil, January 1997.

A merica no existe (There Is No America) by Bichsel. Asosiacion Humbolt, director Gottart Kruppel. Quito, January 1997 Los rituales funerarios (Funeral Rites), dance piece. Humanizarte. Quito, January 1997 M irlo Negro, choreography by W ilson Pico. Arteamerica. Quito, January 1997 MANTA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, September 1996: Companies : La Trinchera (Manta) El Porton (Argentine) and Merida Urqufa as M utter Courage by Bertolt Brecht.

Season 1997-1998 Recetas conjugates (Recipes tor Marriage) by Ramon Serrano. Compani'a de Teatro. Quito, January 1998 Ulises y la maquina deperdices (Ulysses and the Partridge Machine) by Peky Andino. Patio de Comedias, director Alejandro Pinto. December 1997 Shakespeare Dance Festival. Ballet Ecuatoriano de Camara, choreography Ruben Guarderas. Quito, January 1998. N ino dance piece by Susana Reyes. Arteamerica. Quito, May 1998 MANTA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL, September 1997: Companies : Lirio y rosa (Brazil) M atacandela y Ensamblaje de Colombia. QUITO FESTIVAL,July-August 1998: Companies from Brazil, Britain, Colombia, Ecuador. Tours to various towns

Season 1998-1999 FIRST FESTIVAL OF SCENIC ART, Guayaquil, December 1998 E l agitadopaseo d e! senor Lucas (Senor Lucas’s Busy Walk) Malayerba N ora, adapted from A D oll’s House by Ibsen. Teatro Experimental de Guayaquil. N opuedo verte triste (I Cannot See You Sad) dance-theatre. Sarao, director Luis Mueckay. La infanta de /os olridos (Princess o f the Forgotten), performed by Carmen Vicente. Quito, May 1998.

Retrato (Portrait), choreography by Wilson Pico. Quito, May 1998 Rais manso (Soft Land), choreography by W ilson Pico. Quito, January 1999 N uestra Senora de !a nuhes (Our Lady o f the Clouds) by Aristide Vargas. Malayerba. Quito, April 1999 lo s e Enriqueta si eso te ayuda (Cough, Enriqueta, If It Helps) El callejon del agua. Quito, May 1999. E l buscador de ilusiones (Seeker o f Illusions) by Eduardo Galeano. Espada de Madera, director Patricio Estrella. Quito, April 1999. A m antes amities (Blue Lovers) from Garcia Marquez. Group K, Quito, April 1999

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EGYPT HASSAN ATTIA and AHMED ZAKI During these three years there has been no dominant trend in Egypt’s serious (Statesponsored) theatre, but rather a looser approach and more general interest in both local and international work. The availability of playhouses has been a problem. Some state theatre companies in Cairo and Alexandria are without theatres as they have been reclaimed by their previous owners. Other major playhouses, such as the Lyric Theatre’s Balloon Theatre and the large Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria, have been closed for renovations for the past two years. Although there have been fewer performances of plays in the mainstream theatre, there has been more variety. We can see this by looking at the repertoire of the National Theatre for the 1996-97 season, which varied from a light-hearted commercial-type musical comedy based in the future Wadctan Ya Bakawat (Farewell Beks) by Lenin El Ramly, addressing globalization, to Atwa Abou Matwa (Ativa the Knife) by Alfred Farag, based on Brecht, and the revival of a 20s poetic political drama as a modern farce. Some general observations are that theatrical works inspired by the Arab heritage and its folklore have increased, and that the current experimental trend in Egyptian theatre has concentrated on physical expression and distanced itself from overt political or social messages, focusing rather on creating a theatrical performance close to dance theatre. The most clearly-defined thematic and genre trends are revivals; plays which use historical or mythological sources; folkloric plays; plays dealing with contemporary social problems; political allegory; and international works. The revivals have been the most controversial plays as far as the literary critics were concerned. The discussion centred on the right of the director to change the original text and the ‘dumbing down’ of the events to please the audience. For example, E l Sitt Floda (l^ady Floda) directed at the National Theatre by Samir El Asfouri extended this one-act political play of the 20s, written by the great poet Ahmed Shawki about the historical period immediately after the crushing of the 1919 Revolution by the British, and turned it into a full-length modern farce, thus destroying both the poetry of the language and the essential meaning of the play. Similarly, the 1998-99 season saw the revival of Tewflk Fd Hakim’s play Shams El Nahar(Sun o f the Day). Tewfik El Hakim was famous for his use of the Arabic Modified Classical language to write clear theatrical dialogue, but the director of this revival rewrote the play into colloquial Egyptian dialect. This was felt unsuitable for the subject, which was based on the Thousand and One Nights. However, Mohamed Sobhy’s revival of L i’b et E l Sit (The Lady’s Game) written in the 40’s by Badie Khairy, managed to preserve all the 90

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A bove: From Yousry El Kham is’s adaptation of Carmen - Radio Theatre Below, left: Soheir El Mourshedi in Last Dance o f Salome by Mohamed Salmawy; right: Ann Turk and Mahmoud El Haddini in Gilgamesh by Shawki Khamis

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EGYPT characteristics of the original script while using modern stagecraft and technology to create a very popular show. Works based on historical or mythological Middle Eastern and Mediterranean sources were well received. Gilgamesh, based on the 4,000 year old story of the Sumerian hero, was produced as a short poetic epic by Ahmed Zaki, with a text by Shawky Khamis, that highlighted the theme of the ending of dictatorships and the eternal search for immortality. The playwright Mohamed Salmawy offered Rakset Salome E l Akhira (Salome’s East Dance) directed by Hanaa Abdel Fattah. This play is an imaginative projection of a dominant Queen Salome faced by a Christian uprising, as an allegory of the situation in Palestine. At Cairo Opera Flouse, the Opera Company presented Thais. On the same stage the Rahabani Group of Lebanon visited Cairo to show their version of Socrates, emphasizing the adherence of the great Greek philosopher to his principles, even to death. The message was understood as a call to Palestine and the Arab Nation to maintain their honour and dignity. Egyptian folk traditions were the inspiration for three non-traditional works. The lyrical drama Makhadet E l Kohl (The Kohl Pillow) won the first prize in the 1998 Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theatre (CIFET). This was a poetic and bitter­ sweet depiction of the marriage rituals and confined circumstances of the women in the countryside, directed by Intisar Abdel Fattah. CIFET 98 also highly recommended Hassan El Geretly for his work G ha^eerE lE eil (Spinning Nights) which is set within the framework of the Helaleya heroic poem cycle using all dimensions of traditional story telling and folk music traditions. Shafika and Metrvally by Shawki Abdel Hakim, directed by Ashraf Zaki, was a robust folk melodrama drawing on the traditions of Upper Egypt with their suffocating stress on honour and blood feuds. Contemporary social problems also engaged several playwrights. The play Ahlam Eel B e’i (Dreamsfo r Sale) dealt with the lack of conscience of those who sell their principles, break trusts and end by losing their self-respect. In Sameh Mahran’s Mirakby (The Boatman), the Modern Theatre presented a picture of the exploitation and humiliation of the weak and the poor especially when they are trying to find somewhere to make love. While in The Black Rabbit, the experienced playwright Abdallah El Toukhy criticises the traditions of the family controlling the old and the young. He deals with the community at the level of the nuclear family —the domination of the mother over her children. Political allegory is always a rich field. Walid Awnv, the Lebanese-born founder of the Modern Dance Theatre presented Song o f the Whales, in which he expresses metaphorically the revolt of the stone-throwing children in Palestine. A l Tajeb Wa E l Sherir (The Good and the Evil), by the veteran playwright Alfred Farag, was derived from the Thousand and One Nights. The theme is simple and folkloric, reminding us that the good remain good and vice versa. Alabanda, a musical comedy directed by Samir El Asfouri, is a private commercial theatre production about Arab tourists arriving in Egypt. It was a successful mixture of separate events in cabaret style. Lenin El Ramly’s Wa’adan Ya Bakaivat, at the National Theatre, looked at the future, especially the global domination of America, and concluded that third world countries must take steps to stop being crushed and marginalised in the New World Order. International plays were popular in the 1998-99 season. The Youth Theatre presented E ’A vare (TheM iser)hy Moliere. Its director, Khaled Galal, used caricature in the framework

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EGYPT of melodramatic action. Marriage Italian Style was directed for the National Theatre by Mariano Rigilla. He has a long history of presenting this play around the world, this time directing it in Arabic. The actor and director Mohamed Sobhy presented a play-within-aplay approach to the well-known opera Carmen, using the personality of a director and an actress based on a Spanish movie. One of the problems which have handicapped Egyptian theatre for some time is financial support. The commercial private theatres have their own sources. The Cultural Palaces Sector is also fully subsidized. As for the serious experimental and State theatres, there are now new sources of financial support in the Cultural Development Fund and foreign sources. Lately, Egyptian Television has begun commissioning plays to be shown on TV.

DrHassan Attia is a critic, a Professor at the A rts Academy, and Theatre GeneralManager at the Culture Palaces GeneralAuthority, Cairo; he is also a form er member o f the Board o f Directors o f the Institutefo r the Mediterranean Theatre, Madrid. D r Ahmed Zdki is a Professor at the A rts Academy and Head o f the Egyptian ITI; he is a form er Egyptian Under-Secretary o f State and Head o f the Theatre and Tolkloric A rts Sector.

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ESTONIA JAAK RAHESOO It is more than eight years since Estonia re-established her independence in August 1991, but the country is still said to be in a ‘period of transition’. Although she is usually cited as one of the success stories of post-socialist Eastern Europe, the change-over to a capitalist market economy has hit many people, and the arts have not remained unscathed in the process. Besides, they have lost their former function of half-veiled opposition to Soviet totalitarianism. The theatre as a public art, more dependent on material conditions than, say, literature or painting, has been especially vulnerable to these changes. Nevertheless, the years of acute crisis seem to be over, and we are probably justified in saying that the theatre has survived pretty well. Many companies have had to cut their numbers and make other accommodations, but a network of ten professional repertory theatres (for a nation of 1.5 million), which was built up during the first period of independence (1918-40) and continued to function with certain modifications throughout the fifty-year Soviet occupation, has been kept intact. This has been possible only due to direct state subvention, which largely covers their regular running costs. More specialised needs and individual projects have been financed by various sponsors and foundations. The most important among the latter is the Estonian Cultural Endowment (Eesti Kultuurkapital), founded (or re-started, as there had been a similar institution during the previous independence period) in 1994. Its main source of income is a certain percentage of taxes levied on alcohol, tobacco, and gambling; the money is distributed by non-salaried commissions selected from among the candidates put up by relevant professional organizations. So the Estonian theatre seems to have settled in for a period of relative stabilization. The seasons of 1996-99 simply continued that process, which began about five or six years ago. The situation is somewhat paradoxical. On the one hand, the whole social context has radically changed; on the other hand, it is difficult to identify similar changes in the theatre. Rather than trying to reflect or confront society, directors and actors have half-consciously, it seems, been driven to treat the theatre as an oasis for pursuing more abstract spiritual, psychological, and artistic quests. If these are in some way obliquely related to social processes, that relationship is still vague. At present, people simply go to plays that are described as ‘good theatre’. The productions of Merle Karusoo (b 1944), like Kured lainud, kurjad ibnad (The Cranes Gone, Bad Weather, March 1997; on Estonian sexual mores) or Kiiiidipoisid (Deportation Men-, March 1999; on those who collaborated with Stalinist mass terror), based on sociological studies and sometimes journalistic in their rhetoric, are conspicuous because of their exceptional character. In the repertoire, the big change —brushing away Soviet ideological restrictions and quotas -already happened some ten years ago. Since then, the only clear feature has been the predominance of Anglo-American drama. Otherwise, all observable tendencies have been short-lived and open to different interpretations. There was, for example, a 94

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ESTONIA spate of plays on romantic subjects and characters (Don Quixote, Edmund Kean, Les Trois Mousquetaires, to name a few) about three or four years ago. One could see it as a protest against rampant capitalist materialism; but one could equally see it as a reflection of the adventurism of the same early-capitalist phase. Curiously, that tendency ran parallel to another trend —an interest in absurdist or surrealist plays. Again, you could interpret the latter as a protest against simple-minded materialism; or, as an elitist stance against artistic commercialism; or, as a wish to belatedly pass through a phase of theatrical development that was left largely uncovered in Soviet years. The trend that has been notably absent is raw realism. The drama has never been a leading genre of Estonian literature. The single outstanding name of the 1990s is Madis Koiv (b 1929), physicist by profession, philosopher and writer by vocation. Most of his plays actually derive from earlier decades; the reason for the delay was that both the author and the theatres thought them unstageable —sort of private visions that had merely taken the outward form of drama. At the same time this visionary quality proved to be their main theatrical asset, once the theatres overcame their doubts. The person mainly responsible for ‘discovering’ Koiv is Priit Pedajas (b 1954), who is considered one of two or three leading stage directors of the decade. For Pedajas’ ‘musical’ style, where long meditative stretches alternate with frantic activity, Koiv’s plays were highly suitable material. His recent productions of Koiv include Peiarite obtunditus (The Pranksters’ EveningShow, Febr. 1997), where rivalries and jealousies within a group of village workmen at the beginning of the century carry a sense of imminent doom; Koiv’s dramatization of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s novel Die Elixiere des Teufels (The D evil’s Elixir; June 1998), where the audience was seated on the revolving stage and the intricate Gothic action took place in the wings and the auditorium; and a long-titled comedy (let’s call itMoondsundi I asselaitet one of its characters; June 1999) of unending talk and inconclusive activities. In addition, Mikk Mikiver (born 1937) produced Stseene saja-aastasest sojast (Scenes from a Hundred Years War.; Febr. 1998), and the young director Ain Maeots (b 1971) staged Omavahelisijutuajamisi tadi Elliga (Private Talks with A unt Elli, Dec. 1998), both obviously based on Koiv’s personal recollections, but tantalizingly convoluted and obscure even by his standards. Among younger authors, Andrus Kivirahk (born 1970) and Mart Kivastik (born 1963) have exploited more easy-going modes. Kivirahk continued his ‘surrealistic’ line 'mAtentaat (Assassination Attempt, Apr. 1997, dir. Hendrik Toompere Jr.), more tightlywritten than his previous plays. Kivastik hovers betweeen character studies and absurdist situations in Peeterja Tonu (Peeter and Tonu, June 1997, dir. Hendrik Toompere Jr.) and Onne, Leena! (Congratulations, Leena\, staged by Ingomar Vihmar, Febr. 1999, at the Ugala Theatre in Viljandi, and by Ain Maeots, March 1999, at the VanemuineTheatre inTartu). To promote original playwriting, the Estonian Drama Agency has organized a couple of competitions. Participation has been quite active, but the only remarkable result so far is Ristuminepeateega (Highway Crossing), a ‘well-made-play’ on the conflict of love and money, by the young actor Jaan Tatte (born 1964). The play has been staged in three theatres, including the author’s own production at the Tallinn City Theatre (Sept. 1998), and it was also quickly filmed. Another paradox of the present theatrical situation in Estonia is that while a new generation of directors and actors has been arriving and now occupies strategic positions in many theatres, there has been no radical change of style. The last decisive ‘stylistic revolution’ actually happened around 1970, in the very era of the ‘Brezhnev stagnation’, with the coming of what was called ‘metaphorical-physical theatre’; and there is nothing to compare with the divisions of opinion that raged then. In the present ‘post-modernist’ The World of Theatre

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ESTONIA pluralism of tastes there is a surprisingly unanimous cross-generational agreement as to who among the young have shown most talent. Along with them, the generation of the 1960s and 1970s is still very active in the theatre. A conspicuous feature of the 1990s is the artistic predominance of Tallinn theatres. It has not always been the case in the short 130-year history of native Estonian theatre — the Vanemuine in the university town Tartu, for instance, has often played a central role in the past. At present, however, the leaders clearly are the Estonian Drama Theatre (Eesti Draamateater) and the Tallinn City Theatre (Tallinna Unnateater). The former has long been considered a showcase institution, with the biggest and best drama troupe of the country; but it has also experienced periods of decline and inner strife. Its response to the audience crisis of the early 1990s was to raise the annual number of productions from around a dozen to nearly twenty; now that number has again stabilized at around fifteen. This policy was only possible because the theatre has recently had a strong group of stage directors. Foremost among them is Priit Pedajas, since summer 1999 the artistic leader of the theatre. In addition to his Koiv productions, his recent work includes a highly expressive interpretation of The Way o f a Serpent Upon a Rock (Dec. 1998), a novel by the Swedish writerTorgny Lindgren (Ormens vdgpa hallebergel). After some years of relative inactivity, the former long-time (1976-85) artistic leader of the theatre Mikk Mikiver made an impressive comeback with a classically clear-line version of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge (Jan. 1996), but also with some intriguingly enigmatic, near-absurdist productions, like Jaan Kruusvall’s Hullumeelneprofessor, tema elukdik (A M ad Professor, His Biography, Sept. 1996). The absurdist line is equally strong in the work of the young director Hendrik Toompere Jr. (b 1965). Mati Unt (b 1944), who is also a remarkable novelist, has continued his ironic interpretations of classics (such as Richard III, March 1998, and Hamlet, Oct. 1997, the latter in the Vanemuine Theatre), or of challenging contemporary plays (like Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, Sept. 1998, and David Henry Hwang’s M Butterfly, March 1999). The Tallinn City Theatre, formerly called the Youth Theatre (Noorsooteater), seemed to be the hardest hit by the changes of the early 1990s. Having to abandon its big auditorium in a Soviet-style ‘palace of culture’, it was confined to a 100-seat stage in its own medieval building, and had to cut its troupe drastically and limit its annual productions to around six. But under Elmo Niiganen (b 1962), artistic leader since 1992, it started to tarn its cramped conditions into ingenious forms of ‘environmental theatre’. The vitality and playfulness of Niiganen’s early productions earned him the tide of a ‘Golden Boy’. A more thoughtful turn came with Pianola (1995), based on Chekhov’s early Platonov, and it was confirmed by a recent (April 1999) dramatization of Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment. The City Theatre also has Jaanus Rohumaa (b 1969), so far the most outstanding of the youngest stage directors. His productions, like Ainus j a igavene elu (The One and Eternal U fe, March 1996; an imaginative re-creation of episodes from Estonian theatrical history), or Tom Stoppard’s .^4razdia (Apr. 1997), are characterized by a romantic awe and wonder at the intricacies of the world and human destinies. A notable event was also the guest production of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera (Nov. 1997) by Adolf Shapiro from St Petersburg, who thus renewed his earlier fruitful contacts with Estonian theatre. In March 1999 the physical conditions of the City Theatre were substantially improved by expansion into a renovated neighbouring building which includes two new stages, of 199 and 135 seats respectively. The productions of Priit Pedajas, Elmo Nuganen, and Jaanus Rohumaa have been most successful at various Estonian and international festivals. But the predominance

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ESTONIA of Tallinn does not mean that nothing of interest happens in other places. There was, for example, the spectacular revival of the smallest professional theatre in Rakvere, a town of around 20,000 inhabitants, when a group of freshly-graduated young students practically took it over in 1996. A remarkable recent phenomenon is the more pronounced presence of certain non­ subsidized or part-subsidized ‘little theatres’. The Von Krahl Theatre, led by Peeter Jalakas (b 1961), has been interested in experimenting with mixed media; it also organizes a biennial international summer festival of alternative theatre, called the Baltoscandal. The Theatrum, led by Lembit Peterson (b 1953), is noted for its spare, ascetic, markedly spiritual interpretations of mostly classic texts. On the more institutional side, the revival of a festival of Estonian theatres, which has now been held in the years 1996,1997, and 1999 in Tartu, brought some added liveliness. The theatres have also rediscovered the artistic possibilities of open-air summer spectacles. The Estonia Theatre in Tallinn, whose status as the National Opera was in 1997 confirmed by the Parliament, is the country’s only exclusively music theatre. The Vanemuine in Tartu is a combined music and drama theatre. Operettas and musicals are also occasionally produced by other theatres. In general the Estonia has technically the best singers and dancers, while the acting of those at the Vanemuine often profits from everyday contacts with and sometimes inclusion in drama productions. The opera repertoire of the Estonia tends to be pretty conservative; the biggest successes of recent years have been Verdi’s Nabucco, staged in Sept. 1996 by Arne Mikk, and Bizet’s Carmen (Apr. 1998) by guest director Albert-Andre Lheureux from Belgium. The Vanemuine has been more adventurous in its choices; here the most remarkable productions have all come from guest directors: Handel’s Serse (Nov. 1997) by Joachim Herz from Leipzig; Carl Nielsen’s Masquerade (March 1999) by Finn Poulsen from Uppsala; and spare, uncluttered versions of Puccini’s Tosca (1995) and Verdi’s Otello (Sept. 1997) by Mikk Mikiver from Tallinn. The few recent chamber operas by some Estonian composers have rather been produced at the tiny experimental Von Krahl Theatre. The ballet has usually been more responsive to modern trends. In the Estonia Theatre these are represented by its long-time chief choreographer Mai Murdmaa (born 1938), and in the Vanemuine by the new leader of its ballet troupe, Mare Tommingas (born 1959). A number of small experimental dance groups are continuously showing up here and there, mostly again at the Von Krahl Theatre.

Jaak Rahesoo (b 1941) is a literary and theatre critic and translator. A selection o f his essays on drama and theatre, Hecuba parast (For Hecuba), came out in 1995, and in 1999 he published an English-language book, Estonian Theatre. His translations include plays (Shakespeare, O ’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Albee, Shepard, Stoppard), fiction (Faulkner; Joyce, X'irginia Woolf, John Fowles), and essays (T. S. Eliot).

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FINLAND The Millennium Brings Changes, but All Eyes Are on the Past ANNUKKARUUSKANEN The same landscape may look completely different depending on your vantage point. A good example is the Merihaka housing area in Helsinki, whose massive concrete buildings, seen from the sea, do not flatter the eye. On the other hand, seen from the top floor of a Merihaka apartment block, the sea itself can look very different. Finnish theatre of the past few years can be seen in a similar way. One commentator might, without perjury, speak of a survival story. The Finnish theatrical field is certainly undergoing a structural transition, but the genre is doing exceptionally well in the circumstances. The economic recession is over, and the theatres are still in existence —indeed, between 1996 and 1999 many new ones have been founded. The speaker would praise the theatre law passed in 1993, whose regulations kept Finnish theatre alive in the years of hardship. After the recession, the theatres’ production models diversified and some municipal theatres were privatised. Audience numbers for theatre are now larger than the total for ice-hockey matches in hockey-mad Finland (in 1997 Finnish professional and amateur theatres attracted a total audience of about five million, equal to the population of the country; o f these, half related to professional performances). The speaker would report that the large professional theatres, in particular, are doing well, producing diverse and ambitious repertoires for an interested public, and would continue by saying that the celebrity machine comfortably supports these theatres by making new stars and interviewing well-known public favourites. The content of the speech might be the opposite if an idealist with a belief in the independence of art and a horror of social realism were allowed the floor. He or she would report —with equal veracity —that the theatre law guaranteed continuous government funding of all existing institutions, regardless of their artistic standards. At the same time this speaker would suggest that the difficulty and slowness of qualifying for the funding ensured by the law endangers the viability of new, innovative theatre groups. They would also probably criticise the increasing incursion of the idea of profitability into the theatre world, with its strong producers and demand for sponsorship, tabloid celebrities and celebrity-led productions. Perhaps he or she would also mention that in recent years the country has become more and more clearly divided into two geographical theatre systems. There is the capital metropolitan area (plus a few of the larger cities, like Tampere and Turku), where most of the large, legally protected theatres, and what are known as the free theatre groups, are located; and the rest of Finland, where the professional theatres in country towns continually expend large amounts of effort to justify their existence to the officers in charge of municipal budgets, while 98

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Robin Swanstrom and Leea Klemola in Valuma-Alue (Catchm ent Area) - Kiasma Theatre (photo: Pirje Mikkanen)

struggling to maintain a balance between till receipts and the artistic repertoire. Other views of the welfare of Finnish theatre are located between these two extremes. There are many different theatrical realities in Finland. Although the stock of theatres constructed in the decades that followed the Second World War, with the help of the system of municipal theatres, was intended to be a kind of ‘network of democratic distribution’, the field has gradually fragmented in many ways. One of the greatest stumbling-blocks at the moment is geography: the theatre system of the capital (and the largest cities) and the rest of Finland is completely different in nature. Similarly, a bifurcadon has taken place between theatres under the protection of the theatre law and theatres beyond it, those that interest the media and those forgotten by them, municipally funded theatres and rural theatres that have gone private for financial reasons. The economic realities are dictated by the fact that almost all government theatre funding is currendy channelled through the law, and only marginal sums are reserved in the national budget for new groups and independent production —although not everyone even wants the protection of the theatre law. Geographical difference is increased by the fact that it is currently quite difficult for professional theatres in country towns to recruit new, trained staff, as most young people wish to remain on the Helsinki freelance market, where increased television production now offers another significant source of work.

Struggle for survival New, smallish theatre groups and independent ensembles have been and are constantly being founded in Finland. The new theatres have been a significant addition to the network of professional theatres both artistically and in attracting audiences. In 1997, groups outside the purview of the law accounted for nine per cent of audiences —but received only one per cent of the total government grant. Flowever artistically important a new group, for its first three to five years it wrestles with almost impossible financial difficulties —a long time to work for what is in practice The World of Theatre

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FINLAND almost no wage —and ensembles often do not survive long enough to gain the protection of the law. The Takomo Theatre, directed by the playwright and director Kristian Smeds, has rapidly risen to become artistically one of the most respected in the country. The theatre, which matches acting of the highest standard with music, sound, movement and objects, has in many of its productions pondered moral and ethical questions and has, during its three years of existence, developed a very individual performance style. Until now, Takomo has performed in, for example, an old tram-shed, a workers’ hall and a water-pumping station. The repertoire has included first performances of plays by Smeds as well as classics (Brand, Uncle Vanya). At the moment the group, which at the moment does not receive government support, once again lacks premises of its own. Among the most interesting new theatres, too, is the Avoimet Ovet (Open Doors), a ‘tea-room theatre’ founded in Helsinki by the actress Liisi Tandefelt, which produces, primarily, small-scale quality drama and monologues, and arranges tours, particularly to German-speaking countries. Avoimet Ovet, which also itself hosts visits, represents a cultural, cultivated, ‘old-fashioned’ repertoire with a literary bent. Another significant newcomer is the government-funded Kiasma Theatre, which operates in the new Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki. It presents performances which would be, in terms of both content and form, difficult to ‘sell’ to other theatres. The repertoire of the Kiasma and associated activities closely follow world debate on theatre theory and new movements in the performing arts. Productions shown there have pondered and analysed the conventions of performance, gender roles and relationships with celebrity, among other things. Among the directors who have worked at the Kiasma are Juha-Pekka Hotinen, Tuija Kokkonen and Leea Klemola.

Triumphal march of Eurodrama Some clear developments can be seen in the repertoires of professional theatres in the period 1996-99. During the period 1994-96, Finnish theatre was characterised by musicals, dramatisations of Finnish novels and premieres of Finnish plays. These, and the basic classics, have continued in the repertoires. In recent years, however, Russian plays have been very popular. Chekhov has been a particular favourite, with either The Seagull, The Cherry Orchard or Uncle Vanya continually in the repertoire of one or more theatres. Dramatisations of Dostoevski —The Idiot (Group Theatre, 1997),Crime and Punishment (1997) and The Brothers Karamazov (Kokkola Municipal Theatre, 1999) have also been made by various companies. One of the most prominent features of the period has been the rapid occupation of Finland by new European drama. The share of foreign first nights in the repertoires has grown noticeably. In the 1997-98 season, 369 different plays were on offer, of which 63 were new Finnish plays and as many as 59 foreign premieres (for the 1996-97 season, the corresponding figures are: 353 plays, of which 78 were new Finnish plays and 37 foreign premieres). The theatrical map of Finland as a whole was dominated unusually strongly by two dramatists: the Englishman Martin McDonagh and France’s Yasmina Reza. The plays of McDonagh’s Teenane Trilogy have been produced in at least seven theatres all over Finland. It looks as if the description of life on the periphery in the Irish melodrama is also particularly apt for the gruff realities of Finnish rural theatre. It is difficult to find as direct a link to account for the Finnish enthusiasm for Yasmina Reza’s play Art. Skilfully written and stratified, it offers excellent roles for three (good) male actors, but this does not entirely explain why six Finnish theatres already have added it to their 100

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FINLAND repertoires. So rapid a recycling of a text is extremely rare in Finnish theatre, where the search is more often for something new and individual. Other dramas received by ‘express mail’ from Europe are plays by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Oliver Bukowski, Coline Serreau, Patrick Marber and Tankred Dorst.

National introspection New Finnish drama has been intensely historical and national in its concerns. The predominant themes may be listed as follows: reinterpretations of Finnish history, for example Ilpo Tuomarila’s Hennalantorvisoittokunta (Hennala Brass Band, Turku Municipal Theatre, 1998); locality and roots, for example, Joni Skiftesvik’s I.aiva Toivo, Oulu (A Ship Called Hope, Oulu, Oulu Municipal Theatre, 1998); Finnish identity, generations and the family (a large number of plays, including Ilpo Tuomarila’s Mantyranta se oil (,Mdntyranta It Was, Finnish National Theatre) and Reko Lundan’s Aina jok u eksjy (Someone Always Gets Lost, KOM Theatre), both 1998). The turn of the twentieth century, or what is known as the golden age of Finnish arts, when the country’s independence was being constructed by cultural and political means, has also been on show unusually strongly (for example, Laura Ruohonen’s Suurin on rakkaus(The Greatest Is Love, Finnish National Theatre, 1998) and Heini Tola’s Raudanluja rakkaus (Love A s Strong A s Iron, Kuopio Municipal Theatre, 1998)). fuhani Aho’s tragic menage-a-trois novel from the same period, Juba, has received two dramatisations (at Lahti Municipal Theatre and the Finnish National Theatre), and has also been made into a film by Aki Kaurismaki. Historical subjects were also to the fore in the most important summer-theatre productions. In the summer of 1997, the most expensive production in Finnish theatre history (10 million Finnmarks) was seen at the Pyynikki, Tampere, in the shape of a dramatisation of Vaino Linna’s novel Tuntematon sotilas(The Unknown Soldier). T he spectacle, handsomely directed by Kalle Holmberg, was both an artistic triumph and an audience success. It was a sign of changing times that this interpretation of the war, directed by a leftist radical of the Sixties, was seen by large numbers of Finnish war veterans, to whom the mere thought of Holmberg’s art would, in previous decades, have been a red rag. New self-analysis in relation to contemporary world politics, the development of Europe and the collapse of the Soviet Union has also found its place in many Finnish plays. Esa Kirkkopelto, one of the country’s most important theatre directors, has characterised the theatre’s new relationship with the concept of nationhood very aptly as follows: ‘The collapse of the Soviet system and the recession that followed, the shipwreck of the workers’ movement and the Trauerarbeitof ideology gave this (national) project an unexpected new lease of life.’ In Finnish theatres, it has now become possible to speak aloud of matters that were shunned in previous decades; including the civil war, the politics of the long-serving President Urho Kekkonen and relations with the Soviet Union. KOM Theatre has been particularly active in commissioning, producing and performing new Finnish plays. Polished and of high quality in terms of acting ensemble, the small theatre company has, in the 1990s, also gained popularity with mass audiences and a new generation of theatregoers.

Musical theatre takes one-third Musical theatre has been more popular than ever. Musicals make up about one-third of repertoires, and they have attracted about 30 per cent of audiences. In addition to productions by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh, there has been a series The World of Theatre

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FINLAND of new Finnish music-plays and musicals in recent years. Their content has varied from through-composed folk plays (Pitkdjdrvelaiset — The Pitkajcirvi Folk— TTT-Theatre of Tampere 1998), social themes (Kuuhullut —Moon Madness —Helsinki City Theatre, 1997) and young people’s role-game realities (Virgo, Tampere Theatre, 1997) to an oriental Krishna story for children (Pojken Bid, Svenska Teatern 1999). Recent years have also been characterised by a strong enthusiasm for the tango. A number of new plays on the subject have been performed in different parts of Finland, and famous tango-singers recruited as musical stars and box-office draws. A long-standing and strongly influential figure in Finnish music-theatre, Kaj Chydenius, has also created new works, from song evenings to entirely new musicals; among them the libretto and score for Aleksis Kivi’s classic novel, Numrnisuutarit (The Heath-Cobblers). Among international musicals, Les Mise'rableswas given its Finnish first night, re-opening the large auditorium at the beginning of 1999 after an extensive renovation.

Stronger dance structures The field of new dance received a significant structural push when the Zodiac Centre for New Dance, which has its base at the Helsinki Cable Factory, expanded in 1997 to become a significant production unit and came under the protection of the theatre law. Zodiac produces the works of both established choreographers and promising young colleagues, and arranges international visits. The Finnish National Ballet, under the direction of Jorma Uotinen, and the dance group of Helsinki City Theatre, which has until now been directed by Kenneth Kvarnstrom, have also contributed to the diverse range of contemporary dance on offer in the capital metropolitan area. A couple of years ago, the ‘capital’ of northern Finland, Oulu, also received its own government-funded dance centre, JoJo. Among the most important choreographers of the period were Kenneth Kvarnstrom {no 3 and 108db), Tero Saarinen (.Kohta —Soon 1997), Arja Raatikainen {Comments, 1998), Kirsi Monni (Ki-Ai, 1997 andSaattamus— Companionship 1999),Jyrki Karttunen (walkman, 1997) and Sanna Kekalainen (Kathartic, 1997). Summa summarunr. the Finnish theatre world at present is, artistically, in a diverse period of structural change. Far-reaching decisions are being prepared as to whether the small theatres of, in particular, eastern and northern Finland will survive into the 21 st century or whether artistic offerings will be concentrated on the large centres of growth. It also remains to be seen whether the predictions that the millennium will bring with it a theatre system increasingly divided into ‘artistic’ and commercial theatre will be realised.

Annukka Ruuskanen is Editor-in-chief o f Teatteri (Theatre) magazine

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FRANCE A Reformist Spirit in a Bubbling Scene IRENE SADOWSKA GUILLON The malaise that permeates the landscape of the French theatre, seen for the most part in the public sector; the near paralysis of the cultural institutions and the increasing imbalance between the high concentration of theatres in Paris and the movement towards decentralisation; the widening gap between the large, self-sufficient theatre structures and the small and medium size companies that find themselves more and more marginalised but whose numbers keep on growing; the politics of avoidance and short­ term measures followed for years by the Ministere de la Culture: all of this, Catherine Trautman inherited on her appointment as Minister for Cultural Affairs in the wake of the accession of the ‘broad Left’ to government in 1997. This inheritance is made all the more difficult to manage by the effects of globalisation, of adjusting to the rules of European Union politics and the pressures of the free market, all of which have a bearing on Cultural Affairs.

Remedial Politics - and Shock Therapy The budget allocated to cultural matters is roughly 1% of GNP, a growth of 2.1% since 1998. However, the share allocated to live performance, including theatre, has remained the same. A large part of this budget has gone on capital expenditure —witness the refurbishment of many theatres, the building and setting up of new ones such as the Theatre National de Toulouse (inaugurated in 1998 under the direction of Jacques Nichet ), the work undertaken at La Villette to set up the Centre de la danse, or even the conversion, due to begin in 2000, of the Theatre National de Chaillot into a multi­ disciplinary space able to accommodate theatre, dance and opera. While adopting some of the budgetary priorities of her predecessors, such as the fight against social exclusion, the support for teaching the arts (whether professional, amateur or school-based), and the encouragement of those art forms that appeal most immediately to the man in the street (such as street performances themselves, as well as circus acts and so forth), Catherine Trautman has made it her business to promote the talent of young creative people deeply engaged in the art scene of their cities. Among them are Stanislas Nordey who heads The Centre Dramatique National in St Denis, Olivier Py who heads up The Centre Dramatique National at Orleans and E,ric Lacascade at the Comedie de Caen. The losers in this game of directorial snakes and ladders include Marcel Marechal, whose contract was not renewed despite his good and loyal services to the Rond-Point in Paris, and Jean Louis Martinelli who was replaced by Stephane Braunschweig at the Theatre National in Strasbourg. There a was an urgent need to clean up and democratise the old cultural institutions and bring about a more ethical approach to culture. To achieve this, the new Minister The World of Theatre

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Les Lieux de La by Mathilde Monnier - Theatre de la Ville

(photo: Birgit)

resorted to shock treatment to put into place, from 1997, the foundations of a new public service. Among her main reforms, she re-organised the internal structure of the central administration within the Ministry of Culture. The diverse elements of showbusiness are now grouped under a single Direction de la musique, de la danse, du theatre et des spectacles. She changed the system of state subsidies to independent professional companies by doing away with annual grants, replacing it with only two types of State support. One type goes to approved companies for two or three terms, the other to projects. This reform, which is accompanied by a significant increase (more than 14 million francs from 1999) in the amount of subsidy given to a reduced number of drama companies, should greatly increase the survivors’ means. The 1998 Public Service Charter due to come into force in 2000 defines the Public Service’s mission in the area of the performing arts, setting up new relationships between Central Government, Local Government and the subsidised theatre. It also specifies the latter’s responsibilities and its artistic and managerial obligations. It is also worth mentioning among the new measures those aimed at democratising culture and at appealing to a wider public: the development of theatres specifically for young people and a pricing policy that introduces a flat rate of 50 Francs for all seats, once a week, in all national theatres from 2000. It remains to be seen whether the programming will prove as much of an incentive as the policy in tempting the public; and if the Charter will do enough to restore to contemporary creativity the place it has a right to expect in the public sector. In the meantime, it is left to the private theatres to stage most works by contemporary authors, both French and foreign. It is not unusual for an author who is little or not at all well known to be discovered in the private theatre. Every year, of course, there are some theatres that decide to call on some star of the stage or screen to appear in some production penned by some personality 104

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Le Passage by Veronique Olmi - Theatre des Abbesses

(photo: Birgit)

from the political arena or the smart set playing at theatre, in order to create a sensation or to boost the box office. But it is increasingly obvious that this star system, once it has run out of rubber-neckers among the public, is unlikely to guarantee a long run. In consequence, private theatres now prefer to turn to more substantial plays, which deal with current issues or open up a real debate, and are well served by solid actors whose fame rests on their talent and not on media hype. Private theatres stage a great variety of plays, from escapist boulevard comedy to plays by Marguerite Duras, Nathalie Sarraute, Sacha Guitry, Eric Emmanuel Schmidt — or David Hare, whose Skylight at the Theatre de la Gaite Montparnasse was one of the greatest successes of the last few seasons. The proliferation of very small theatres opened by independent companies and working in a private capacity has greatly enriched the choice and offers alternatives.

Main Tendencies - Theatrical pluralism The response of many artists in the debate about the place of theatre in today’s society has been to seek to justify themselves ideologically by putting their work in a meaningful context. Some currents have thus re-emerged. The art theatre claims to be in the direct line of stage innovation. The popular theatre lays claim to the tradition of Vilar - a political theatre. They offer a movement in touch with the current social scene, a theatre of immediacy, of social action, people’s theatre. A young generation of theatre-makers is expressing through these various forms of engagement its revolt against the world without a future which it has inherited. They express it in their creations through their apocalyptic visions of our times, their evocations of the barbarism of war and their images of social violence. The tendency to bring the theatre into the political debate has been evident in the last three seasons. It can be seen in the choice of contemporary pieces, including several plays by Edward Bond, who found a place of honour at the The World of Theatre

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FRANCE Theatre de la Colline under the remarkable direction of Alain Francon. Brecht was brought back into the spotlight to mark the centenary of his birth, and we saw some particularly violent plavs by young British playwrights (Sarah Kane) or Austrian ones (Peter Turrini and Werner Schwab). It also shows in re-readings of the classics, most prominently Shakespeare’s political plays and the Greek tragedies. In counterpoint to this ‘theatre of catastrophe’ that mirrors the violence of the world, a great wave of musicals and various forms of cabaret is breaking over stages large and small. This relatively recent tendency indicates a search for a new form of theatrical expression, more fun, more popular. It also shows a new opening up of the theatre towards other traditions of performance: music, dance, circus and music hall. The mixing of disciplines has come about gradually in the last few years thanks to the exchanges of theatrical culture and practice that has occurred more specifically in France thanks to the growing influence of models and techniques borrowed from Africa and the Far East. The use of new technology in the live theatre often creates post-modernist effects. One of the rare successes of the genre has been the Jean-Pierre Peyret Turing-Machine, created at MC Bobigny in 1999. In an attempt to escape from the impasse of pure technique and abstract choreography, dance is being revitalised on the one hand by new expressions of contemporary dance such as Hip-Hop, the diverse forms of the visual theatre and the techniques (both choreographic and theatrical) of the Orient. On the other hand it is turning to text for the dramatic structure of the stage action. In this field, the Theatre de la Ville in Paris remains the role model, continuing to rely on established artists while at the same time discovering new talent. Among its most striking achievements is the work of Philippe Decoufle that successfully marries dance, sport, music-hall, cabaret, puppetry and circus, and the tetralogy by the Franco-American choreographer Suzan Buirge (Theatre de la Ville, December 1998) that offered a daring mixture of Western dance and traditional Japanese dance and music. The recent text-based works of Mathilde Monnier on a theme of autism and withdrawal deserve a mention (Les Lieux de la, April 1999). So does the work of Catherine Diverres who in her work Corpus (February 1999) drew inspiration from poetic and philosophical writings to give back to dance the power of movement, enriched by ritual gestures and trance. The tendency to produce short pieces is found not only in well established choreographers such as Maguy Marin, whose baroque, shape-shifting universe leans towards simplicity and intimacy, or Regine Chopinot, but also among young choreographers such as Catherine Barbesson and Bernard Glandier (winner of the 6th International Choreographic Encounters in Seine Saint Denis in 1998). The lyric theatre has never been more healthy both in the provinces and in Paris, which has once again become a major centre for opera equal to Berlin, as much in terms of its infrastructure as in the quantity of work on offer, its range and musical quality. The facilities of its five ‘houses’ at Opera Bastille, Opera Garnier, Salle Favart, Theatre des Champs Elysees and the recently renovated Theatre du Chatelet have been extended in the last few years to dance. Contemporary dance work by great masters has been granted an increasing place, among them William Forsythe, until 1998 a permanent guest at the Theatre du Chatelet; Roland Petit, who presented in October 1999 at the Opera Garnier the world premiere of Clavigo (after Goethe); Martha Graham, Pina Bausch and also rising young French choreographers such as Odile Duboc or Angelin Preljocaj. As for opera, the programming is evenly balanced between classical works and new

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Yves Gourvil and Leon Napias in Fin de Partie (Endgame), directed by Jean-Louis Thamin at the Theatre du Port de la Lune, Bordeaux (photo: Elisabeth Carrecchio)

creations. The soaring success of opera is due to a large extent to the new stage techniques that have come from the theatre. Many operas have been produced in the last three seasons by world class artists, masters of the lyric arts. Klaus Michael Gruber with Wagner’s Parsifal, Peter Sellars with Le Grand Macabre by Gyorgy Ligeti, Patrice Chereau (W o^ek by Alban Berg), Jerome Savary, Jorge Lavelli, Yannis Kokkos, Peter Brook, Alfredo Arias, Andrej Serban, Robert Wilson —the latter regularly invited by the Opera Bastille and the Theatre du Chatelet, whose re-opening season he inaugurated in October 1999 with a diptych, Orfee etE uridjce •a.n&Alceste by Gluck, under the musical direction of John Eliot Gardiner. A few young French theatre directors have had a go recently at the lyrical theatre, such as Laurent Pelly with Platee by Jean Philippe Rameau at the Opera Gamier in April 1999, and Dominique Pitoiset with Mozart’s Don Giovanni in May 1999 and Verdi’s Falstaff in October 1999 at the Opera Bastille. Overshadowed by the media razzmatazz around events in Paris, the work of the provincial opera houses, in particular Lyon, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Toulouse, is very often as good as —and sometimes better than —that of the Paris houses. In that respect it is often shows created in the provincial houses which have won The World of Theatre

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FRANCE the critics’ prizes: Wo%%ek by Gurlitt, directed by Marc Adam at the Theatre des Arts in Rouen, The Prince o f Homburg by Henze, directed by Jean-Claude Auvray at the Capitole in Toulouse for the 1996-97 season, Three Sisters by Peter Eotvos directed by Ushio Amagatsu at the Opera de Lyon for the 1997-98 season and h e Dialogue des Carmelites by Francis Poulenc directed by Marthe Keller for the Opera du Rhin in the 1998-99 season. The Festival of Aix-en-Provence in July, remodelled and, since 1998, the home of the Academic Europeenne de Musique, has once again become an important focus of creativity at the highest level.

New Phenomena and Notable Events After the almost total domination of de-constructed, monologue or narrative forms, we are witnessing now a greater variety' of styles both in text and performance. Some authors are turning to a more poetic, more structured, even sometimes more classical form of writing. New authors such as Veronique Olmi belong to this tendency. She made her mark on the big stages in the 1998-99 season. Furthermore, one notes the return to the theatre of major writers such as Michel Vinaver or }ean-Claude Grumberg, whose latest play Keverpeut etre, created at the Carre Saint Vincent in Orleans byJean-Michel Ribes in November 1998, opened to public and critical acclaim; and the continuing presence on our stages of the works of Valere Novarina, Serge Valetti, and among the younger ones, Xavier Durringer. A remarkable phenomenon of the last few years is the strong representation of women among the ranks of playwrights, directors and even theatre administrators. New writing has been revitalised and stimulated not only by an exposure to works in French from abroad, in particular from Africa and Quebec, but also by the influence of British and German plays. While the great masters like Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine or Georges Lavaudant cultivate their own immutable styles and the majority of established directors, including some young ones prematurely promoted, continue with the style in vogue and give in to fashion or revivals, the renewal of the stage has come from the independent companies forced to seek out for themselves, beyond the public sector that is denied to them, links with other creators and to forge their own networks, often with a European dimension. At the same time one sees many initiatives towards re-grouping, towards the exchange of experiences, as well as moves into new buildings of the rough, semi-derelict or ex­ industrial variety A necessary ferment is brought by a few inter-disciplinary festivals which give opportunities for confrontation and the examination of emerging tendencies in the art of the stage: the Chantiers de Blaje in August, Mettre en Scene in Rennes in November, Nouvelles scenes in October in Dijon, Turbulences in spring in Strasbourg, the Festival des arts de la rue in September in Chatillon. At the other extreme of this talent-spotting movement, the big festival routine continues with the Festival d’ Avignon in July and the Festival d’Automne in Paris. The former has the merit of attracting in its wake the Festival Off Avignon, which welcomes some 500 companies from France and abroad. The over­ hyped Festival d’Automne in Paris resembles a fashion parade, a society ball to which, just occasionally, a Cinderella artist may be invited. I ren e Sadowska G uillon is an essayist and theatre critic specialising in contemporary theatre, especially that o f Spain, who writes fo r a number o f jou rn a ls in France and abroad. She started the series o f exchanges between French and Spanish dramatists, ‘Hispanite E xplorations’.

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GERMANY MARTIN LINZER There is no doubt that the hit of the 1996-97 season was Odon von Horvath’s Kasimir und Karoline, directed by the Swiss musician and theatre wizard Christoph Marthaler. It was produced by the Hamburger Schauspielhaus, which Frank Bambauer has lost no time in hauling into the front rank of German-speaking dramatic theatres. With that Thespian of Thespians Josef Bierbichler in the lead role, this ponderous Oktoberfest ballad about lonely people in a hectic world was turned into a theatrical tour-de-force. And this was not simply pure chance —Marthaler has long been asserting himself on the larger German-speaking stages. His productions are repeatedly invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen, which takes place every year in May, as well as to other theatre festivals such as the Jahrmarkt der Eitelkeiten. These productions were either from Berlin (Castorf’s Volksbiihne) or from Hamburg (first there was StundeNull, then the so-called Root-Faust (VFaust 1+2), also with Josef Bierbichler), from Basle (the daring musical theatre experiment The Unanswered Question) or they were co-productions of the Berlin Volksbiihne and the Wiener Festwochen — Pariser Eeben, (Gaiete Parisienne) a brilliant Offenbach operetta produced with a critical look ‘from down below’ which was awarded the prestigious Friedrich-Luft Prize by the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper for the best production of a play in Berlin in 1998. Still in repertoire at the Volksbiihne is a highlyindividual version of Chekov’s Three Sisters, and the continually sold-out song evening Murx den Europaer, murx ihn, murx ihn, murx ihn ab, the initial spark that lit the Marthaler flame for Berliners and which sings the old DDR to sleep in a cryptic yet enjoyable fashion. Christoph Marthaler’s productions are long — we know that — however, they are rarely boring. In Anna Viebrock he has found a stage designer who, with her constantly changing ‘waiting rooms’ that have the office furniture charm of a dying Realsozialism, can easily stretch the momentary glimpses of human co-existence into spiritual exercises filling a whole evening. Marthaler stops time and allows us to place all of human humanity under a microscope. It was/is a myth that Marthaler is interested only in mood and not in text. Impressive evidence to the contrary came with Kasimir und Karoline, because with Horvath there is nothing that does not originate from the words or from the pauses in between. Nor does the continued success of Marthaler lie in his ‘avantgardism’, because he is not an avantgardist. He is a chronicler, not of historical events but of social moods; one could perhaps even say that he is a sensitive seismograph. That is why Christoph Marthaler and his canon of work are something of a theatrical metaphor for the Zeitgeist of the nineties. His theatre of boredom, of exhaustion, of standstill represents paradigmatically a theatre, itself helpless and without direction, looking at the helplessness and lack of direction in society, a theatre that can only react to the state of affairs of a fossilised society, but can no longer affect or change it. Interventionist theatre, that describes the world as changeable, was the utopia of Brecht. That is why Marthaler’s theatre, even if it appears ‘sleepy’ is actually full of a lively intelligence. And even if it does not seem able to change things, it does at least fulfil The World of Theatre

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GERMANY Shakespeare’s demand that it hold a mirror up to nature, even if it is sometimes a distorting mirror that serves only to keep problems virulent. That is why I view it as more alive and productive than the theatre of the avantgardists who conquered our stages at the beginning of the Nineties and who, with their directorial magic wands, de-constructed the texts of dramatists willy nilly until they were barely distinguishable one from another, but in the end failed to create anything new. The avantgardists of yesterday have today gone back to their fringe bolt-holes or returned to the comfort of Germany’s civic theatres. Or they have taken on the role of political clown, viz. Christoph Schlingensief who, undaunted, called a phantom party —Chance 2000 —into being solely for the parliamentary elections of 1998. Many have tried to copy or to take over the mantle of Frank Castorf, who has maintained the Berliner Volksbiihne as an alternative East German stage since 1992. Media interest might be dwindling but his strategy has remained consistent, although it has on occasion led him down the wrong aesthetic path. Very few of his ‘apprentices’ have grasped that the mark of Castorf’s theatre does not simply lie in smearing the stage with potato salad but in its political essence. Castorf’s productions may sometimes have proved too playful, too thoughtlessly de-constructive. However his recent production of Jean-Paul Sartre’s Les Mains Saks, whose story he cleverly linked to the civil war in former Yugoslavia (1998), or his ambitious attempt with other directors to take Shakespeare’s historical plays Wars o f the R o^as an illustrated textbook for the economics of politics, has returned Castorf to his rightful place in political theatre, thus confuting the general and popular trend towards fun and performance culture. The Brecht retrospective has produced little of note. In most cases the one-hundredth birthday in 1998 of the poet and universal theatre-maker was dealt with from a sense of duty - Brecht celebrated to death in official acts of celebration. It remains to be seen whether modern stages can conjure true Brechtian interventionist theatre from his multi­ faceted works, which range from the early, anarchic pieces to the later dialectic classics and which walk a tightrope between analysis of fascism and criticism of Stalin. The most performed play and the one most popular with audiences was the Dreigroschenoper, on the whole perfunctorily produced as a thrupenny operetta. That aside, what stood out above the crowd was Massnahme —liberated from a previous performance-veto by Brecht —in a production at Wuppertal (directed by Hoik Freytag) and YLaukasischer Kreidekreis, which was set in post-Stalinist Russia by Thomas Langhoff and his extraordinary ensemble of actors (no change there) at the Berliner Deutsches Theater. The important, really impressive Brecht productions came from abroad: Theatre de Complicite’s Kaukasischer Kreidekreis (directed by Simon McBurney) and Heilige Johanna der Schlachthofe at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich (directed by Benno Besson). One would have thought that fostering Brecht should have been the natural responsibility of the Berliner Ensemble. A number of quarrels following the death of Heiner Muller, some of them in-house, have sent it diving rudderless into the abyss. Even the guest appearance of Robert Wilson (who produced O^eanflugthere as well as a production of Dantons Tod for the Salzburger Festspiele) might have awakened media interest but merely offered some sort of optical correction. And what is more, the Wilson production went on to show that the craft of this lighting designer, who has only ever used actors as window dressing for his visual theatre, also appears to have turned down a blind alley. The tradition of the Berliner Ensemble, founded by Brecht and Helene Weigel and reinvigorated by Heiner Muller with his ‘Shakespeare-Brecht-Miiller’ programme, appears to have died not fifty years after its foundation. It is not least the responsibility of Brecht’s heirs that this internationally-renowned institution has been 110

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From C hristoph M a rth a le r’s production o f von H o rva th ’s K a sim ir und Karotine - Neue Schauspielhaus, Hamburg (photo: Matthias Horn)

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GERMANY hurried on its way to a bitter grave. They show no sign of giving up their presumptuous claim to decide which of ‘Papa’s’ pieces can seen on the Berliner Ensemble stage, as well as with whom and in what fashion. So it is absolutely right that Berlin’s cultural policy, not always known for its wise and far-seeing decisions, is not relying on yet another attempt to extend the tired tradition but awaits a radical new beginning with the appointment of Claus Peymann. There are several other new beginnings sweeping through Berlin, a city which must now assert itself and fulfil its function as a capital of culture. Thomas Langhoff, who had been reckoning on an extension to his contract, knows that 2001 is his last year at the Deutsches Theater. The Senator for Culture wishes to imbue the directionless municipal theatre with fresh blood, but of course cannot actually clarify what fresh blood can offer the deeply traditional theatre in Berlin’s Schumannstrasse. The original idea was to bring in Frank Baumbauer, whose tenancy at the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg is drawing to an end, and put him in place as a dynamic manager/artistic director. However, he has gone to Munich to take over the reins from Dieter Dorn. Now it appears that Bernd Wilms, previously Artistic Director of Berlin’s Maxim-Gorki-Theater, will attempt to rescue what can be rescued. The official decision has faced a barrage of criticism in cultural circles because of its procedural methods, which show considerable insensitivity and lack of competence. Furthermore, Langhoff was already in the process of working out and implementing plans for reforming the Deutsches Theater, which included creating a more youthful ensemble and using the affiliated Kammerspiele as an experimental studio space. More than once, Langhoff’s direction has been negatively influenced by external personnel decisions. In 1991 both Frank Castorf and Heiner Muller were hauled out of the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater: one went to the Volksbiihne, the other to the Berliner Ensemble; with either one of them Langhoff would have been able to develop an exciting programme combining different aesthetic concepts. Then in 1998 the young director Thomas Ostermeier was enticed away. He has turned the DT-Baracke into an independent performance space within the tradition of the Deutsches Theater and in 2000 he will take over as Artistic Director of the Berliner Schaubiihne —yet another theatre heading for a fall, Andrea Beth (who is going to Vienna) having been unable to sustain the overwhelming Peter Stein legacy. So at the turn of the century in the new capital the cards are being re-shuffled; the historical East-West weighting is now out of kilter (the balance upset by the scandalous closure of the Schiller Theater) and this could be perceived as an historical opportunity. The Schaubiihne, whose roots are in the Western theatrical tradition, is receiving fresh blood from the East. The Berliner Ensemble, heavily influenced by the history of the former East, will soon be invaded from Vienna (as of course Peymann will not be coming on his own). This leaves the Deutsches Theater, the East German national theatre, forced by the closure of the Schiller Theater to take over the function of a West German national theatre. This has required a radical restructuring of its audience and left it perhaps closest to becoming a National Theatre for the whole of Germany, although as a consequence its own profile has become blurred and a logjam of reforms have yet to be dealt with. East —West? So, has there been the fusion in theatre, which Willy Brandt demanded from people living both in the East and West? Even those who think there might be — and there is a lot to be said for it —are of the opinion that the growing together is more a sign of crisis than of boom. The tightening strings of the public purse affect all theatres both in the East and West, but it is the theatres in the East, i.e. the new Lander, which are 112

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Dieter Schnebel’s opera M ajakow ski’s Tod - Leipzig Opera

(photo: Monika Rittershaus)

most affected and thus most endangered. (Solidarity of theatre practitioners enabled the closure of a small theatre in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg to be averted, yet hard­ hitting changes in the shape of forced mergers, closures in several areas and sweeping redundancies are a foregone conclusion in the state of Brandenburg). After reunification, as in other areas of society, theatres in the former East had structures imposed on them —such as the geriatric tariff system —which were founded on entirely different social conditions. On the other hand, the theatres in the East did not understand that they had to free themselves from dilapidated structures, cut back bloated frameworks and become more flexible. It is becoming ever clearer that a historical opportunity to re-structure German municipal theatres was wasted during the political events of 1990, when the hastilyfounded Deutsche Buhnenbund (East) joined the Deutsche Biihnenverein (West). What is under discussion is not the concept of the historical German municipal theatres with their unique structure and net of stages spread across the country, but their reform. Theatre makers in both East and West are nearly all agreed that the alternative to municipal theatres —where civic subsidy guarantees not only creative freedom but also access to the arts for all citizens —is to be found only in the equally publicly-propagated neoliberalist concepts of commercialisation, privatisation, de-regulation, the selling out of theatres into event-culture: a simplistic ideology that would flatten out cultural life in the provinces and concentrate on musicals and an elitist intellectual culture in the larger cities. It was a matter of considerable concern to Professor August Everding, President of the Deutsche Biihnenverein and the German Centre of the International Theatre Institute, who died at the beginning of 1999, that the cultural identity of subsidised theatre in the different states should be maintained. He used his considerable influence to ensure the continued existence of the smaller theatres, particularly in the new Lander. The World of Theatre

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GERMANY At the end of this century German theatre finds itself in deep crisis, which - despite all rational economy measures to the contrary —should not be simplified and put down to a financial crisis. Because there is also a structural as well as a spiritual crisis, a de facto social phenomenon which can only be countered by political decision-making on the one hand and continued development of aesthetic creativity on the other. Thus politics, for example, by reforming the tariff system, would create a framework for creativity7. The situation is serious but not hopeless. Because there is a wealth of talent out there. In all areas of German theatre, theatre schools are providing a professionally-educated younger generation (graduates from the ‘Ernst-Busch’ Hochschule in East Berlin are in demand all over Germany). There were opera world premiers in Hamburg (Lachenmann’s DasMadchen mit den Schmfelhdl%erti)\ in Leipzig, where the composer Udo Zimmermann has turned the opera-house into one of the most prolific musical theatre stages in Europe (Schnebel’s Majakomki directed by Achim Freyer); in Munich and in Bonn. Dance theatre is moving further and further away from classical ballet and profited enormously from crossing over the line separating it from acting as well as performance and live-art. Grips Theatre in Berlin has celebrated its thirtieth birthday and is hanging on to its concept of educational children’s theatres in the spirit of its ’68 generation founding fathers. Puppet theatre has long shaken off its image of childish Punch and Judy theatre as demonstrated by festivals such as FID ENA in Bochum and elsewhere. New German writing remains a concern to the theatre, although this is being increasingly challenged by young British writers. Plays by the young British ‘wild things’ such as Sarah Kane’s Blasted, David Harrower’s Knives in Hens or Mark Ravenhill’s Shoppingand Fuckinghave all contributed to the fame of an institution that until now was unique in German theatre. Sadly the aforementioned DT-Baracke with Thomas Ostermeier at the helm has already disappeared, as the building is required for other uses. Aided by sponsorship money, the one-time building-hut was transformed into a small experimental performance space next to the Deutsches Theatre. Thomas Langhoff handed it over to a team of young theatre-makers, who, assisted by the performers and technicians of the Deutsches Theater, were able to develop an autonomous aesthetic concept. They performed not only young British writers but also Brecht (Mann ist Mann) and presented the shooting star of young German writers — Marius von Mayenburg, whose Feuergesicht has been successful on several of the larger German stages. From the beginning, Ostermeier and his comrades-in-arms kept themselves separate from the usual ‘avant-gardism’. They believed in text, they wanted to tell stories and were not interested in the constant deconstruction of text and material, which for some time has lost its political or aesthetic ability to provoke and is now dead and gone. There does come a point where non-conformism becomes the new norm and thus tedious. A new generation is on the way: the directing duo Robert Schuster and Tom Kiihnel who, like Ostermeier, come from the directing arm of the Ernst Busch school, are at present in Frankfurt am Main; the young Martin Baucks, Stefan Otteni and Christiane Paulhofer are continuing the work they started in the DT-Baracke in the studio theatre of the Deutsches Theater. This new ‘matter of factness’ offers a chance to human feelings, to human ability to communicate and human readiness to communicate, it also allows us some hope for the future of German theatre. Throughout June and July 1999 the Festival ‘Theater der Welt’ organised by the German ITI-centre ran in the new capital. It demonstrated not only that is has a very personal profile, separating it from the more ‘touristic’ festivals which always show the same highlights, but also showed that text, that language is in fact the basis of all theatrical productions —and one can see this as an important sign. A fledgling trend can easily turn 114

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From Thomas O sterm eier’s production of Shopping and Fucking - Deutsches Theater, Berlin (photo: Gerlind Klemens)

into a strong movement, which in turn could have a significant impact on theatre at the beginning of a new century, that is also the beginning of a new millennium. Anyhow, that is my own personal conviction.

Martin Linzer is a theatre critic and editor o f thejournarVsxz'zx.zt der Zeit; his article is translated by Penny Black, English playwright and translator..

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HUNGARY is t v A n n A n a y Theatre in Hungary used to be deeply involved in the struggle for national independence and the right to use the native language, in which drama a prominent role was played by the country’s leading playhouse, Nemzeti Szfnhaz (National Theatre). Though this role has obviously been exchanged for others, Nemzeti is still distinguished in popular belief as a national emblem. Similarly, those in power have not ceased to look upon it as an ideological pageant, rather than a home of art. Yet, whatever the reason for its distinguished status, the company of Nemzeti has for long had to do without a permanent abode, as the old building was pulled down in the mid-sixties, and none of the designs submitted in several competitions have come to the phase of realisation. Almost none, that is. The 1996 competition did have a winner, Ferenc Ban, who designed an ultra-modern building which would organically fit into its immediate environment in down-town Budapest. Construction did commence —only to be called off by a newly elected national government, which had a different plot in mind. The old one, now an eyesore of a hole, may end up as an underground parking lot, while works on the new one have not started yet. Petty political wrangling of the like is behind much of what happened in our theatres in the past three seasons. Gabor Szekely, for instance, could be director of Uj Szfnhaz only for a few years, despite his reputation as a prominent producer of twenty-five years standing, one-time director of Katona Jozsef Szfnhaz (a playhouse of international fame) and mentor of a host of young directors. So, when Budapest city council dismissed Szekely and gave the position to someone else, the political motivations were all too evident. Another Budapest theatre was forcefully divested not only of its director, but also of its company: after a pricey renovation: Thalia Szfnhaz, formerly a repertory theatre, continued to function as a ‘host’ theatre for touring companies. Several provincial theatres (as in Kecskemet, Szeged or Veszprem) received new directorates, regardless of the quality of the work done before, of popular and critical esteem —all because of changes in the local government. Meanwhile the theatres themselves carried on working, making productions that tried to provide both artistic and financial security. Beside subsidised professionals, alternative theatres, notably dance and movement companies, have come to be a prominent element in the scene, despite the relative unpredictability of their financial sources, foundation grants and sponsorial money. Alongside the dominant group of middle-aged directors, a new generation is also asserting its right to be taken seriously. O f the professional theatres, Katona Jozsef, Radnoti and Uj Szfnhaz are the ones that manage to realise their own artistic visions in the face of worsening conditions. Gabor Zsambeki andTamas Ascher keep providing capacity audiences for Katonajozsef Szfnhaz, mosdy with productions that are masterpieces of psychological realism. Zsambeki tends to direct classics (Kleist: Der %erbrochene Krug (The Broken Pitcher, December 116

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HUNGARY 1996), Caragiale: 0 scrisoarepierduta (The Lost Tetter, October 1998), Gombrowicz: Yvoha, ksie^nic^ka Buregunda (Yvonne, Princess o f Burgundy-, October 1997)), while Ascher is building a contemporary Western European repertoire (Schwab: Die Prasidentinnen (Holy Mothers, May 1996), Reza: A rt (March 1997), Stoppard: Arcadia (March 1998), Dorst: H err Paul (January 1999)). Actor-director Gabor Mate, and Arpad Schilling, who is still studying at the conservatoire, also often direct in this theatre. Radnoti Miklos Szinhaz keeps a colourful and valuable repertoire, to which permanent member Peter Vallo has contributed Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya (October 1996), young Sandor Zsoter a collage from Brecht’s works (Retteges es InsegiFears and Miseries) December 1998), film director Peter Gothar Ostrovski’s Will (March 1999), and Peter Telihay, who is also of Zsoter’s generation, Georg Tabori’s Mein K ampf (February 1997). Eszter Novak did the most in these three seasons to secure critical attention for Uj Szinhaz. A disciple of Szekely, she directed Beaumarchais’s Le Manage de Figaro (February 1997), Grabbe’s Scher% Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeittung (Joke, Satire, Irony and a Deeper Meaning) (September 1997) and Brecht’s Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) (May 1998). These productions are hallmarked by an ambivalent attitude towards traditionalism, the mingling of realist and expressionist techniques, textual deconstruction and strong visual elements. These features also brought success to her re-interpretation of Odon von Horvath’s Kasimir und Karoline, put on stage in Miskolc in March 1999. Directors of Novak’s generation tend to make productions which render the plays highly self-conscious and rely heavily on visual effects; they also seem to share a taste for the liberal editing of the text, the disruption of dramaturgical structures and the use of association as an organising principle. Janos Mohacsi directed Foster’s Tom Paine for Kaposvar (June 1996), which became one of the most successful productions of the year, reaping awards everywhere. A similar reaction greeted his Chalk Circle in Nyiregyhaza (October 1998). Csaba Kiss seems to be fascinated with adaptations. He directed a three-man show in Gyor, De mi lett a novel? (But What Happened to the Woman?) (May 1995), based on short stories by Chekhov, the Russian version of which even toured Moscow. In Kamra, the studio of Katona Jozsef Szfnhaz, he produced his own adaptation of Leskov’s short novel Lady Macbeth o f Mtensk (Ledi Makbet Mcens^kovo ujada) (March 1998). In the studio of Uj Szinhaz he turned Buchner’s Woy^eck into a powerful vision (March 1999). He has also made his debut as a playwright: his Animus es Anima was produced in Budapesti Kamaraszfnhaz in October 1997. Film director Janos Szasz has been preparing theatre productions in Nyiregyhaza for the past few years. His exciting new staging of Chekhov’s Uncle I 'anya (March 1998) and Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire (April 1997) placed the company in the limelight. Further praise was brought by the success of Mohacsi’s The Chalk Circle and Gabor Mate’s direction of Bernhard’s Trilogie des W’iedersehens(fThe Trilogy o f Reunion) (April 1998). Peter Telihay’s productions of Chekhov in Szeged seem to be forming a series in which he challenges the dogmas pertaining to the performance of the Russian playwright (The Wood Demon, October 1996, The Three Sisters, March 1997, Platonov, March 1999). Sandor Zsoter uses the dramatic text primarily as a springboard for his interpretation: his interest lies in the workings of theatricality. He seems to be the most radical of his generation in his treatment of the text, just as he is the most ready to conceive of the production as a totality. Examples are his direction of Goethe’s Faust (Vfgszinhaz; December 1996), Brecht’s Die Heilige ]ohanna der Schlachthofe (Saint Joan o f the Stockyards) (Miskolc; November 1997) and Dread and distress (Radnoti Szfnhaz; December 1998), Hauptmann’s Fnhrmann Henschel(TruckerHenschel) (Kamra; October 1997), Shakespeare’s The World of Theatre

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The P arty - Barka Szinhaz, Budapest

(photo: Zsuzsa Koncz)

Pericles (Kamra; March 1999) and Henry IV (Szeged; May 1999). Actor-director Robert Alfoldi is also a radical experimentalist, who successfully incorporates the achievements of video into his productions. Representative are his stagings of Chekhov’s The Seagull as Madarkak (Birdies) (February 1997), Schiller’s Die Rduber (The Robbers) (December 1998) and Shakespeare’s The Merchant o f Venice (April 1998; all three in Budapest! Kamaraszinhaz), not to mention The Tempest (Vfgszfnhaz; Marchl999) and his Phaedra-collage (Pesti Szinhaz; November 1997). Arpad Schilling is the most promising among the youngest directors, with already quite a few successful productions to his name: Brecht’s Baal (August 1998), Istvan Tasnadi’s Ko^ellenseg (Public Enemy) (May 1999) and Kicsi (Shorty) (October 1997), Ferenc Molnar’s Eiliom (March 1999) and Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (July 1999). The last three seasons have seen the premieres of many new Hungarian plays, most of which have been prepared by the above directors, employing fresh approaches. A group of these dramas offer commentaries on contemporary Hungarian life, like Gyorgy Spiro’s Vircsaft (Hullabaloo) (October 1996), Doberdan (October 1996), Kvartett (Quartet) (September 1997) and Honderu (The N ation’s Benefit) (October 1998); A%arany ara (The Price o f Gold) (September 1998), being an adaptation of Geza Beremenyi’s popular film, Eldorado (Eldorado)', and Gyorgy Schwajda’s absurdist political piece, A ratoti legenyanya (Johnny is Pregnant) (October 1998). There are others in this middle-aged generation whose works belong to postmodern trends, like Peter Esterhazy’s Bucsus^imfonia (The East Symphony) (April 1996) or Lajos Parti Nagy’s Ibusar (December 1992) ■ax\&Mau%pleum (The Mausoleum) (October 1995). Many of the younger playwrights seem to be working in this vein, like Laszlo Garaczi (Fesdfeketere {Paint it Black), May 1996; Predales (On the Watch), February 1997), Peter Karpati (Dls^eloadds (Gala Performance), November 1997), Istvan Tasnadi (.Ko^ellenseg (public Enemy), May 1995; Titanic vi^irevu (Titanic Water Revue), April 118

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HUNGARY 1998; Kokainfutdr {Cocaine Courier), December 1996 and Kicsi {Shorty), November 1997), Laszlo Darvasi (BolondHelga (StupidHe/gd), November 1997), Attila Lorinczy (Balta afejbe {An Axe in the Head), December 1998), Zoltan Egressy {Portugal (Portuguese), October 1998), though realistic drama also has its young practitioners, like Andras Jeles (S^envedestortenet (Calvary), May 1998) or Kornel Hamvai (Korvadas^at (Battue), May 1997 and Mdrton partjel^o fd^ik (Linesman Mdrton is Cold), May 1998). The studios of two mainstream theatres —Katona Jozsef Szfnhaz and Csokonai Szfnhaz in Debrecen — provide the most occasions in the country for the above playwrights to see their works performed. Alternative theatres are also an important forum for modern Hungarian drama. Usually of studio size, they often give home to more than one independent company. Studio K, a small theatre with a long history, is run by Fodor Tamas; Tamas Jordan is the director of Merlin Szfnhaz; Szkene Szinhaz, lead by Regos Janos, can be found within the gates of Budapest Technical University; MU Szfnhaz, Petofi Csarnok (run by Gyorgy Szabo) andTrafo Centre for Contemporary Arts are the favourite venues of dance and movement companies. Dance theatre is the most dynamically developing segment of the alternative movement. Most of the dance companies which work in a modern spirit and offer a synthesis of professional and alternative idioms were formed in provincial theatres. Such is Tamas Juronics’s company in Szeged, Sandor Toth’s group in Pecs, the Gyor Ballet company, under the directorship of Kiss Janos, and the Budapest Ballet Group of Marko Ivan. Alternative dance theatre is a broad category, including many variants from repertory companies to occasional troupes coming together only for the sake of a few productions; they work in styles and with techniques as various as traditional folk dance or the latest developments in the art. Many of these groups have gained international fame, as Yvette Bozsik and her company, Andrea Ladanyi, Artus Tancszfnhaz (Artus Dance Theatre), led by Gabor Goda, Kozep-Europa Tancszfnhaz (Central European Dance Theatre), whose director is Csaba Szogi, Eva Magyar’s Saman Szfnhaz (Shaman Theatre), or Dream Team, featuring Imre Toth and Mari Balazs. To increase audience figures, most theatres find it necessary to include musical productions in their repertoires. Few of them, however, are of a native origin. Works like A d^sungel konyve (The Jungle Book) by Pal Bekes, Peter Geszti and Laszlo Des (Pesti Szfnhaz; January 1996), which almost all theatres have found worth adding to their repertoire, or the very entertaining Anconai s^erelmesek (The Lovers o f Ancona) (Radnoti Szfnhaz; May 1997), a Hungarian commedia dell’a rte with Italian pop hits from the sixties, are few and far between. The majority of new productions are rehashes of old and trustworthy pieces. The repertoires of opera houses feature almost exclusively old works: partly because few Hungarian composers write operas, and partly due to an unwillingness to represent the variety of foreign contemporaries. One of the few exceptions was Balazs Kovalik’s tremendously successful direction of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre (October 1998). After a few performances it was taken out of the repertoire. Anatoly Vasilyev’s unique direction of Ostrovsky’s Sinless Sinners in Szolnok (April 1998) came to grief just as quickly. Opera productions are predominantly traditionalist in approach, in Magyar Allami Operahazra (Hungarian State Opera) as well as in the majority of provincial theatres which have opera sections. The few directors who do try to turn opera into modern theatre include Balazs Kovalik, Judit Galgoczy and Miklos Gabor Kerenyi. There is, however, a Budapest company whose story may stand as a promising and happy addendum to the above overview. Janos Csanyi had only one production in mind The World of Theatre

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Left: from Fears and Miseries at the Radnoti Miklos theatre; right, from Portugal at the Katona Joszef theatre, also in Budapest (photos: Zsuzsa Koncz)

when he started to collect actors for A Midsummer N ight’s Dream (May 1994). Having spent almost a year in rehearsal, the ad hoc company not only came out with an overwhelmingly successful production but had also grown into a tightly knit community. After two homeless years, Barka Szinhaz could move into its renovated, completely modernised and beautiful building at the end of the 1998-99 season. Uniquely for Hungary, its renovation and maintenance are financed by the local district council. The repertory includes Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (March 1999), Mrozek’s Zabawa (The Party) (February 1999) and a masterpiece by an early twentieth century Hungarian novelist Szep Erno (Lila dkdc (Wisteria); October 1998). Barka has its own writers’ workshop, two of whose members have already produced successful plays for the company (Tasnadi Istvan: Titanic vi^irevu (Titanic Water Revue), April 1998 and Peter Karpati: Dis^eloadas {Gala Performance), November 1997). The majority of productions are prepared by three disciples of Gabor Szekely, Laszlo Bagossy, Eszter Novak and Balazs Simon; the artistic director is Laszlo Berczes. Barka is not only a theatre, but an art centre open to the public all day, an oasis in an intellectual environment largely hostile to the arts. The existence of this theatre gives us ground for hope.

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ICELAND Mixture in a Melting Pot h Av a r

SIGURJONSSON

The period 1996-1999 has seen many changes in the theatre landscape in Iceland. What is of greatest importance is that the general interest in theatre has been rising. Attendance figures are the proof of that, showing that in the face of the fierce competition that rages for people’s leisure time the theatre is holding up remarkably well. Changes on the official side have been considerable, with a new theatre law combining the two previous ones, one of which pertained to the National Theatre and the other to the theatrical scene in general. Althing, the Icelandic parliament, passed the new legislation in December 1998, the main difference being that the artistic duties of the National Theatre are not as minutely defined as before, giving its artistic director more freedom to shape his program. The National has, however, a legal obligation to provide the public with a variety of productions, always accepting that its role as the standard-bearer of Icelandic theatre art must be clear. True to this role, the theatre’s artistic director imported three theatre artists from Lithuania, to produce three plays in as many seasons. Their method of work and ideas on theatre inspired many of their Icelandic counterparts and their influence could be seen in a variety of ways in consequent productions at the National and elsewhere. Similarly, the City theatre imported a team of Russian artists to produce their own adaptations of two classic Russian novels, by Turgenev and Dostoevsky. Another change on the official scene is in the role of the Icelandic Theatre Board. Previously a council of members from all sectors of the Icelandic theatre community, it has been reduced to a committee of three, two of them appointed by the cultural minister, and its sole purpose is to dish out grants to professional theatre groups. During the period 96-99 professional theatre groups have seen a slow but steady rise in their funding through the Theatre Board. Furthermore, the Cultural Ministry has set up long term contracts with promising theatre groups and enabled them to settle into a more secure phase of work. The best example of this is The HafnarfjorQur Theatre Company, which started out in 1995 and has twice received a two-year contract from the ministry. It has recently signed a five-year contract jointly with the ministry and the local authorities of Hafnarf|6r6ur —a success story if ever there was one. During the latter half of the decade, the independent theatre groups have grown in strength and profile. Another success story, although not as officially sanctioned, is Leikfelag Islands, a group of young theatre entrepreneurs who took over the lease of IDNO, the oldest theatre building in Reykjavik, which was recently restored by the city authorities, and turned it into one of the hottest theatre spots in town, immensely popular among teenage audiences. It has also shown interesting artistic ambitions in its recent productions of modern American and Russian drama. An unusual complication arises if the independent groups are called to represent The World of Theatre

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Scene from Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle

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Elva Oskolafsdottir and Baltasar Korumakur in A D oll’s House by Ibsen

what is traditionally called grass roots theatre. The previous decade has seen a change in direction, from what could be described as an artistic search —albeit mixed with shopwindow elements —where young theatre talents have been presenting themselves for the first time, to a more entrepreneurial mode of production, more professional, technically more advanced but more conventional in style and presentation. It has been argued that the grass roots have sprung up on the smaller stages of the National theatre and the City theatre, providing inspiration for the independent practitioners. Another type of theatre activity which has been much practised, but gone largely unnoticed, is that of the travelling groups, touring primary schools, grammar schools and high schools with a variety of productions, an activity which has been gratefully received and provided its practitioners with valuable experience. Icelandic dramatists have been productive and the four year period has seen a total of more than 40 new plays produced by the professional theatres. Included in the figure are short one-act plays, adaptations, and children’s plays, which is as it should be. It is difficult to stick a label on the most recent drama output. Perhaps most interesting is the emergence of new playwrights on to the scene, young writers born in the sixties and early seventies, who in the past would rather have turned their talent to writing novels and poetry. Yet the theatre has perhaps failed to a certain extent in its efforts to attract new writing, since the path from the writer’s desk to a finished production on stage is both long and winding, not to mention the financial side which is at best acceptable, never rewarding. Our playwrights are as well versed in writing on contemporary issues as in digging into our history for material to work with. The Sagas seem particularly popular and our confidence in approaching them in a modern theatrical way has been strongly apparent in productions based on such material. Worth attention is the tendency of directors — some of whom are playwrights in their own right —to work with their own material: dramatisations, adaptations, stage versions of diverse material and devised shows The World of Theatre

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Valur Freyr Einarsson, Johann G Johannsson, H alldor Gylfason, Friflrik FriSriksson and Guflmundur Ingi Thorvaldsson in Kristin Johannesdottir’s production of Frank W edekind’s Spring Awakening

of various kinds. This forms quite a considerable part of the overall package. The Icelandic Ballet is another success story, going from strength to strength under a clear artistic direction, concentrating the efforts of the small company on modern ballet. Some productions have received well-deserved attention both at home and abroad and in February 2000 the company opened a world premiere of Diaghilev: the Myths by the renowned choreographer Jochen Ulrich. All in all, it can be safely stated that at the turn of the millennium the Icelandic theatre is truly alive and thriving. High-quality productions abound, although some complaint might be lodged as to the homogeneity of their style and approach. Drama and comedies, musicals and farces, opera and ballet are all true to form and, of course, a post-modernistic mixture of all the genres is in vogue.

Havar Sigurjonsson is an artsjournalist atMorgunbladid in Iceland, and aform er associate director and dramaturg at the National theatre in Iceland.

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INDIA J N KAUSHAL and REOTI SARAN SHARMA During the period under review, India celebrated her fiftieth year of independence. In this time of ritual assessment of the gains of freedom, the theatre reacted cautiously and critically. It did not share the general euphoria, because in crucial cultural sectors, the nation had not kept the promises it made. The golden words of the Indian Constitution had lost their sheen and the political establishment its clean reputation. Naturally, the theatre followed Thomas Hardy’s dictum: ‘Let truth be told, be it despair’. We have to record once more that the basic realities of the Indian theatre scene have not changed. There have been no new theatre buildings, there are no truly well-managed theatre complexes. There is still no corporate investment in theatre, apart from occasional support for theatre festivals. Yet there is a buzzing theatre activity in the major centres which, in spite of its ‘amateur theatre’ tag, is making its mark both nationally and internationally. On the international scene, the Indian playwright Manjula Padmanabhan won the first Onassis playwriting award for her play Harvest Director Ratan Thiyam’s company was invited to perform his anti-war play Uttar Priyadarshi (on the life of King Ashoka, who renounced war and turned Buddhist) in theatre festivals in Switzerland. Anuradha Kapoor directed an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s classic Cyrano de Bergerac for the Tara Arts Group and the Royal National Theatre in Britain, and Indian director Feroze Khan restaged his Gandhi versus Gandhi (1998), an English translation of Ajit Dalvi’s Marathi play, in the UK and some other countries. Director Royston Abel, originally from the southern state of Kerala, won a Fringe First award at the 1999 Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his production of Othello: a Play in Black and White. The Indian playwright’s major concern is to liberate the Indian psyche from the traditional value system enshrined in religious epics like Kamayana and Mahabharata. In Mahabharata, Gandhari was forced to wed a blind prince in a marriage of political convenience; in protest she never cast a second look at her husband, putting a band over her eyes for life. In the ancient classical Sanskrit play Shakuntalahy the playwright Kalidasa, the King Dushyanta (who was under a curse) refused to recognise his pregnant wife Shakuntala. Recently, two modern playwrights have written full-length monologues expressing the disgust of these two females and their revolt against a male dominated, tradition-bound society. They articulated the new voice of Indian society. The two monologues, performed in 1997, are Vaidehee’s Shakuntala Ke Sath Ek Dopahar (An Afternoon with Shakuntala) and G. P. Deshpande’s Draupadi Ka Abhishap (The Curse of Draupadi), the latter performed by Bhagirthi, presented by Seagull theatre group from Guwhati. Othello, A Play in Black A nd White (1999) directed by Royston Abel for United Players Guild, a Delhi-based group of theatre professionals, was one of the most memorable productions seen on the city’s stages in that year. The production does not give us the bard’s text in its pure form but presents it in a wonderfully skewed and clever fashion. It does not play Shakespeare, it plays with it —and plays with it seriously, with remarkable creativity and insight. Taking Shakespeare’s text, the theatre company wove into it the agony and complexity of the actor playing Othello, in his off-stage persona a member of a minority group who stutters, and suffers the same prejudice and persecution that the The World of Theatre

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INDIA Moor underwent. Thus Othello’s identity remains of his time, but the contemporary motives of the actor are incorporated in the play, which synchronises both the levels of action. The result is a Shakespearean play updated and enriched by contemporary sensibilities. Director and writer Habib Tanveer, who is now in his eighties, still presents his brand of theatre through his repertory of tribal artists and folk idioms. He presented Vishakhadatta’s Sanskrit classic Mndra R akshasaw ntten in the 4thor 5th Century AD. It is a political play, towering in its uniqueness in this genre of world drama. Its single aim is to disarm an enemy at war and win him over as a friend without a blow. The playwright makes its treatment an all absorbing experience. He keeps up the tempo of warfare, thick with intrigue, and through an atmosphere of the most devious stratagems achieves his objective of total peace. Mahesh Datammi’s Final Solution, an English original translated into Hindi, shuttled back and forth in time to attempt an explanation of the origins of the communal divide that led to the partition of India, and creation of Pakistan, 50 years ago. Director Arvind Gaur, in his production of Final Solution, used two separate artists for the central character, one representing his sensibility7in 1947 and the other representing his self in 1997. Each stepped forward to address the audience when his turn came. It is an intricate play, which searches honesdy to understand the personal and collective dynamic that divides individuals and nations. Subarnalata and Kadadida Neeru were two plays dealing with the struggle for freedom and its aftermath. Subarnalata (1999), Geetanjali Shree’s stage adaptation of Ashapurna Debi’s novel, is a play about a woman’s big struggle for small things. Every time she fights and fails, she becomes larger in stature - from her sheer persistence, her indomitable spirit. While she appears to be fighting for herself, she is actually fighting for us. What was fascinating about the play was its large canvas —its complex interweaving of socialpolitical reality with the struggle of this woman who lived during the time of nationalist upheaval. Kadadida Neeru (Disturbed Water) (1997), written by G.B. Joshi, is a play about a village family caught up in the whirlwind of the freedom struggle. Shkivappa, the chief protagonist, not only devotes his life to the freedom movement but also involves his son, Shankara, in the movement at a time when he should have been at his studies. After freedom, Shankara feels that he has become a boat without a rudder. He cannot accept his father’s attitude of non-violence, when there is so much injustice around. For him, freedom was a God that failed. In Lokendra Arambam’s Child O f The North East (1998), a group of adolescents probe the incidence of violent deaths in the state, through a series of games. The play depicts in various ways how the human body in death assumes different forms as a result of various types of conflict —both earlier conflicts over love and land and contemporary conflicts over ideology and ethnicity. The effect of violence on the innocent minds of the young of Northeast India is thus explored by this fantasy treatment of real events. The search for truth and the price one pays for it were the themes of two significant plays. Socrates, by Markand Sathe (in the Marathi language), recreated the time in Greece, two and a half millennia ago, when its society was at a crossroads. Socrates set out to search for truth and to practise the virtues that stemmed from it. In no time he was branded a ‘threat’ by the establishment, as nothing is more frightening for the denizens ol darkness than the dazzle of the light. False charges where framed, the philosopher was found guilty, and for his death sentence poison was administered. In Socrates, Markand 126

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INDIA Sathe was perhaps seeking a parallel to what happened to Mahatma Gandhi in India, who in his search for truth and non-violence, faced the bullet of an assassin. Ajit Dalvi, in his intense play Gandhi Versus Gandhi, looked at the tension in the personal life of Mahatma Gandhi, who led the freedom movement in India. The conflict Dalvi explores is not with the British, but that between Gandhi and his own son, who revolted against the code of austerity and political ethics the Mahatma imposed on himself and his fellow freedom fighters. Gandhi publicly announced that no special consideration be shown to his son and he should not be a beneficiary of his national status. The resulting tension, agony and total breakdown of the relationship between the father and the son dramatically brought out that like charity, the search for truth begins at home, and its end is self-denial. The play reflects the fears of Mahatma Gandhi that power corrupts and that once India was free there would be a decline in public morality: and the kith and kin of those in power would, parasite-like, take over the political system and become parallel centres of power and exploitation. Under Feroz Khan’s direction, the play achieved its relevance to shattering effect. Two adaptations by women directors attracted special attention. Usha Ganguly, active in theatre for almost two decades in Calcutta, produced Rudali (The Professional Female Mourners) adapted from a novel of the same name by the great living novelist Mahashweta Debi. Rudalis are female mourners in certain parts of feudal India, who are customarily called upon by landowners to mourn and bewail the death of their dear ones. They are made to shed all their tears and exhaust all their sorrow for departed tyrants and rapists, leaving not a tear or whimper to mourn their own dear ones. In a strange way, the play is reminiscent of Sophocles’s Antigone. In Antigone, the issue was that of giving a decent burial to the dead. In Rudali, it is the misappropriation of the tears and sorrow of the weak by the strong —thus depriving the weak of a decent opportunity of their own for mourning. Usha Ganguly’s production created the dimensions of a Greek tragedy. The young theatre director Neelam Man Singh runs a group of folk performers in Punjab. Her productions are a visual and emotional experience. She uses earthy colours, bold folk motifs, pulsating traditional music and robust performances. Her adaptation of Jean Racine’s Phedre, under the title Fida, exemplified the same sensitivity, fluid visual narration and integration of light music and disciplined performances which marked her earlier production of Lorca’s Yerma. The atomic tests conducted by India provoked a few stage productions. The first was a production of Euripides’ Greek classic The Trojan Women (1998) presented by a group of college students as part of an awareness campaign regarding the devastation of war. The other play was Indian playwright Badal Sircar’s Teesmin Shatabadi (The Thirtieth Century), in which Sircar documents in his masterly manner the discovery of atomic energy and the systematic plan to test the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As part of the celebrations of the 50thyear of independence, the National School of Drama, an associate member of ITI, organised in Delhi a festival of the forty best plays from all parts of India. These plays illustrated that amateur theatre groups have achieved high professional standards. They constitute what is called modern Indian theatre and playwrights, performers, directors and designers have given it a distinct Indian identity — a synthesis of classical and folk theatre practices and western skills. J N Kaushal is a theatre critic and Vice President o f Indian ITI. Reoti Sdran Sharmu is a playwright and General Secretary o f Indian ITI. The World of Theatre

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IRAN A Theatre in Bloom ALI KARBALAEI Is there much to say about the performing arts in general and the theatre specifically in Iran? Iran might be known to many for its Islamic revolution under the leadership of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and for being rich in oil.. They will be aware, certainly, that religion is important in the country. This information, which is of course true, in fact tells very little about such a vast country with 2,500 years of rich history, and may not suffice for answering a question like the one above. Shortly after the Islamic revolution in 1979, a devastating and hideous war was imposed on Iran, this reborn country, by Iraq. There were almost eight years of unblinking hardship and sacrifice in self defence. In 1998, immediately after the war, reconstruction in all aspects of life commenced in order for everything to come back to normality and speed up development. Dramatic arts and theatre were no exception. Although there is still much to do, one can say that they are in full activity now. To illuminate this, the administration, repertoires and festivals, and women’s role in the theatre in Iran may be examined. The Dramatic Arts Center, DAC, which represents the Iranian ITI, administers and supports the whole of dramatic activity in Iran in a large scale. While the Planning and Development Department provides both financial and spiritual support to the playwrights, directors and troupes in order to help more plays to appear on the stage, the Publication Department makes every endeavour to introduce plays and artists from all over the world to the Iranian public. On the other hand, the International Affairs Department, recently launched, recognises as its duty to introduce plays and artists to other members of the theatre family throughout the world as well as keeping the Iranian members of this family in the picture of the global activities, in order to assure that false geographical barriers and borders do not make members of this big family forget each other. Theatre in Iran is never dormant throughout the year. Having eight halls at its disposition in Tehran alone, DAC has been able to provide the opportunity for 61 plays to be staged in Tehran and more than 876 plays in other cities last year. For instance, the main hall of Teatr-e-Shahr in Tehran, with 579 seats, witnessed eight plays last year. Every family needs a gathering from time to time. Festivals, seminars, and workshops are the means lor the fulfilment of this valuable purpose. Several theatre festivals are held in Iran. The International Fajr Theatre Festival will celebrate its 18thanniversary by the dawn of this millennium. The FajrTheatre Festival, held annually from 21s,January to 4th February, witnessed last year 72 plays from Iran and 10 plays from other countries such as Italy, India, and Germany. The number of the audience for this festival last year was estimated around 488,660 spectators. Street performances in the event exceeded 34. 128

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IRAN The Traditional Theatre Festival, held annually, provides an opportunity to present some rare and unique forms of theatre. Ta^yeh is only one example of this kind. ‘Ta^ia is the most striking mystery-play of the entire Orient’, according to Louis Gray. It is closely related to Islamic belief, and most appropriately staged on a rather elevated platform, around which the spectators gather to mourn for Imam Hussein, as the theme is usually focussed on the events of his martyrdom. Of course, a Ta^ia may also deal with happy events, not being confined to the months of mourning, but its general mood and purport are that of a passion play. Ta^ia is written and performed in verse. The use of signs and the unique manner of its presentation and performance that is based on an interrelation between the actors’ and spectators’ beliefs make Taqja the most striking play. There are also other festivals namely, the International Puppet Theatre Festival (biennial-Tehran-September), the Festival of Nomad Theatre (annual — AligoodarzAugust), the Omid Youth and Children’s Festival (annual —Autumn) and the Defence Commemoration Theatre Festival (annual —Tehran, June). The role of women in the field of performing arts is astounding, particularly for those who wonder how a woman might actively be involved in theatre while observing and respecting Islamic values. It is not only acting in which women are highly involved, but also directing, designing, make-up, and writing. Out of 72 plays participating in the 17th Fajr Theatre Festival in 1999, nine were directed by women and 28 designed by them, Six women won different prizes in that festival. Furthermore, many women are studying theatre in the colleges of art whilst some who have studied abroad are teaching there. These are just a few statistics about theatre life in Iran. There is much to discuss about the genres, quality, criticism, trends, and the like in this respect. There is so much to say about the performing arts in Iran that one may not believe it until one sees them.

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IRELAND STEVE WILMER The Irish theatre scene has been given a major boost over the past few years by increased government funding and forward planning by the country’s Arts Council. The second Minister of the Arts, Sile de Valera (who replaced the able and committed Michael D. Higgins), has demonstrated an equal determination to increase subsidy for the arts significantly. Theatre companies have also been given increased financial security by the Arts Council, through three-year instead of annual guarantees of support. Many new companies with novel ways of expressing themselves have appeared on the scene in recent years, and a proliferation of regional companies and venues and regional arts officers has helped decentralise theatre activities away from the capital, Dublin. Because government budgets on the whole remain centrally allocated, local authority subsidies for the theatre remain slim. However, there are increasing indications of local funding, particularly with regional arts officers stimulating local events with help from local business. The government subsidy for the theatre in Ireland has continued to rise rapidly. The Irish Arts Council budget doubled from £13 million in 1994 to £26 million in 1998, with many new companies benefiting from government subsidy, such as Blue Raincoat in Sligo, Corcadorca in Waterford, Bickerstaffe in Kilkenny, and Barrabas, Bedrock, Loose Cannon and The Corn Exchange in Dublin. Important new regional venues have been created in Tallaght, Longford, Galway, Portlaoise, Letterkenny and Mullingar that have expanded the infrastructure for touring, and an important new children’s theatre venue, The Ark, has been established in Dublin, producing its own work. The Irish National Theatre in Dublin (the Abbey Theatre) has continued to thrive under the artistic directorship of Patrick Mason from 1994 to 1999 and has recently appointed Ben Barnes as his successor. It has introduced important new work such as In a Little World o f Our Own (1997) and A s the Beast Sleeps (1998) by the Ulster playwright Gary Mitchell (both directed by Conall Morrison), two plays by Marina Carr (Portia Coughlin, 1996, and B j the Bog o f Cats, 1998, based on Medea), Michael Harding’s Sour Grapes (1997) about the current scandals of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, Tom Kilroy’s The Secret Tall o f Constance Wilde (1997) about Oscar Wilde’s wife, Tarry Flynn (1997) adapted from Patrick Kavanagh’s novel by Conall Morrison, and Tom Murphy’s The Wake (1998). These last two productions were seen in 1999 respectively at the National Theatre in London and at the Edinburgh Festival. The Abbey has expanded its outreach programme with the community and has also toured extensively abroad. In addition to producing elegant versions of the classics, the Gate Theatre, under the direction of Michael Colgan, has continued to revive its Beckett Festival of 1991, in which the Gate presented all of Beckett’s nineteen stage plays. These have been restaged in New York in 1996 and at the Barbican in London in 1999. At the Druid Theatre in Galway, on the west coast of Ireland, Garry Hynes has achieved major international success by premiering The Teenane Trilogy by Martin McDonagh in 1997, consisting of The Beauty Queen o f Teenane (which she staged at the 130

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IRELAND

A bove: Anna Manahan, Bryan F O ’Byrne and Marie Mullen in Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen ofL e e n a n e - Druid Theatre, Galway {photo: Ivan Kyncl) Below, left: Alison McKenna and Pat Kinevane in The Colleen Bawn\ right, scene from Tarry Flynn, both directed by Conall Morrison - Abbey Theatre, Dublin {photos: Amelia Stein)

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IRELAND Royal Court in London in 1996), A Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West. Hynes restaged The Beauty Queen o f Leenane and The Lonesome West in separate productions on Broadway and won a Tony award for best director. Many of the cast were also nominated for and in some cases received Tony awards. After staging a successful production of The Schoolfo r Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Rough Magic Theatre Company recently introduced a forgotten piece by his mother Frances Sheridan, revised for the company by Liz Kuti, an actress and theatre scholar, and titled The Whisperers (1999). The Passion Machine theatre company, which has specialised in creating new pieces by Paul Mercier and Roddy Doyle for an inner-city audience, continued to use Dublin as a focus for their material by producing in 1998 a trilogy of new and revived work by Paul Mericer: Buddleia, Kitchensink and Native City. Red Kettle in Waterford produced The Salvage Shop by Jim Nolan in 1998 with Niall Toibin playing a drunken bandmaster. The young theatre group Pigsback changed its name to Fishamble and continued to mount the work of new playwrights, with Gavin Kostick’s The Flesh Addict(\996), about the pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Mark O’Rowe’s From Both Hips (1997). Barabbas, a theatre company specialising in physical theatre and clowning, produced a lively version of Lennox Robinson’s The Whiteheaded Boy (1997) with much character doubling. Macnas, a Galway-based theatre company (founded by members of Footsbarn) that works with giant puppets to develop physical performances based on Celtic myths for indoor performances, street parades, rock concerts (for the U2 rock band) and on television, devised Diamonds in the Soil (1998), based on the life and work of Vincent van Gogh. Bedrock Theatre Company introduced two plays by the French writer Bernard-Marie Koltes: Q uay West and Night Just Before the Forest. The Calypso theatre company produced a new play by Paula Meehan, C ell(1999). The Machine continued to produce ambitious work including an opera version of Purgatory by W.B. Yeats adapted by Michael Scott and a multi-authored piece called Mysteries 2000. TEAM Educational Theatre Company produced Jack Fell Down (1999), a piece by Michael West that facilitated discussions with students and teachers about death and tragic loss. Operating Theatre returned to the stage with a multi-media work called A ngel I Babe! (1999), with music by Roger Doyle and acted by Olwen Fouere. The new Civic Theatre in the Dublin suburb of Tallaght opened its doors with an exciting new play by local author Mark O’Rowe called Howie the Rookie (1999), a pair of monologues that depicted inner city violence in Dublin. Amharclann de hide, the most successful Irish-speaking company, continued to present new work and revived an early production of Tine Chnatnb for an international tour in 1999. A new Dublin fringe festival has become a major addition to the main Dublin theatre festival in October, featuring smaller scale work from abroad as well as local productions. The Pan Pan theatre company (specialising in theatre by and for the deaf) has organised important symposia in 1997, 1998 and 1999, with a demonstration of methods by companies using different types of physical practices from abroad such as Scena Plastyczna Kul and MandalaTheatre from Poland, Theatre de L’Instant of France, Teatro Potlach of Italy, Tyst Teater of Sweden, Scarlet Theatre from England and Marberger Teaterwerkstatt from Germany. In honour of his seventieth birthday in 1999, a revival of many of Brian Friel’s plays was staged including The Freedom o f the City, Dancing at Lughnasa, Making History and Living Quarters at the Abbey and Peacock theatres and Aristocrats at the Gate Theatre. Opera and dance remain under-funded in Ireland, with no full-time companies. The Opera Theatre Company, which has made a name by commissioning new short chamber productions such as Bitter Fruit (1992) by Nell McCafferty and Fergus Johnston (based 132

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IRELAND on the Bishop Casey scandal), staged The Wall o f Cloudhy Raymond Deane in 1998. The Firkin Crane, an important new venue for modern dance productions in Cork, commissioned Irish choreographers for its New Works Series of contemporary dance. Tax incentives have continued to encourage a large number of overseas productions to use Ireland as a setting for their films. The legendary American film director and producer Roger Corman has established a film studio in the Galway area, producing six low-budget films a year. Also several Irish novels have been made into films such as Ferdia MacAnna’s The Last o f the High Kings, Roddy Doyle’s The Van (following on from the success of The Commitments), Pat MacCabe’s The Butcher Boy and Frank McCourt’s A ngela’s Ashes (directed by Alan Parker, who also directed The Commitments). An Irishlanguage television station that started broadcasting in 1996 has been slow to find an audience, with reported viewing figures after the first month at less than 1% of the population. The station changed its name in 1999 and introduced much more Englishlanguage programming. A new and valuable commentary on Irish theatre events and developments, Irish Theatre Magazine, edited by Karen Fricker and William White, has replaced the defunct Theatre Ireland magazine that was edited by Linda Flenderson of Coleraine University for many years.

Steve Wilmeris a Senior Lecturer in the School o f Drama at Trinity College Dublin. Recent work Portraits of Courage: Plays by Finnish Women (Helsinki University Press, 1997) and (with Hans van Maanen) Theatre Worlds in Motion: Structures, Politics and Developments in the Countries of Western Europe (Rodopi, 1998).

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JAPAN TAKASHI NOMURA The two years 1997 and 1998 in the Japanese theatre world were distinguished, first, by the opening in October 1997 of the New National Theatre as a theatre for opera, ballet and modern drama; and second, for the opening of other new theatres: in March 1997, the Shochiku production company opened Shochiku-za in Osaka to be the centre of its activity7in western Japan; in October 1998, the Shiki Theatre Troupe opened its Shiki Theatre in Tokyo. The first National Theatre was opened in Tokyo in October 1966 and is dedicated to the traditional performing arts. From that time on, there was a movement to provide a similar space for contemporary performing arts, but it has taken thirty years for this wish to be realized. The New National Theatre is in Hatsudai, in Tokyo’s Shibuya Ward, and has three halls with capacities of 1800,1000 and 400. The design was chosen through a competition, but the architect’s main experience was in building museums and this showed in the results. The building looks good, but neither performers nor spectators can be totally satisfied with the three halls. In particular, since the medium hall has a stage opening out at 120°, the voices of the performers tend to be lost. This has inevitably required the use of hidden microphones and speakers in the auditorium, or blocking off seats on the sides so that they cannot be used. The opening of the large hall featured the premiere of T aken, a new opera by Dan Ikuma about the ancient Japanese hero Yamato Takeru; the opening of the medium hall featured the premiere of Kamiyacho Sakura Hotel, a play by Inoue Hisashi. Neither work can be considered an unqualified success. The first successful opera in the large hall was Aida, the third to be scheduled. This was directed by Franco Zeffirelli, who came from Italy for the project. For an entire year, there was no really successful production in the medium hall until Dear Liar. During this period, artistic director Watanabe Hiroko fell ill and died suddenly; since then temporary substitutes have been acting as artistic director. The theatre complex is supported by a special foundation which is eagerly seeking support from the private sector and sponsors. However, at present, the theatre operates at a deficit and it is clear that, artistically and financially, it will take time before the complex can show results. The Shiki Theatre Troupe has celebrated the fortieth aniversary of its founding Over the years it has become a gigantic organization, not only equalling the combined revenues of Shochiku and Toho, two of the largest theatre production companies in Japan, but even doubling it. In the 1970s, midway through their history, producer and director Asari Keita decided to change the emphasis of the troupe from straight plays to long runs of musicals, beginning with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats. Hit after hit followed, resulting in the present prosperity. There are already theatres for Shiki productions in Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo and Fukuoka, but all of these were built with the co-operation of construction companies. The new Shiki Theatre in Tokyo consists of two halls, the 134

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JAPAN

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JAPAN Spring and Autumn Halls (‘Shiki’ means ‘four seasons’) and is, from design to construction, a theatre built totally for the Shiki Theatre Troupe. For the opening of the theatre, there was a production of Beauty and the Beast, which was first presented in 1994 in association with Disney Productions, followed by The U on King. The original production in Japanese translation with Julie Taymor’s design and direction and Elton John’s music was a great success, with everything unchanged except the language. On the other hand, the all­ female Takarazuka troupe was not so successful. At the end of 1996, their theatre in Tokyo was scheduled to be rebuilt and during construction of the permanent theatre, a temporary theatre called the Theatre of a Thousand Days was built in Tokyo for Takarazuka productions. Until now, there have been four groups in the troupe which rotate in months of performances all over Japan: the Yuki (Snow), Tsuki (Moon), Hana (Flower) and Hoshi (Star) groups. Now a fifth group, Sora (Universe), has been added so that there can be performances of Takarazuka in Tokyo throughout the year. But at present, the theatre is not full for all five of these groups and there are not enough technical staff to create new works for all the groups on a regular basis. The Toho production company celebrated its 65thanniversary in 1997, but for the last ten years has been somewhat sluggish. In October 1998, Toho attracted attention with the success of an original musical, Roman Holiday, based on the movie, with music by Oshima Michiru, script by Horikoshi Shin and directed by Yamada Kazuya. The Shochiku production company opened its new theatre, Shochiku-za, in the Dotombori district of Osaka, an area famous for its theatres since the Edo period. A new theatre was needed because the building of Naka-za, the theatre in Dotombori that Shochiku used for kabuki and other performances, was getting very old, and there was also a desire to build a new theatre equipped for not only kabuki but other forms of theatre, including musicals. The result was a splendid theatre, with a fine rehearsal hall on the top floor. In 1998, the kabuki actor KataokaTakao took the acting name of Kataoka Nizaemon XV, the most distinguished name in his family, and celebrated the event with a series of performances: first at Kabuki-za in Tokyo in January, then March and April at Shochikuza in Osaka, October at Misono-za in Nagoya and December at Minami-za in Kyoto. These were the most lavish and colorful kabuki performances during this two year period. In particular, his Kuruwa Bunsho (.A Tetter from the Pleasure in January, October and December was a great success continuing a role for which his family has been famous for generations. The existence of Kabuki within the Japanese theatre world is particularly significant even though, in the period after the end of World War II, there have been times when Kabuki has not been so dominant. However, in both Tokyo and Osaka, other commercial theatre troupes that once drew huge crowds surpassing those of Kabuki have either disappeared after the death of key stars or have very diminished activity. These troupes include Shimpa and Shin Kokugeki, both forms of theatre that were tremendously popular before World War II, comedy troupes including that headed by the late Enomoto Kenichi, Toho Kabuki led by Hasegawa Kazuo and the sentimental comedy of the Shochiku Shin Kigeki troupe with Shibuya Tengai and Fujiyama Kanbi. While other groups are retreating, Kabuki has found new life. Kabuki has skilled actors in three generations: that over sixty, the generation over forty and the generation younger than forty. Particularly notable performances include the production of Shin UsuyukiMonogatari (The New Tale o f Princess Usujuki) in May 1997 by the second generation; performances of Kawasho (a part of Shinju Ten no Amijima —Double Suicide) in November 1997 and Meihoku Sendaihagi (The Disputed Succession) in November 1998 by Nakamura Ganjiro, 136

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Look, H ow High the Plane Flies

who belongs to the first generation; the performance of Nakamura Kichiemon, who belongs to the second generation, in Nijojo no Kijomasa (Kiyomasa in Nijojo Castle) in September 1998; performances by members of the third generation like Bando Tamasaburo, in Akoya in January 1997 and Kinkakuji in June 1998; and by Nakamura Kankuro, also a member of the third generation, in Arakawa no Sakichi in August 1998. In addition, since the death of actress Yamamoto Yasue, there were no performances of Kinoshita Junji’s Yu^uru (A Crane o f Twilight) but in August 1998 at the Saison Gekijo in Ginza, to great acclaim, Bando Tamasaburo performed the role, the first time it was played by an onnagata, giving new life to this monument of modern Japanese theatre. The Bunraku puppet theatre stands together with Kabuki as a major traditional performing art, but in recent years, with the deaths or retirement of major narrators, shamisen players and puppeteers, it has seemed to be at risk. However, the May 1998 performance of Igagoe Dochu Sugoroku showed that it is still quite vigorous. In particular, among the senior performers, narrator Takemoto Sumitayu and puppeteer Yoshida Tamao are providing strong leadership. Meanwhile, with the other major traditional performing art of Noh, among the five schools of shite lead actors, the decline in the Hosho, Kongo and Komparu schools is particularly striking, and in the Kita school, there are only Awaya Kiko andTomoeda Akiyo, leaving the Kanze school almost totally dominant. In the Kanze school, there are many fine actors, including Sekine Shoroku, Kanze Hideo, Umewaka Rokuro and Otsuki Bunzo, but the only performance worthy of particular note was the revival of Shikiji Monogurui in March 1998 by Otsuki Bunzo. This is the story of a mother who has searched for her son for long years and finally encounters him as a grown man. In production and acting, this revival fully expressed the emotions of the play. Umewaka The World of Theatre

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JAPAN Rokuro also presented an original Noh play, Kukai (October 1998), at Suntory Hall, a space designed as a concert hall. In the field of modern theatre or Shingeki, playwright Betsuyaku Minoru continues to be astoundingly active. In particular, Kinran Dons/4 no Obi o Shimenagara (On the Wedding Day —produced by Bungaku-za) in March 1997 and Yamaneko Rihatsuten (Barber Jynx — Office Kiyama) in September 1998 were particularly fine plays. The first featured Miki Norihei, the finest senior comic actor in the Tokyo tradition, in what turned out to be his final stage appearance. The play depicted the experience of World War II, satirically incorporating such materials as the Hanaoka mine incident. Among somewhat younger playwrights, Nagai Ai attracted attention with two plays, Miyo, Hikoki no Takaku Toberu o (Look, How High the Plane Flies —Seinenza) in October 1997 and Ra-nuki no Satsui (Murderous Intent without a letter ‘Ra ’— Teatro Eco) in December. Also, Kaneshita Tatsuo’s Kanka (Flower in the Cold — Bungakuza) in July of the same year created an overwhelming dramatic mood and also won him many prizes. In the youngest group, Matsuda Masataka’s Umi to Higasa (Sea and Parasol) and Tsuk.i no Misaki (A Cape Under the Moon) in 1997 and Saka no Ue no le (A House on the Hilltop) in 1998 showed his unflagging activity and established him firmly not only on his home ground of Kansai, but also in Tokyo as well. Among directors, the internationally known Yukio Ninagawa is gradually working his way through Shakespeare and the Greek classics, and Kuriyama Tamio is also active in a wide variety of fields. For example in March 1998 there was Kindertransport, by Diane Samuels, produced by Hyogo Butai Geijutsu), and in June, KojoiKagiriwa (Only Tonight...., by Takeuchi Juichiro, produced by the new National Theatre). His Buddha, presented in September at the New National Theatre had a script by Sato Makoto based on the original comic by Tezuka Osamu and featured spectacular settings and music, but perhaps as a result seemed to be burdened by its own weight. In 1999, Kuriyama was appointed as the artistic director for theatre at the New National Theatre. Among actors, Sugimura Haruko, an actress who had continued to be active even when extremely elderly, died on April 4, 1997, and Mitsuda Ken, the oldest working actor, died on November 28. Of the older generation, Yamada Isuzu remains extremely active, showing her power in Geijutsu-za’s Kakure Giku (A Hidden Chrysanthemum) in March 1998; and Mori Mitsuko displayed her continuing presence in Geijutsu-za’s Hongo Kikufuji Hotel in November. Notable young actors in 1998 included Otake Shinobu, who played the lead inTPT’s Lulu (by Wedekind, director David Leveaux, December) and Uchino Seiyo, who appeared in Bungaku-za’s Mimi^u (An Earthworm —July, playwright Sakate Yoji) and was immediately recognized as one of the top young actors of today. Almost all of the activity in the world of opera during this period seems to have been concentrated on the New National Theatre. Unusually, from its establishment it has not had an orchestra of its own, but has a chorus and dance group attached to it. This was particularly effective with the 1998 productions of Nabucco in June and Arabella in September. However, for the time being, there do not seem to be any notable original operas, with the exception of the production of Momo (Itchiyanagi Toshi, composer, directed by Kato Tadashi) in December, which was a revised revival of an opera originally presented at the Kanagawa Arts Festival in 1996. Aside from that, the production of Wagner’s Rien-^i in November at the Fujisawa Community Hall is worth special note as the first presentation of this opera in Japan

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JORDAN The Seasons 97-98-99 SAWSAN DARWAZA These theatrical seasons showed a considerable improvement in the quality of the plays presented, an improvement due to a set of events in the theatre arena in Jordan: the Amman Theatre Days Festival for independent troupes, the Jordanian Theatre Festival (The Ministry o f Culture Festival), the Amman Municipality Theatre Fund, the Jerash Festival and other relevant activities. One of the events that played a major part in enhancing the theatre movement was the multicultural festival organized by the FawTanees Troupe, Amman Theatre Days, which became an annual celebration of local and foreign plays as well as a celebration of a unique cultural exchange. Jordanian theatre people and audiences were being exposed to the work of other foreign Pan Arab theatre troupes, a fact which paved the way to various productions and co-productions and opened up the possibility of future collaboration. Funds became more available to many local troupes and the festival became an enchanting reunion of theatre people from all over the world. Palestinian theatre companies from Gaza and the West Bank regarded this festival as a vital stage and an outlet for their experiments under siege. Plays like The Martyrs Are Coming Back from the Ashtar Troupe, and Death and the Maiden from A1 Qasaba Theatre were seen in 1998 and other independent productions in 1997. Palestinian small troupes were also present. Issues such as peace, the crisis of normalization, the search for identity, conflict and resolution were focal themes in these plays. Experimental theatre work by French, American, Indian, Belgian, and Swedish companies, as well as many other foreign plays, were also shown in this festival over the seasons 1997-98-99. This was a major opportunity for Jordanian artists to contemplate their experiments and discover the need to re-evaluate and re-examine their artistic path, giving more thought to their journey and taking account of the trends of other theatre groups in the region and in the wider world. The festival of the Ministry of Culture, the Jordanian Theatre Festival, was another major festival which was carried through these seasons. Held yearly in co-operation with the Jordanian Artists Union, this festival became a tradition since its start in the early nineties, and has always been a beneficial channel for professional Jordanian troupes to enhance and fund their work. The Ministry acts as a funder and a producer for all the participating plays. The most notable performances which took place in the seasons were: The Wedding o f Hlectra, directed by Mohammad Dmour (1997) In Search o f Noufan, written and directed by Ghanam Ghanam (1997) Medea, adapted and directed by Hakim Harb (1997; participated in the Jerusalem Festival 1999, and the Cairo Festival of the same year) The World of Theatre

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JORDAN The Fast Story o f Shehra^ad, written by Jamal Abu Hamdan, directed by Imad A1 Shaer (1997) Blue Green, directed by Ismat Farouk (1997) The Fiddler, adapted from Le Malentendu by Camus, directed by Hakim Harb (1998; also participated in the Cairo Experimental Festival 1999) The Amman Municipality introduced itself as a major source of funding for cultural programs and for theatre. For the first time, the Municipality developed a cultural department for theatre and arts and took an interest in funding and producing plays as an independent initiative, separately from the Ministry of Culture. The most important performances in the Amman seasons were: 1997: The Maids, adapted by Ziad falal, directed by Zeid Quda, performed by Najwa Kondokji and, Majd A1 Ivasas, participated in the Kartaj Festival Theatre days in Tunisia, where both actresses were nominated for the best acting prize, and in the jerash Festival in Jordan (1996— 97). The Circle, written by Hayat Attieh, directed by Aziz Kahyoun, a new version of the Myth of Fertility (Ashtar legend) combining the contemporary and the archaic heritage in a performance in the open air at the old temple of Ashtar & Malcom, perched on the hill of Amman. 1998: The Memory o f Three Boxes, directed by Sawsan Darwaza, written by Sawsan Darwaza and Haya Husseini from a collective local scripting workshop involving the cast, the authors and the director. The production was premiered in the Amman Theatre Days, and performed for free in popular areas of the city, to enhance theatregoing within the strategy of ‘Reach The People’; it also participated in the Cairo Experimental Theatre Festival 1998, and Carthage Theatre Days Festival in Tunisia, 1999, and is preparing for a Pan-Arab tour. The Story o f Meysha, an Archaic King in Jordan, a play written by Hazah Barari, adapted and directed by Nabil A1 Khatib 1999: Hayat Hayat (I^ife-Uj), written and directed by Ghanam Ghanam. Faceless Women, collective workshop led by Majd A1 Kasa, written by Abdul Amir Sahmkhai participated in the Jerash Festival, Jordan. The Jerash Festival offered another platform for theatre performances. It is a yearly festival that features foreign and Arab performing arts activities, as well as plastic arts and poetry. A huge celebration takes place everyjuly in the amphitheatres of the Roman City of Jerash. The festival fund is intended to produce one or two Jordanian plays every year within its strategy of cultural development. It also features a theatrically based, traditional fashion show, a mixture of the Jordanian and Oriental heritage with vibrant designs in a theatrical approach. These shows have included Oriental Dreams, 1998, and Sun and Moon, 1997, both designed by Hana Sadek. Jordanian plays performed in this festival for the season included The House o f Bernarda Alba, adapted by the Syrian actor-writer Abas Nouri and performed by the Jordanian actress Nadera Omran, in the form of a semi-monodrama, and directed byjawad Assadi, a most renowned Iraqi director; as well as Faceless Women by Majd A1 Quassas, The Circle by Hayat Atieh, Abu Z eidH ilaliby Ghanam Ghanam and many others. 140

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JORDAN This period also saw the opening of a Performing Art Centre under the umbrella of the Nour A1 Hussein Foundation, with an independent artistic team led by Lina A1 Tal, director-actress and prominent figure in theatre and education. Their major theatre productions for this season were: AlKhanafeesh, a play touring in a bus and using puppetry and TIE methods to promote a non-violence programme in schools and remote educational centres. The play was later adapted into a TV programme. Also The City o f A l Saman, a musical play adapted by Najeh Mahmoud and Lina A1 Tal, which won the silver prize among TV theatre shows in the Cairo Festival. The Performing Art Centre also runs a forum touring theatre, focusing on family relations and Jordanian traditional issues. It has a trained team of actor-teachers and has just started to introduce acting courses, following a joint curriculum with the Kennedy Center in Washington. With the aim of creating theatre projects independently from the Festival and special events, the Directorate o f Theatre and Arts has renovated its theatre house and premises and started a new strategy of developing a theatre repertoire, using employed young staff directors in the Directorate and independent theatre directors in the field. This new move will allow theatre projects and experiments to accumulate and attract audiences from different strata of society. The f i f t h A rabicSongFestivalwzs organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Directorate of Children’s Theatre. The Festival took place in September 1999 with the participation of fourteen Arab countries. The first prize was won by Jordan, the second by Tunisia, and the third jointly by Sudan and Bahrain. In addition to this, more than a hundred and fifty children from schools and cultural centres participated in this celebration, and were accompanied by the orchestra from the National Music Conservatory of the Nour Al Hussein Foundation, together with a ballet group. The Arabic Song Festival was first created and supervised in 1995 by Wafa Ksous, a very famous puppeteer and educationalist. It aims to increase interest in, and encourage experiment around children’s songs and music, subjects that concern a young age group which is usually ignored in theatre or theatre activities. All these events, along with the Artists’ Union becoming a syndicate, gave theatre people a more focused vision of their ambitions and plans. It empowered them in a positive manner to bring out their ideas and experiments in a more crystalized synthesis. It also had a great impact on their true desire to co-operate with other troupes both regionally and internationally. The observer of the theatre arena in Jordan will have noticed a quantitative and qualitative increase in theatre projects, which should pave the way for the eventual setting up of theatre traditions and codes and the development of a more firmly established theatre movement. S a w sa n D a rw a z a is a Theatre and TV Director and President o f the Jordan Centre o f ITI. Mostly known fo r her collective experiments in theatre plays, scripts and writing, she works as a director-partner in M ira’t Media & Pioneers Production Company, whichfocuses its work on adapting theatre to the Television medium in an attempt to reach a wider audience andfind ways to revive the theatre

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KENYA OPIYOMUMMA T he last three years in the K enyan theatre scene have been invigorating. 1998 saw the first ever international congress to be held in the country on dram a in K enya and Africa. This was the 31'1ID EA World congress o f Dram a, Theatre and Education, held in Kisumu from 9'1' - 19th Ju ly 1998. It bro ugh t to geth er over 3,000 dram a p erfo rm ers and practitioners from over 50 countries, for ten days, in five plenary venues and six community field sites. It was hosted by K enya D ram a/T heatre E ducation A ssociation (KDEA) and featured various perform ances, am ong them F ruit f o r T hought directed by E m erencia fim erita o f C anada, and S ong o f Taivino, directed by Jacob O tieno and perform ed by Free T ravelling T heatre (FTT). FTT was one o f the busiest U niversity groups throughout this period, staging num erous plays at N airobi U niversity’s E ducation T heatre II. O ther universities were also busy, w ith K envatta U niversity holding its annual cultural w eek and E gerton U niversity’s annual O kot p ’B itek’s festival. The H arvest o f Plays took place in N ovem ber 1999. T he visiting British group T heatrum Botanicum (Theatre o f Plants) was hosted by various U niversities, the British Council and the K enya National T heatre during its countryw ide tour from 20-27‘h June 1998 o f A n A frican Ju lius C aesar after W illiam Shakespeare, directed by Toby Gough. Several groups from U ganda, C am eroun and South A frica have visited and perform ed in 1999. A lso this year, Phoenix T heatre, a leading professional theatre group, com m issioned a K enyan playw right’s w ork for the first time. This was Benta by Cajetan Boy, w hich was staged during A ugust at Professional Centre. There was a unique launch o f another professional arts club, N yngu Cultural Club, by the M zizi Players on 23rd July 1998. T his holds m onthly Sigana perform ances. N yam godho’s C ycle o f P o”erty and Sela’s C ourtship and M arriage w ere, given during 24thJune —7lhJulv 1998. M ake Piano L ore was staged at the British Council, 1 4 -1 5rh A ugust 1998. M baklam w ezi Players w ere also active and played The D eep Blue Sea betw een 6th —7th August 1998. T hey have also perform ed The B urdens by John Ruganda. The country’s biggest D ram a Festival is undoubtedly the K enyan N ational Schools’ D ram a Festival, held annually in February to April. It is held at all levels from zonal to national and rotates every year between the eight provinces o f Kenya. C om m only theatre groups have been active w ith annual dram a festivals held at U yom a/Bondo/A sem bo called M igw ena Cultural Festival and N yabondo cultural event at Sigoti Cultural Centre. The C hristian theatre scene is m arked by various church theatre groups perform ing vigorous plays; it climaxes every year with the M avuno D ram a Festival in August. Various church groups have now developed into m ainstream theatre groups. The French D ram a Festival is hosted annually by the M inistry o f E ducation and the French Cultural Centre. It is a w eek-long festival during Septem ber. The French Cultural C entre w ere also hosts to num erous French and E nglish plays, for exam ple K iss o f the S pider Woman by M anuel Puig, directed by Jacob Otieno on 29th —30th M arch, 1996; a 142

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KENYA one-man play by Sammy Gathii, Stop Looking at Me; a musical, The Sound o f Music, presented by French school students and directed by Denis-Deberot between 111 4th February 1996. The first ever African dance troupe staged Freedom o f My Soul directed by Ondiege Matthew at FCC on 14 & 15thMay 1999. Later in that year, The Coffin is Too Big fo r the Hole was staged by the Free Travelling Theatre. Theatre For Development (TFD), Participatory Educational Theatre (PET), and Theatre in Education (TIE) are major forms of theatre and Drama practised by several Kenyan groups. There is an annual Children’s Drama Festival as well as the Lwak Cultural Festival, which ahs been held at Lwak School annually since its inception in 1991 by James Odhiambo, the drama patron. Private schools have as usual given various performances, with Breaburn staging The Savoy Knights between 26-27 June 1998 The KDEA Symposium 1997 was held at the National Museum, the Kenya National Theatre and the University of Nairobi’s Education Theatre II: the outstanding plays were A nd the Palm Wine will Flow by Bole Botake, performed by FTT from 27th Nov.to 7rhDec. 1997 as well as The Other Side o f the Coin by Theatre Mashariki from Uganda . As was already noted, KDEA organized the 3rdIDEA World Congress of Drama and Theatre in Kisumu in July, 1998. In 1999, Mbalamwezi Players, in conjunction with FTT, staged an exciting play, The Night Before, at the University of Nairobi’s Education Theatre II on 21s' May. FTT were also hosts to Ba-na-ma Ngirimbe, a musical dance troupe, at the same venue on 25th June. FTT also performed a four-hour play entitled The Spirit o f Womanhood, directed by Opiyo Mumma and adapted from Margaret Ogola’s The River and the Source. Kenya Drama Association (KDEA) organized The Eastern Africa Theatre Institute (EATI) and attended the Bagamoyo Festival. The Anti-Corruption Theatre Movement visited Maputo, Mozambique in August, 1999. In summary, Kenyan theatre seems to have come of age locally and is taking its first faltering steps on to the world stage.

Opiyo Mumind is a theatre director and a member o f the Drama and Theatre Education Department at the University o f Nairobi, Kenya

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KOREA JUNG-SOON SHIM Interculturalism, rejuvenation and popularization are probably the three words that inform Korean theatre during 1997-1999 period. During this time, the term Interculturalism became popular as a principle for theatre practice and a concept for theatre research. Korean theatre also witnessed the emergence of young playwrights and directors in their twenties into the limelight, and a resulting rejuvenation of theatre culture, which had been going on in the wake of Korean society’s general opening toward the Western popular culture since the late 1980s. 1997 was truly a dramatic and traumatic year for Korean theatre as well as for Korea as a nation. Korea hosted the ITI Congress and the Theatre of Nations in October, 1997. Held in conjunction with the Seoul Theatre Festival and the Ivwachon Madangkuk (street theatre) Festival, this occasion was a milestone in the history of Korean theatre. Through it, Korean theatre came into full contact with interculturalism as a theatre practice as well as a theatre research concept. Soon after this nourishing experience, however, Korean theatre ironically came to a sudden halt in the wake of the IMF financial crisis. It struggled for a while with diminishing patronage by the public, but soon resumed its balance, reactivating the resilience and flexibility that characterised the Korean theatre during the hard times of the post-war years in the 50s and the 60s. During 1997-1999, Korean theatre hosted increasing numbers of international theatre festivals. In addition to the above-mentioned Theatre of Nations in 1997, Seoul (National) Theatre Festival expanded itself to Seoul International Theatre Festival from 1998 onwards. Then there are the Suwon International Theatre and Dance Festival, Chun chon International Puppetry Festival, Kochang International Theatre Festival and Masan International Theatre Festival. Another growth factor for these festivals is perhaps the political decentralisation of the autonomous regional administration system that Korea adopted around this time. This created the necessity for each different province to develop its own unique culture. Through these international occasions, many diverse theatres and theatre figures of the West were introduced to the Korean public such as Eugenio Barba, Augusto Boal, Ping Chong, La Mama Theatre group as well as theatre groups from Eastern Europe and Central America. Matching this occasion, interculturalism became a trendy issue in the Korean theatre, and director ]eong-Ok Kim’s King Lear, staged with a cast of actors of different nationalities, epitomizes such a trend. During the 1997-1999 period, Korean theatre underwent a cycle of rejuvenation with a sudden burst of younger theatrical talents and energies such as the director and playwright Cho Kwang-hwa, director K m Kwang-po, and the playwright Changjin, all of them in their twenties, forming another axis vis-a-vis that of senior playwrights Oh Tae-sok and Lee Kang-baek, and director Lee Yun-taek. This seems to owe much to the general cultural trends of popularisation and commercialisation in the theatrical arena, which have been especially evident in the theatre district concentrated inTaehak-ro area, which became one of the most favorite place for teenagers and the younger generation audience. This seems also to be partly due to the relative inactivity of the theatre personnel 144

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A bove: O G u - Ritual o f Death, seen in the 1997 Seoul Theatre Festival Below, left: Feeling Like N irvana, the Street Theatre Troupe, Seoul; right, the international touring hit, C ookin’

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KOREA in mid-career, who were drawn to academic teaching in the 40-odd theatre and theatrerelated departments which were newly established across the country during this period. Speaking of theatre genres, musical theatre has probably been the most popular and prosperous of them during this so-called Korea’s IMF period. Western musicals were staged regularly, with Korean casts, and sometimes with multinational casts as in the case of the musical 42"'1Street. Curiously, the Korean melo-musical theatre called Akguk, based on the melodramatic Sinpa play of the 50s and 60s, emerged as one of the most popular choices for the senior generations of Korean audience in the IMF period. With its stereotypical plot, dealing with the situations of oppression existing during Japanese colonial rule and the Korean war, Ak-guk fed the audience’s emotional needs with a uniquely Korean ethos of nationalism. Also worthy of note is the fact that these different musical theatre forms were staged in large theatres of several thousand seats as well as in small theatres with less than 200 seats. The popularity of musical theatre in Korea probably explains the background for the first venture of the musical company A-Com in staging the Korean musical The h a st Empress, directed by Yun Ho-jin, at Lincoln Center in 1997. Another theatre genre that continues to grow during the nation’s period of hardship is women’s drama. Senior woman playwrights Jung Bock-keun and Kim Jung-sook, senior director Kang Yu-jung and HanTae-sook continue to produce plays and musicals, while women playwrights of the younger generation such as Kim Yun-mi and director O Kyung-sook are hard at work. With the Korean economy gradually gaining back its normality, Korean theatre witnessed the production of about 200 plays, with two thirds being original Korean plays, at the end of 1998. This indexes the tenfold increase of play production over the past ten years. As of 1999, Korean theatre is becoming ever busier with an increased level of international exchange, and continues to hold its theatre festivals, with more expertise and global vision as its experience accumulates. J u n g -S o o n shim, leading Korean critic, teaches at the Sungsil University in Seoul, Korea; she has recently completed a spell as research associate at Rutgers University in the USA.

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KUWAIT Still More Determined SALEH AL-GHAREEB and SHAHER OBEID The dramatic movement in Kuwait constitutes a major part of the country’s cultural life. Theatre activities are still popular today, but that popularity lies mainly in the more efficient and more sophisticated private theatres, which makes the serious theatre a failure in the view of the older generation. It suggests in fact a failure of the cultural growth planned for by the previous generation during the sixties and seventies, and may partly be a result of the failure of institutional cultural strategies as well as the continuous decline in assistance and the reduced budgets available to the theatre sector, particularly since the early nineties. On the other hand, nobody can nowadays deny the role of TV and similar entertainment as serious rivals to theatre, especially when most theatre presentations no longer provide enough satisfaction or entertainment. Theatregoers and the general public, it seems, are alike besieged in their hopes and realities, a fact which is equally expressed in the deepening frustration of artists due to the increasingly rising costs of their productions. During the three seasons of 1996-99, Kuwait witnessed two major theatre events: the 5th GCC Theatre Festival (late March —early April 1997) in which domestic theatre groups from the Arabian Gulf countries (Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) participated, and the 3rd Kuwait Theatre Festival (17-24 March 1999). In the latter event, twelve plays were presented by the four domestic theatre groups, the Kuwait Youth Theatre Group and the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts. They included: Everlasting Candles (Shomou Ea Tantafi), produced by the National Theatre Group; Holes (Athoqoub), by the Youth Theatre Group; Can I Have a New Brain? (Hal li bedemagh Gadeed?) by the National Theatre Group; Oh, Ya Mai, by The Kuwaiti Theatre Group; A Dummy Governing a Sick Imagination (Ad-dumia Tahkom KhaialMareeth), by AlArabi Theatre Group; The One Thousand Nights and Tivo Nights (Allaila Athania BadAl-alf) by Al-Khaleej Theatre Group; The Third World (Al-Alam Athaleth); EntertainingNight (Sahra Momtea), The Monkey and Monkey Man (Al-Qerid walQarrad), Negative, zndFishFlock (Mawbeb As-samak) by the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts. In the mean time, productions dealing with the impact of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait were still being staged, especially in 1996, when The Eonging o f a Prisoner o f War (Ashwaq Aseer) by Nader Al-Qunnah, directed by Mansour Al-Mansour, was produced by the National Committee for the Missing and POWs, in close co-operation with the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL), as well as Everlasting Candles (Shomou Ea Tantafi). In 1995 sponsorship of the four domestic theatres (Al-Arabi Theatre Group, AlKhaleej Al-Arabi Theatre Group, Al-Shaabi Theatre Group and Al-Kuwaiti Theatre The World of Theatre

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KUWAIT Group) was moved to the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters, instead of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, giving a new perspective to the work of these groups under the supervision of the Kuwait Federation of Domestic Theatres, although it made no real change in their work. Much more money was needed to meet the everrising costs of dramatic productions. One or more local plays are usually introduced in the framework of the Qurain Cultural Festival, which has been organized yearly since 1994 by the NCCAL, although these plays need not necessarily be original —they might be adaptations of non-Kuwaiti plays. The Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts also contributes remarkable productions, mainly in the context of the Qurain Festival. These have included adaptations of Arabic or world playrs such as: Locusts in the City (Al-garadFilMadeneh, 1996) by the Syrian writer Zakaraya Thamer, One Day o f our Time (Youtnon Min Zamanena) by the Syrian playwright Saadalla Wannous, and The Immigrant (Al-Muhager, 1998), by the Lebanese George Shehadeh. During these seasons, the theatre scene gradually returned to normality, but with only a few productions from the four domestic theatres. Most of the plays produced during 1996-97 were on romantic and social themes: Openly (Almakshoof) by Khalil Ibrahim, directed by Abdul Aziz al-Mansour, The M anager’s Gown (Bisht Al-Mudeer) by Muhammad Ar-Rushoud, directed by Najaf Jamal, The Forseer by Mubarak Al-Hashash, directed by Ruqayya Al-Kutt, Haunted House (Al-bait al- Muskoon), written and directed by Abdul Aziz Al-Mussalam, are just examples. The difficult financial situation in these past years was increasingly aggravating for these four groups, which have always been the force behind serious productions in the country. They had to cope with this problem as well as the competitiveness of TV satellite channels. Perhaps because of this, Kuwaiti authors felt less motivated to write good texts. Writers like Badre Muhareb, Abdulla Ar-Rueshid, Khalil Ibrahim, Abdul Aziz Ad-Dossari, Khalid Ar-Rujaub, Imad Mansour, Inaam Saud, Khalid Behbehani and Khalid Mohammad are examples. This situation led to the emergence and gradual dominance of what are called private theatre groups. These groups, which first appeared in Kuwait in the early seventies, are doing well in their activities and indeed pose a threat to the more serious dramatic productions of the domestic theatre companies, as their main object is quick profit. Their recent growth in popularity can hardly be overlooked, since they do good business at the box office —even if their productions make little attempt to embrace social problems. Nevertheless, these groups represent a kind of social danger, since they rely on poor comedy to ensure the best revenues. Some private producers, in search of further gain, have even looked beyond Kuwait to other Gulf countries like Oman, The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain. In the middle ground may be cited only a few plays, the best example of which is The Teenager at His Fiftieth (Muraheq FilKhamseen), prepared for the theatre by Abdul Huassain Abdul Reda, and directed by Fuad Al-Shatti. The play tells of a married doctor in love with a poetess, in search of what he thought to be emotional compensation for the lost tenderness of his wife at home. Other presentations in the list are Thanked Be Your Tongue (Sahh Lessanak), written and produced by Mohammad Khaled; We Want You to Win (Nabeek Tfou%) written and directed by Waleed Ar-Rashed; I Will Not Live Inside My W ife’s Gown (Lan Aeesh f i Jelbab Zaoujaty), by Mohammad Ar-Rushoud, directed by Munqeth AsSuraie, a social comedy about the downtrodden citizen who cannot get out of debt; Torture Me (Athebeni), written and directed by Najaf Jamal; and The Dracula Time (Zaman Ad-Drakula), directed by Abdulaziz Al- Mussalam. 148

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Above: Mawkeb A l-S am ar (Fish Flock), from the Higher Institute o f Dramatic Arts Be/ow.The Arabi Theatre Group in A Dum m y Governing a Sick Im agination

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KUWAIT Theatre for Children Kuwait pays serious attention to the culture of children and youth, and in this the theatre is no exception. This concern originates in the feeling that there is a need to relate children to their Arabic traditions and heritage. This aim can only be approached, it is believed, through implanting in children the traditional values of their ancestors. However, in the effort to bring up the young on these values, Kuwaiti theatre people find it difficult to provide serious entertainment to appeal to children, due to the lack of good work directed to the young.. Lately, children’s theatre groups have staged a good number of plays, amounting to nearly 50 percent of the total dramatic presentations in the country. During the past three seasons (1996-99) the most notable of these have been:: The Wonderful Flute (An-nai Al-ageeb) by Mohammed Khaled, (1996, on the Society Development Centre stage; Sons o f A/i Baba and the Thieves (Aivlad A li baba wal Assabah) (1996, the Tahreer Stage, by Dr Hamad Al-Jaberi, directed bv Hussain Al-Mussalam; Flamdan the Magician (As-saher Hamdan), by Assayed Hafez, directed by A.Abdulhaleem; Casper by Kazem Az-zamel (1997, Addasmeh Theatre House); Fife Is But Images (Ad-Dunia Sowar) by Waheed Abdul Samad (1997, Addasmeh Theatre House); Thukra and the Lost Necklace ( Thukra walA qd El-Mafquod) (1998, on The Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts stage), by Khaled Arrujaib, directed by Shukri Abdulla; ‘The Gorilla andSinbad” (Al-Gorella Wa Sindebad) (1998, The Tahreer Theatre House), by Abdulla Ar-ruishid and directed by Khalifeh Omar Khalifoh.

Other Activities In an effort to activate the Kuwait dramatic movement, The Theatre Directorate of the NCCAL organized two theatre events during 1998-99. The first, which was inaugurated on 29 September 1998, saw the production in the Shameyeh theatre house: of The Stranger (Al-Ghareeb) by Eman As-sultan, directed by Fahad Al- Falah. A Symposium entitled Kuwaiti Participation in Theatre Festivals was held the next day. Prominent theatre people participated in the discussions including Fuad Al-Shatti (director), Badre Muhareb (man of theatre) andjassem An-Nabhan (well known actor). On the third day, the researcher M As-Saeed lectured about Nietzsche’s The Birth o f Tragedy. The second theatre event, held between 21-24 April 1999 included the performance of Can I Have a New Brain? (Hal li Bedimagh Gadeed?) by Abdullah Al-Fraih, directed by Hamad Al-Badri.

Saleh Al-Ghareeb is a journalist and the Editorial Manager o f the Kuwaiti artistic magazine Alam Al-fann. He is the author o f many documentary books. Shaher O beid is the author o f the recent Arabic translation o f Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy.

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LATVIA VIKTORS HAUSMANIS In a situation where the government’s subsidies for the state theatres of Latvia cover only a small part of their expenses, the problems of mere survival, of finding sponsorship and attracting audiences, becomes increasingly acute. A solution often practised by our theatres is to increase the number of new productions. One result of this is a far more dynamic and varied theatrical life than, for example, in the 70s, when Latvia’s leading state theatres produced no more than four or five new main-stage performances in a year. In our repertory theatres this number has now grown to 13 or more productions (including small and chamber spaces) yearly, and there is no place for passivity. On the other hand, this striving for quantity brings about numerous mediocre, short-lived productions: remarkable events happen rarely on our stages. Contemporary Latvian theatrical life is in general quite multifarious. We have two big repertory theatres: the National Theatre and the Dailes (Artistic) Theatre, both in Riga. After a period of creative and administrative crisis, promising developments were started by the New Riga Theatre in the season of 1997-98 under its new artistic leader, Alvis Hermanis. The Riga Russian Drama Theatre had a triumphant success with its production of August Strindberg’s The Dance o f Death (1997, guest director Roman Kozak from Moscow) with Latvian actress Lilita Ozolioa as Alice. Outside Riga, the Valmiera Drama Theatre has recently established a reputation as one of the most serious and prominent Latvian theatre troupes. Two other professional regional theatres are working in Liepaja and Daugavpils. Due to its severe financial situation, the Liepaja Theatre in 1998 became the first theatre in Latvia to be put under the control of the local municipal authorities. Beside these, we also have several alternative theatres, such as the studio theatre Skatuve (Stage), the Kamerteatris (ChamberTheatre), and others working without government support. Choice of repertoire is the principal problem for all these theatres. A dangerous prevalence of boulevard plays may be observed in the Dailes Theatre, where foreign comedies and farces, such as Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor and Dave Freeman’s Bedful o f Foreigners, have followed one after another, not to mention a medley of Ferenc Lehar operettas in a musical M j Cheerful W'idow (1998). But there are also some positive developments in this area —such as the efforts of the National Theatre to raise the number of original Latvian plays in its repertoire. For theatres in big countries this problem may seem comparatively unimportant, but in a small country as Latvia the existence of a national theatre is one of the major means in the promotion of Latvian national identity and particularity. The National Theatre has shown such Latvian classics as The Green La ndby Andre js Upits, The Son o f aFisherm anhy Vilis Lacis and Riga by Augusts Deglavs. Especially interesting were the productions of The Green Land(1996) and Riga (1998) by the theatre’s artistic manager Edmunds Freibergs, epic panoramas of the nation’s life in controversial periods of its history which have parallels with contemporary problems and processes. P^teris Patersons’ production of his own play, Felix andFelicita, in the National Theatre The World of Theatre

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Riga by Augusts Deglar, directed by Edmunds Freibergs at the National Theatre of Latvia (photo: Andris Nitirys)

(1998) was an attempt to return to ancient strata of our national consciousness, to the performing and dramatic nature of our folk-songs, and to link this deep-seated experience with the painful problems of our everyday life. Unfortunately, in the autumn of 1998 we lost this director and playwright, one of the leading personalities in our theatre life. His death followed those of Arnolds Linios, the previous artistic manager of the Dailes Theatre, and Harijs Liepiod, an older-generation acting star, in the same year. Two productions of Latvian classical plays have had surprising success with general audiences and professional critics alike: the performance of Rainis’s Blow, Wind! in the Small Hall of the Dailes Theatre (1998, guest director Oiierts Kroders) and Rudolfs Blaumanis’s Tailor’s Days in Silmatchi (1998) by Viesturs Kairiss on the main stage of the New Riga Theatre. In their unconventional interpretations of these well-known national plays the experienced director Kroders and his young colleague Kairiss, who represents the avant-garde Unbearable Theatre Union, have made similar efforts to find the living dynamic and vitality beneath the over-used schemata of popular characters and their interactions. The transformation of archetypal features of national character and mentality, such as ancient wedding rituals and the Midsummer Night festivities, together with a subtle psychological synthesis and bright theatrical playing has made these two productions very popular, especially among the young. Another surprise were very successful interpretations of two Chekhov plays: Ivanov in the Valmiera Theatre (1997, director F ^ k ss Deies) with Talivaldis Lasmanis in the main role, and The Cherry Orchard in the Dailes Theatre (1998, guest director Mikhail Gruzdov, St Petersburg). The history of Latvian theatre does not number many outstanding Chekhov’s productions, but now Fglikss Deies has been awarded the title of Best Director of 1997, with his Ivanov winning the prize of Production of the Year. 152

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left: from C hekhov’s Ivanov, directed by Felics Deics at the Valmiera Theatre (photo: Andris Baltmanis); right, Raimi’s Blow, Wind! was directed by Olgerts Kroders at the Dailes Theatre (photo: Janis Deinats)

Among the most interesting stage versions of foreign plays of special note are performances of Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple o f Inishmaan 'm the Dailes Theatre (1998) and Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia in the New Riga Theatre (1998, director Alvis Hermanis, starring himself as Bernard Nightingale). The special feature of the Latvian interpretation of Stoppard’s play is a beautiful, psychologically strained atmosphere, among characters who are simultaneously concrete and enigmatic. The strength of Latvian theatre has always been the strong and rich personalities of our actors. Following this tradition, the National and Dailes theatres have given particular opportunities of self-expression to such famous actresses as Antra Liedskalnioa (in Armand Meffre’s monodrama Time fo r Confession, 1997), Elza Radzioa (in Mark Flampton and Mary Louise Wilson’s Tull Gallop, 1998) and Ausma Kantane (in Terrence McNally’s Master Class). The development of alternative theatre in Latvia was refreshed by the appearance of a bright new generation of theatre directors —those representing the so-called Unbearable Theatre Union and others —in 1996. Now they work in different theatres, both academic and alternative, gaining both acclaim and controversy for their productions which act as a valuable reference point for the traditional values of our national theatre. Dr habilphilol. Viktors Hausmanis is Director o f the Institute o f Uterature, Folklore and A rt o f the Latvian Academy o f Sciences

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LEBANON WAT FA HAMADE Lebanon today is going through a period of its history in which all the art forms are flourishing together. In their constant search for renewal, the theatre community is daily producing more and more notable work. The pioneers of the third generation have kept faith with their inheritance, offering us work of great artistic beauty and undeniable sincerity. The new directors show a great mastery of the theatre art. On the other hand, we can see on our stages entertainments, musical shows and children’s pieces characterised by a creativity and originality which cannot but enrich the Lebanese theatre experience. In the area of form, we can se a number of well-defined genres: dramatic works which often make use of adaptations or translations from Western work, either French, English or American university productions based on the texts of writers from the Arab world (Issam Mahfouz, Saadallah Wannous) or elsewhere (Ionesco, Brecht, Beckett). In general, they show a tendency towards expressions of anxiety, revolt and resistance musical comedies, many of them finding their inspiration in historical figures (Hannibal, Socrates, the patriarch Howayek, Youssef Karam) Since 1996, a new type of theatre has appeared in Lebanon, military theatre, with patriotic leanings, through which the Army is looking to re-establish a feeling of oneness with the nation. Festivals bring the arts of the world to the people of Lebanon. Baalbek, Beiteddine, Tyre, Byblos, and Hotel Al Bustan together present programmes made up of performers and productions from all over the world, in works of theatre, music and dance, both classic and modern. The theatres of the Arab world are quick to respond to invitations to present their work in Lebanon. We see works from Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, their subject matter for the most part dealing with destiny, progress and the future of mankind. The development of Lebanese theatres has seen several highpoints since the Sixties. Today’s amateur theatre is more and more concerned with creativity and exploration. Today in Lebanon there are no fewer than five university faculties conducting professional theatre training, and the results of this initiative have been increasingly apparent, in a new generation of theatre creators which has been coming onto the scene since 1996. It is clear that these young people are engaged in an ongoing quest for a proper expression of what they want to say about their memories, their painful experiences and their need for dialogue and communication. They can be seen on stage, expressing themselves through movement, sound and physical expression. The spaces in which they work are naturally inadequate and restricted, but they are enriched by the playing of these actors. The world of film, radio and television has its undoubted temptations for these young people, but they can be seen persevering, in spite of all the economic difficulties, on the hard path of theatre. Their initiatives definitely demand our support, and above all the support of the state, to save these young actors from falling for the lure of mass 154

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LEBANON media production and allow them to safeguard a theatre of quality —the Lebanese theatre system relies entirely on personal, private initiatives. After the debilitating period of war, the theatre is today being reborn with a new vigour. This awakening has come to pass between 1996 and 1999 in the A1 Madina Theatre, Beirut Theatre and more recently in the Monot Theatre. We have also seen the emergence of workshop theatres run by professors from the faculties of fine arts. Lebanon has no National Theatre or national company, but there are unsubsidised private groups. Nor is there any fixed public support. The Ministry of Culture took a symbolic part in the support of Beirut, Cultural Capital of the Arab World 1999, with assistance to a number of directors, and actors in productions presented for this event.

Watfa H d tn a d e received his doctorate in theatre criticismfrom the University o f St Joseph, Beirut, ivhere he is now professor o f literary criticism. He also holds a chair in thefaculty o f education in the University o f Balamand. He has published articles on theatre criticism and youth theatre in specialist Arabjournals.

PRODUCTION SUMMARY Season 1996 Gibran Khalil Gibran', text by Gaby Boustany, translated by Jalal Khoury, director Berge Vazelian —Athenee Theatre, Jounieh Truth at Gunpoint text by Charles Helou (former President of the Republic), director Alain Plisson —Theatre of the French Cultural Centre Zaradacht sara kalbane (Zarathustra Becomes a Dog): written and directed by Raymond Gebara —Beirut Theatre The Chairs by Ionesco, directed by Lina Saneh —Beirut Theatre Ma Youchbihou kissatHob (It Looks Like a Love Story): written and directed by Chakib Khoury —Beirut Theatre Toukouss elIcharat wa tahawoulat (Ceremony of Signs and Their Metamorphoses): by Saadallah Wannous, directed by Nidal el Achkar —A1 Madina Theatre The Patriarch o f A ll Lebanon by Bakhos Assaf, directed by Elie Lahoud, performers included students from the faculty of Fine Arts —Salle Howayek, Jbeil Eastern Evening written and directed by Wajdi Chaya —Theatre Estral, Beyrouth

Season 1997 Trio written and directed by Issam Abou Khaled —Beirut Theatre State o f Love written and directed by Michel Jabre —Monot Theatre Moukassam n°19 written and directed by Rabih Mroue — Fine Arts Faculty Theatre, University' of Lebanon The Garden o f Sanayeh written and directed by Roger Assaf and the company —Beirut Theatre, Monot Theatre Hannibal musical comedy by Ghassan Rahbani, directed by Yakcoub Chedrawi Once Upon a Time in Beirut written and directed by Jalal Khoury —Monot Theatre Go to Sleep, Mirjane children’s show written and directed by Karim Dakroub, performed by students from the Faculty of Fine Arts —Al Madina Theatre The Wolf and the Eamb written and directed by Elie Lahoud , performed by students of the Amchit theatre workshop —Amchit Theatre, Theatre of the German Cultural Centre, Marist Brothers’ Theatre The World of Theatre

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LEBANON Season 1998 Socrates musical comedy written and directed by Mansour Rahbani — Casino du Liban Women’s Prison text by Nawal Sahdawi, directed by Lina Abyad, performed by students of the Lebanese-American University (LAU) —LAU Theatre, Beirut The Wall by Samuel Beckett, directed by Siham Nasser , with students from the Faculty of Fine Arts —Beirut Theatre Missane written and directed by Roger Assaf —Beiteddine Theatre Tanios Chahine text by Antoine Ghandour, director Raymond Gebara - Theatre Ivoire Tarnima Egyptian show written, directed and choreographed by Intissar Abdelfattah — Al Madina Theatre Oedipus Rex tragedy by Sophocles, directed by Elie Lahoud —Amchit Theatre Workshop and Fine Arts Faculty Theatre

Season 1999 Algerian Miniatures written and directed by Lina Abyad, performed by students of the LAU — LAU Theatre, Beirut AmaniAround the World dance show with choreography by Georgette Gebara and Francois Rahme, directed by Gerard Avedissian - Regency Hotel, Adma Listen, Abdessemih text by Abdel Karim Barchid, director Mohamed Rabbani Moughrabi - Russian Cultural Centre, Beirut Handicapped written and directed by Jean Daoud, performed by the students of Fine Arts —Beirut Theatre Miss Julie translated and directed by Jawad el Assadi —Monot Theatre Picnic ala Khoutout attamass (Picnic on the Borderline) written and directed by Raymond Gebara —Beirut Theatre A l Ma/af (The File) written by Hafez Karkouty, directed by Tarek Tamim —Russian Cultural Centre Theatre At the end of 1999 the following productions were presented in celebration of ‘Beirut, Cultural Capital of the Arab World’: Siham N asser: Ja%% —Al Madina Theatre Chakib Khoury : The Ports o f Nostalgia —LAU Theatre Elie Lahoud : The Madness o f Layla —Russian Cultural Centre Theatre Latife Moultaka : The Emigrant o f Brisbane —Antelias Cultural Movement Theatre

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LITHUANIA Vis-a-Vis the Present Time INDREDAUNYTE The middle of the last decade in Lithuanian theatre is not distinguished by any particular movement or ideological struggle —and there lies the problem. Lithuanian theatre, to quote one critic, is ‘the theatre wounded by time’, therefore a live and pulsating relationship with time has been the mark of its vitality over the last few decades. In order to judge any historical or art phenomenon a certain time perspective is needed; but in 1996 a tendency was already apparent in both society (audience) and art (theatre): that of not knowing what to do with the so-called freedom that followed the regaining of independence in 1990. In the course of time, freedom turned out to be no more than a formal term. The subsequent confusion, resulting in social divisions, was also reflected in the theatre —a reflection more than an analysis of the situation. As if refusing to participate in reality and aspiring to the internal stability that was lacking in the outer world, Lithuanian theatre in recent years has tended to become immersed in itself, despite a growing openness to the visual arts. The young generation of directors, no longer united by the necessity to speak in the coded language of Aesop, takes up either the stylish self-consciousness of an individual world outlook or a graceful, aesthetically pure irony. These tendencies were confirmed during the theatre forum ‘The Shifting Point’, held in Vilnius in 1996, which largely focused on outlines of work by young directors. One of them was The Public by F Garcia Lorca, directed by Gintaras Varnas in the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre (1996; the theatre was given this name in 1998; at this point it was called the Lithuanian Academic Drama Theatre). Having seated the audience on the revolving circle of the Lithuanian Academy theatre stage, the director created a fast, elegant, kaleidoscopic triumph of theatricality that seemed almost unreal among the gigantic, monumental walls that had witnessed the ‘best’ times of traditional realism. Lorca’s surrealistic and poetic text not only inspired the director to sing a hymn to the eternal theatre, but also gave him an opportunity to parody theatre and its ‘deep meanings’. The irony of this performance was directed not towards any concrete object but to the theatre itself. On the other hand, our polemics often appear meaningless in form or substance, because there is no distinct conflict between generations or ideas. Thus, a theatre artist dedicates his efforts to search for his own objective, his own means of stage communication. An example of such an introspective attitude could beM igelisM anjara, staged by Jonas Vaitkus (1996, LNDT). He transformed O Milasius’ poetic mystery-play into an almost sacred act: the performer of the main role described it as ‘a holy mass to oneself, a sort of self purification’. The motif of Vaitkus’ works is the tension and the conflict between different forces; but this time it was not presented through opposites, The World of Theatre

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LITHUANIA but concentrated in the evolution of the main character. Migelis Manjara lives in a universal (and, thanks to set designer J Areikauskas, almost mystical) space; his existence teeters between earth and heaven, god and hell. In the essence of this performance stands the miracle of conversion —a feeling which the actor was able to experience in this ritualised performance by creating a chamber space of concentrated energy around himself. This mystery-play, with all its symbols and signs, was declared elite art, and the audience felt happier with a performance about theatre —Ronald Harwood’s The Dresser, staged by Algirdas Latenas, where (in order to ease one’s conscience) among the comic situations some rudiments of drama could be traced. As if responding to the endless debates about national dramaturgy, Rimas Tuminas staged Utuanica (1996, LNDT), confirming that the most difficult task in democracy is to talk about one’s past and history. In this play by Saulius Saltenis the action takes place after the beginning of WW II, and in the performance the political and historical action has a common denominator, irony, that saves neither Germans, nor Poles or Lithuanians. It is a sad kind of irony, diluted with lyric and elements of epic, characteristic of this director. The historical picture of Lithuanian intellectuals is most effectively depicted not by action, but through its suspension, with all the characters seemingly immobile on stage, as if in formal black and white photographs. Valentinas Masalskis’s staging of a grotesque and absurd opera based on Ionesco’s The Lesson, M em samburis (Arts’ Convention, 1996) was an attempt to pursue the traditions of the theatres of the absurd and cruelty through music: shrill and trenchant intonations confronted the audience with the threatening and irrational world of their phobias. Not agitation, but provocation —the conclusions are up to you. The age-old prerogative of the younger generation to provoke and rebel is not always exercised. Some of the productions by younger directors in the season of 1996-97 in State Youth Theatre (SYT) were neither below nor above par. One could call them normal performances in a normal theatre. Even though only the most distinctive performances are mentioned in this article (mostly from the capital city, in the light of the artistic criteria), normal performances are a phenomenon that exists in any theatre and country, forming a known point of departure when considering theatre’s common level. One of the most convincing claims to vital performance (meaning an immediate and provocative inter-action with the audience and the present time) in that season was made by Oskaras Korsunovas’ staging of P S Byla OK (P J Case OK, LNDT 1997). It provoked warm discussion in the press, somewhat reminiscent of the perpetual argument between generations. Korsunovas’ catchword, that his generation was born and became mature in one society but has to live in another, found its direct expression in young poet and playwright Sigitas Parulskis’ play, parts of which were written during rehearsals. Its fragmented structure, based on the illogic of the dream and inconsistency of plot, as well as the combination of Freud, archetypes, historical and Biblical characters (often taken out of context and turned into signs with different associations), also a scenography (□ ilvinas Kempinas) that suggested the dust-heap of civilisation, helped the director to touch upon the eternal theme of parents and children. Next season this topic saw its continuation in a production by the same director using a different aesthetic —Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltes (1998), which became a favourite with the younger generation. Looking back on the Autumn theatre forum (Rudens teatro forumas) of 1997 and the further course of the season one can detect a differentiation of the performances according to the dramaturgical material and directors’ attitudes towards it. Young directors 158

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Rimas Tum inas’s production of Lerm ontov’s Masquerade

(photo: Dmitrij Matvejev)

(in fact, most of them are around 30) undertook plays that had been never staged in Lithuania before but have been already tested by time. Pinter’s The Caretaker; directed by Gintaras Liutkevieius (1997) was staged in a damp room of the old dilapidated theatre, but it did not become another hostage of the environmental theatre. Instead, it presented a peculiar and concrete reality on its water-flooded floor, with brilliant performances from its three actors. In contrast, a fashionably stylised staging (in terms of costumes and scenography) by G.Varnas of Botho Strauss’ Time and the Room and the playful surrealism of Roger Vitrac’s Tove Mysteries, directed by Cezaris GrauD inis (both 1997) showed not only the confusion of their characters but also the attempt of that kind of material to find its place and relevance in today’s Lithuanian theatre context. A comedy about the pretentiousness of Isadora Duncan, Auguste Rodin and other geniuses, Genijaus dirbtuve (The Studio o f the Genius, directed by Audrius Nakas, 1998) written by young contemporary Lithuanian playwright Herkus Kuneius, provided a good opportunity for the audience to check out their sense of humour as well as proving that comedy in Lithuanian theatre, in which crying and thinking is more customary than laughing, is one of the most problematic genres. Meanwhile, other directors were solving their problems in the classics. Lermontov’s Masquerade (1997, Vilnius Litde Theatre), staged by Rimas Tuminas, serves as a most successful example of high-level commercial performance, if one can call it that. It interprets Lermontov’s romanticism in a peculiar way: unromantic and anti-heroic characters are literally swept away by a big snowstorm, accompanied by Khachaturian’s waltz. This production exposes most of the pluses and minuses of allowing the dominance of the visual element in the common fabric of any performance. The snowstorm also sweeps away this performance’s sense of materiality, which is one of the main elements of Eimuntas Nekrosius’ theatre. His commercially no less successful Hamlet (Theatre festival LIFE, 1997) is a sad, cruel and at the same time very radiant performance, the The World of Theatre

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LITHUANIA clearness of which is achieved by a fusion of the primeval elements - ice, water, fire, iron. Hamlet should also be pure and clean from any theatrical cliche: thus for this role Nekrosius cast the most acclaimed rock singer in Lithuania, Andrius Mamontovas. Mamontovas’ Hamlet is no melancholic, cynic or mystical figure. Above all, he is a child whose choice is either ice or fire, for whom duty is equal to love, and Nekrosius’ metaphysical world is his reality. The aesthetics of Nekrosius’ theatre —the materiality and alchemy of its objects, simplicity and cruelty, the codes of metaphors, the use of space and music, as well as the high emotional charge of his performances —have become a byword in Lithuania’s theatre world and created a great impact on his colleagues of all ages. The problem of the actor’s status in a performance has retained its importance over the last few years. Responding to the gradually disappearing boundaries of the psychological, commercial and situation-based theatre, the sole practicable approach is that of the concrete director. Therefore the actor is often called ‘unprotected’ or ‘exploited’. The dilemma - whether it is good or bad to become a prisoner of the director’s fantasy - is reflected in all kinds of performances, revealing that everything depends not only on the director’s ability to harness and materialise his fantasy, but also on the individuality of the actor. So far nobody has heard Nekrosius’s actors complaining because of the great physical and psychological pressure that they have to bear. G Varnas, who staged Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler (Kaunas State DramaTheatre (KSDT), 1998) because of one actress, created one of the most interesting productions of the season, placing it in a long space only 2 metres wide. Jurate Onaityte’s Hedda is very Ibsen-like, but also resounds to the rhythm of our days: she is feverish, cynical, brave, eccentric; incapable of love, she is more alive than the other characters. In Strindberg’s The Father {SYT, 1997) its director, J Vaitkus, while making use of some visual elements of the classical theatre, put the actors into strict plastic ‘uniforms’ and directed them almost front-on. Vaitkus combines this kind of military principle, and his favourite Eastern theatre-style thick make-up, with the maximal inner expression: the dynamic between the formalty of the exterior and the ferment within creates the tension of the performance. The season of 1998-99 provoked its own dialogue, not so much about the artist’s bonds to one or another generation as about our perception of the present time. In terms of the repertoire (the formation of which in Lithuania relies more on the directors’ individual interests than on the policy of each theatre), the season underlined two extremes: four major classic productions were set against the activities of New Drama Action, which stressed new theatrical language, subjects and references to the Western context. It emerged, naturally, that our immediate connection with reality and ability to detect its pulse does not depend on dramaturgy or age. Macbeth (Meno fortas (The Fort of Art), 1999), is heavy, almost the darkest of Nekrosius’s works dealing with the eternal existential states of mind, yet at the same time testifying organically to the spirit of these days. The impact of this performance is like what you feel after a funeral. But the language of its images, the tangle of the earthly and ‘the other’ world as well as the rough, physical and concentrated relationships of the characters are the materialisation of dreams into the reality of a person who lives in the here and now. Quite different is the attitude of Rimas Tuminas towards Sophocles and his Oedipus Rex (LNDT, 1999). Tuminas’s approach to one of the season’s motifs —what is a tragedy today? —is the following: there is (and there could be) no tragedy as such. What do we know about Greek theatre? This question sounds like the note of a tuning-fork throughout the production: hearing it all the time, the director does not go deep into the characters, their relationships, faults and destinies. Instead he creates an atmosphere of ignorance 160

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Above: Jonas Vaitkus’s production of M igelis Manjara by Oskaras Milasius (photo: Martynas Am brasas) Below, left: Jumate Onaityte as Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler in the production by Sintaras Varnas ; right, from Varnas’ production of Lorca’s E l Publico (photos: Dmitrij Matvejev)

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LITHUANIA and loss of harmony. The thick smoke lingers around the holy fallen pillar, the thymelf, noble words and deeds are not dethroned, they are simply lost. Nobody tries to be a hero; heroes are replaced with gloomy memories of a bygone glory, and the notion that a Greek tragedy can never be performed again. So sentimentality is exchanged for light and helpless irony. Such a solution is reflected inTuminas’s next production, Shakespeare’s Richard III (1999), where any calm is drowned by the chaos raging around Richard, who is seen sitting in a saddle hanging from the ceiling. Cutting a tragedy down to size is far from the intentions of G.Varnas, who tried to lift Eugene O’Neill’s imitation-Greek drama Mourning Becomes FLlectra (KSDT, 1999) to the level of tragedy. Having placed the action in a hermetic and frosty metal train carriage en route for who-knows-where, Varnas looks for the purity of passion that hides behind the character’s masks. The importance of symbols or metaphors is overshadowed by the importance of the emotions that create a very fragile boundary between consciousness and madness. The action is based on introspection and taming of emotions rather than giving vent to them (which would be to follow the logic of psychological acting). In Lithuania, the deep-rooted traditions of psychological theatre have gone through different transformations in the recent decade, from total negation and parody to the possibility of being overwhelmed by signs or the domination of the visual and sound fabric of a performance. However, most directors have gradually come to the conclusion that psychology, as a foundation or component of character, does not prevent a performance from having different specifics or remaining open to the influence of different methods. The New Drama Action (1999), initiated by the Theatre and Cinema Education and Information Centre, was the fourth (practical) part of a project dedicated to the creation of a new national and contemporary dramaturgy. Rehearsed readings of British and Lithuanian plays indicated not only the different levels of the work but also the 30something generation’s attitude towards the authentic expression of today’s world, sometimes (especially in the British case) spiced with social elements. The synthesis of roughness and poetry in David Harrower’s Knives in Hens and the scandalous humanism of Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking, as well as the socially realistic model of Jim Cartwright’s play Road, also the debiut play of a young Lithuanian novelist, Marius Ivaskevieius, Kaimynas (The Neighbour) —all convinced the directors present that they are the ones who are fit to mould the traditions of contemporary language. The search for a subject and a means to express it spread through a wide spectrum of forms, from an almost Chekhovian attention to the inner world of a character to the extrovert, ‘clubber’ aesthetic, encompassing a lot of TV screens, video projections, masturbation, etc. However, J Vaitkus, who staged Mike Cullen’s Anna Weiss some months before (Skrajojantis Jono Vaitkaus teatras, 1999), showed that it was not new forms he was looking for in the new dramaturgy. The visual expression of his performance is minimal, because all the energy is focused on the expression of the characters. In an atmosphere suffocated with pseudo-psychoanalysis, the psychology of the character becomes dense and hypertrophied. Vaitkus does not speculate on the controversy surrounding the play’s topic, child abuse. Emphasising other aspects of the play, he focuses on human dualism, fragility, and the inability to understand oneself, as well as the relation between face and mask, reality and dream. The situation of contemporary dance in Lithuania is very much bound up with the future of dance schools. The first group of contemporary dancers began their studies in 1998. The most distinctive efforts in the contemporary dance field at present are seen in the works of Airida Naginevieiute, Birute Banevieiute, and Rasa Alsnyte. Also, for more 162

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LITHUANIA than three years the New Baltic Dance Festival has been held annually in Vilnius. It is the biggest festival of its kind in Eastern Europe, and it ranges from street shows to neo­ classical dance forms. The contemporary choreographer AndD elika Cholina’s works are based on classical principles. She does not neglect theatre either: dramatic actors were dancing together with professional ballet dancers in her two recent performances. The musical (,Motero claims —The Women’s Songs), based on the songs of Marlene Dietrich) and the dramatic (Carmen) side of her compositions are of equal importance in the search for a pure movement. Discussions about the status of independent and state theatre institutions continue. There is no ‘underground’ in Lithuania, instead there are separate independent groups or studios that usually survive for a couple of years. Despite the difficult conditions, some independent groups manage to go on working. Among them are: scenographer Vega Vaieiunaite’s company, in the field of street culture and environmental theatre, V.Masalskis and his theatre laboratory M em samburis that strives for the synthesis of different arts, also Benas Sarka’s Gliuko theatre, Nekrosius’s M enofortas, O.Korsunovas’s theatre, and others. This unstable and indeterminate situation, prolonged by governmental inertia, relates more to the financial and legal side of theatre structures than the artistic level. Alternative theatre activities and experimental projects that do not have their own independent space nevertheless manage to proceed on the stages of state theatres.

Indre Daunyte is a theatre critic. In 1999, she graduatedfrom Lithuania Music Academy in theatre studies. She is currently working in the Theatre and Cinema Information and Education Centre, writing reviewsfor the weekly arts newspaper 1 meno dienos and other publications.

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MACEDONIA The Paradox of Values IVAN DODOVSKI The cult play Bure Barut (Powder Keg, 1994), by Macedonian playwright Dejan Dukovski has been staged several times so far in Macedonia and Europe, and a film based on it has been shot by the Yugoslav director Goran Paskaljevic. Although this text deals with the universal problem of violence, its title has become the most frequently used metaphor for the Balkans. And unfortunately, it is the destiny of all of us who live in the Balkan corner of Europe to be hostages of that metaphor. Unlike other countries from Eastern Europe, the Balkan countries, some directly, some indirectly, but all in some way experience not only Tantalus’s pains of the transition towards democracy and the market economy, but also the consequences of the latest war and its terrors. Still, paradoxically, the art created in this crazy time of transition has remarkable value in the context of European and global artistic experiences. Traces of that paradox are visible in the Macedonian theatre as well.

Circumstances The last three theatre seasons in Macedonia suffered from inherited and familiar problems: malfunctioning of the old socialist model of organisation and production, reduced financial support from the state, miserable working conditions in several professional theatres. Since 1997 the meetings of the students of Balkan academies for theatre and film, Skomrahi, have not been held; The Festival of amateur and alternative theatre Faat in Kocani and the Festival of Studio Theatre Risto Siskov m Strumica are more and more poorly organized; the theatre programme of the international theatre and music festival, the Ohrid Summer Festival, was reduced in 1999 to just a few performances, although the authorities spent huge amounts of money on some tasteless exhibitions. The new Law of Culture (1998) has not solved our problems, and the political changes after the parliamentary elections in 1999 have brought only changes of management in state theatres. The few alternative, private theatres and theatrical groups have not experienced better moments either. Only the independent theatre group Kvartet, led by the brilliant actor Gorgi Jolevski, had a success with their performance of Faust (1997), based on Goethe, Marlowe, Mann, Dostoevski and Lohner. One rare happy occasion in 1998 was the opening of the new hundred-seater stage of the Theatre for Children and Youth in the centre of Skopje, where over two hundred performances have already been played. From 1997 until today only a few theatre monographs or studies have been published, among which I would point out Antikite teatri vo Republika Makedonija, Antique theatres in the Republic o f Macedonia (1999) by Tome janakievski.

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Macedonian National Theatre: Dejan D ukowski’s Who the Fuck Started A ll This?

Horizons In such circumstances, the only important international horizon for the Macedonian theatre has been and still is the International Theatre Festival MOT, which has continued, over a few decades, its tradition of provocative programming. In these last few years MOT has brought important theatre projects from all over the world to Macedonia; it is particularly oriented towards experimental theatrical expression, dance theatre, theatre of movement and choreodrama. We can say with pleasure that MOT is constandy cultivating its own, mostly young audience. Among the activities of the Macedonian Centre of ITI, we should mention two seminars: Teatarot na Internet (Theatre on Internet —1998) and Mladata teatarska kritika (Young theatre critics —1999). Since 1997 the Macedonian Centre of ITI, on the occasion of the World Theatre Day, distributes with the international message a Macedonian national message, whose authors are top names of the Macedonian theatre: Kole Casule (1997), the founder of the contemporary Macedonian drama; Ljubisha Georgievski (1998), one of the most important Macedonian directors from the older generation and a professor at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje; and Nada Gesovska (1999), renowned actress of the Macedonian theatre. The National Macedonian Theatre Festival Vojdan Cernodrinski, which takes place in Prilep, has in these last three years shown new quality in its organisation and conception. This festival is a review of the best theatre achievements in Macedonia during the year. Since 1997 in the frame of this festival, under the direction of Jelena Luzina, PhD, three symposia of exceptional quality have been organized, in which renowned Macedonian

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MACEDONIA theatre scholars, playwrights, actors and critics took part. So far three topics have been elaborated: Macedonian dramaticsI dramaturgy between tradition and the present moment (1997), Macedonian Theatre Criticism (1998) and A cting and directingin the Macedonian theatre (1999). The results of these symposia are a tremendous contribution to Macedonian theatrology, whose institutional development has started only recently (1999) with the opening of postgraduate studies in theatrology at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Skopje.

Dramatic Obssessions Let’s get back to the paradox again. The depressive social and economic context of Macedonia and the Balkan entropic war context have in a paradoxical way been undermined by a fresh, strong and brilliantly articulated creative energy. In the relatively small theatre spaces of Macedonia, some 15 new plays have emerged. One or two are important, because they touch obsessively not only on the Balkan-Europe relationship, but also on the despair of the Balkan people in transition and war. The text by the most internationally acknowledged Macedonian playwright, Goran Stefanovski, Ka^abalkan (1998), which was staged at the National Theatre in Bitola, refers explicitly to the Bosnian tragedy. But for all its concreteness the text is open to more allegorical interpretation. In the depths of the mythical ship Kazabalkan (an ironical allusion to the Humphrey Bogart film Casablanca), which sails through the sea of history, the unhappy characters of the play, mainly war refugees, people without official documents, long for elementary human happiness and love, while indifferent and rich Western Europeans are gambling on deck. Another interesting question appears in the text of the award-winning Macedonian dramatist Venko Andonovski, Slovenskiot koveg (Slavic Chest, 1998), which was staged in the Drama Theatre in Skopje. In a solidly developed dramatic story about little people caught in the big chaos of transition, Andonovski is investigating the conflict between the Slav emotional ethno-psychological paradigm and Western European pragmatism. The quest for the authentic Slav collective unconscious (the chest which has to be opened as a rich imaginary treasury of stability and self-respect) is suggested as an answer to Macedonian/Balkan frustrations over the new social transition. Ljubisa Georgievski, whom I already mentioned as an eminent Macedonian director, directed for the first time his own text Philoctetes (1998) in the Drama Theatre in Skopje. Though not in an explicit way, this text also touches Macedonian national, historical and social dilemmas, theatricalising the motive of betrayal through the mythical story of Prometheus, Odysseus and Philoctetes. Two more performances have marked the period after 1997. The latest text of Dejan Dukovski, Marne mu ebam kojprvpona (IVho the Tuck StartedA llThis?—1997), was directed by the young theatre director Aleksandar Popovski at the Drama stage of the Macedonian National Theatre. The performance won the prize for best performance in 1997 at the Macedonian Theatre Festival Vojdan Cernodrinski and at the International Festival in Belgrade, BITEF. It was also presented at the Biennale in Bonn and in several other European cities. In this text, Dukovski continues his poetics of fragmented dramaturgy. The play’s seven episodes represent the relativisation or the failure of the seven highest moral categories: sense, joy, faith, love, hope, sin and honour. Only chaos is left and - in the middle of it —man, spiritually dead. The director follows the postmodernist strategy of the text and shapes the scenes as intertextual evocations of the theatre models of Chekhov, Beckett, Shakespeare ... The text Sresata ne e nova ideja vo Evropa, (Happiness Is N ot a New Idea in Europe), by the

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Scene from Venko Andonovski’s The Macedonian Chest at the Drama Theatre, Skopje

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MACEDONIA renowned Macedonian playwright Jordan Plevnes, who has lived in Paris for a considerable time, was adjudged the best text of 1997 at the Macedonian Theatre Festival Vojdan Cernodrinski. Apart from the Macedonian performance in Skopje, the text was staged in 1995 at the Yale Drama Centre, USA and the Theatre Ephemeride in France, followed by several guest performances in Europe. The Macedonian production, by the Drama Theatre of Skopje, was successfully presented in Cannes in 1999. Jordan Plevnes’ play does not have strict dramatic structure. The subject of a poeticized dramatic speech is European history over several millennia, here presented as a character in the play. The drama of the Macedonian princess Europa is a parable of the European memory of the historical terrors, but also of our great need to come out of the labyrinth of ethnic and religious conflicts.

New Directors Macedonian theatre today has seen the arrival of a new young generation of directors. Talented, excellently educated and informed, they captured the Macedonian theatre audience with new aesthetic paradigms and with new, sincere discourse about social wickedness. All these attributes are obvious in the performance I already mentioned Mame mu ebam kojprvpo^jia (1997) directed by Aleksandar Popovski. Besides his, at least two other names should be mentioned as well. Zoja Buzalkovska directed two performances: Oedipus the King (1997) and The h over (1998) in the Drama Theatre in Skopje. The specific features of her directing poetics are particularly visible in the second production, based on the texts of Caryl Churchill, D Aives and Harold Pinter, and intermedially motivated by the fragmentary musical expression of Philip Glass. This performance is characterized by a minimalist mise en scene, with the music as dramatic motivation and the thoughtful elaboration of each detail by the great playing of several young actors. Apart from Zoja Buzalokovska, Dritro Kasapi imposes himself as a young director of quality who in the context of the Macedonian social transition was the first one to actualize Bernard-Marie Koltes, staging Roberto Zucco (1999) in the Drama Theatre in Skopje.

The Quest for the Archetype In the last two years, with the productions of two leading Macedonian directors, Vlado Cvetanovski and Vladimir Milcin, the aesthetic horizon of the theatre in Macedonia was significantly increased. Both of them received the awards for best directing or for best performance at the Macedonian Theatre Festival Vojdan Cernodrinski in Prilep. In 1998, Polkovnikotptica ("The Colonel Bird) written by the Bulgarian dramatist Hristo Boytchev and directed by Vlado Cvetanovski, was awarded as the best Macedonian production, and the award for best directing went to Vladimir Milcin for his staging of Koskite sto doalaat docna (The Bones That Come Late) by Teki Dervisi. In 1999, for the deconstructionist project Hamlet, Vlado Cvetanovski got the award for best director, and the performance Ludiot Ibrahim (Mad Ibrahim) written by the Turkish playwright Turan Ophlazoglu and directed by Vladimir Milcin was awarded as best production. It is also important to note that Vladimir Milcin was the first to promote in Macedonia the nightmare world of the contemporary Russian dramatist Nikolaj Koljada, staging his text Merlin Murlo (1997) at the Drama stage of the Macedonian National Theatre in Skopje. Leaving aside their different aesthetic programmes, both Vlado Cvetanovski and Vladimir Milcin are seriously devoted to the theatrical research of archetypal human dilemmas. Vlado Cvetanovski does it predominantly using a visual theatrical language. It 168

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MACEDONIA is most obvious in his most significant production, a kind of manifesto, Evangelie po senkite (The Gospel o f the Shadows), staged at the National Theatre in Bitola. The semiotics of this perfomance, based on the short texts of the Medieval dualistic movement of the Macedonian bogumils, is characterised by imaginary, emphatic and radical use of visual and musical signs, and the structure of the performance in all segments follows the dualistic aesthetic and ethical principle of the dark and light. The performance Koskite sto doalaat docna, (The Bones That Come Tate, 1998) was produced at the Albanian stage of the Theatre of Nationalities in Skopje and performed in Albanian. It is based on a text by Teki Dervisi, who deals with motives from the novel The Palace o f Dreams by the famous Albanian writer Ismail Kadare. The text refers to the present, difficult problem of the Albanian question in the Balkans, but Milcin does not insist on concrete information. He focuses on the archetypal motive —the destiny of the individual towards totalitarian discourses and national myths —and contrasts individual freedom with the brutal collectivist quasi-identity. For his fascinating performance in this production, Refet Abazi got the award for best actor’s achievement at the Macedonian Theatre Festival Vojdan Cernodrinski, and the extraordinary value of his performance was further acknowledged at the Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novns in Riga, as well as in the frame of the project Albanian Traces in Stockholm in 1999. Finally, let me finish the thought about the paradox I mentioned earlier. Regardless of the depressive circumstances, Macedonian theatre is recognizing and articulating its authentic values. Does that mean the liberation from the heavy burden of the metaphorical ‘Powder Keg’ has just begun? Maybe! But, it requires hard work for this metaphor not to connote the explosion of ethnic conflicts, but the explosion of new artistic virtues.

Ivan Dodovski (bom 1974) is a leadingjoungMacedonian theatre critic,poet and literary scholar. He has been selector o f the Alacedonian Theatre Festival Vojdan Cernodrinski (1998) and president o f theju ry o f the International Theatre Festival MESS in Sarajevo (1999). He publishes in several Macedonian magazines, and is working on his postgraduate thesis.

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MEXICO REYNA BARRERA Mexico City has a population of 20 million people, who will all go to the theatre at least once in their lives. Concerts and other musical performances are the most popular choices, apart from musical comedy. Some theatres offer two or even four productions on the weekly bill. There are about a hundred new productions every year, so that it is almost impossible for a critic to attend them all. Mexican theatre is produced at several different levels, starting with the very commercial ones, promoted with major publicity campaigns which reach the farthest ends of the country through TV commercials. This type of theatre keeps in close contact with advertising agencies, press agents and producers, photographic studios and the critics’ associations which give out the annual awards. There is at the same time a commercial theatre with less marketing power, which usually plays in independent studios. The span of our theatre goes from subsidised to popular by way of experimental, student, street and amateur theatre, thanks to the large number of spectators in search of one or another kind of performance. The big houses can take audiences of up to 1500, while a medium-sized theatre will seat around 500. Small theatres seat from 200-350, while the studios are set at 99 seats, though there are smaller ones with from 30-60. Cabaret will seat from 50 to 100. Open air festivals will attract as many as 3,000. The average price of a theatre ticket is about 10 dollars US, but there are reductions for students and pensioners, and free tickets for critics. There is usually a specific performance for friends of the cast and for the press around the time of the opening. This then is the background to theatre performance in Mexico, a mosaic made up of all kinds of show for all economic sectors of society. Specialist journals give information on plays, their authors, cast, time and place of performance. They also give listings information for music, dance, children’s events, film, television and other entertainments. Of the listings journals, the most popular in Mexico is Tiempo Libre, and of course the daily ands weekly press carries plenty of entertainment listings. In 1997, shows like Beauty and the Beast stood out for their sheer size —a show re­ created from the Broadway version and presented in the same form all over the world. These are consumer products, copies, adaptations which have no connection with the local work. Productions of this kind will run from six months to a year, quickly exhausting the availability of the kind of public who can afford such spectacles. There are no permanent companies. The National Theatre Company puts on only one major production per year. Nor are there repertory companies, apart from Zarzuela troupes. There are a few groups specialising in musicals, traditional plays like Don Juan Tenorio, or the traditional pastoral plays presented in the Christmas season.

Highlights of 1997 From January there were a series of celebrations at the Palacio de Bellas Artes including Siqueiros esta acquiy en su mirada (Siqueiros—Here and Live). In May the multi-media production Presagios (Omens) was presented in the ruins of the Great Temple, about the great Mexican priest-king Montezuma and his readings of the omens sent him by the gods. Taking part 170

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MEXICO were actors, professional dancers and groups performing pre-Columbian Aztec dances. E l Caballero de Olmedo (The Knight o f Olmedo) by Lope de Vega was produced under the direction of Luis de Tavira in an extremely free adaptation: its scope, resources and quality in every aesthetic department had no equal on the Mexican stage. Other notable productions included Alexei Arbuzov’s Old-Fashioned Comedy, with two excellent performances from Margarita Sanz and Felio Eliel, and the recognised talent Maruxa Vilalta’s En biancoy negro, Ignacioy los Jesuitas (In Black and White —Ignatius and the Jesuits). The play covers a wide range of themes, concepts and attitudes, with St Ignatius Loyola replying to a journalist interviewing him about the role of the Jesuit order in Mexican history. In the same genre a dozen young writers, benefiting from grants from FONC A, the National Foundation for Culture and the Arts, gained a reputation in the course of the year, among them Gerardo Velazquez, whose Los heraldos negros (The Black Heralds) won unanimous critical acclaim. INBA (the National Institute of Fine Arts) asked theatre directors to present a series of works on the Don Juan myth, which resulted in successful productions of E l Burlador de Tirso (Tirso’s Trickster), written and directed by Hector Mendoza; Moliere’s Don Juan, directed by Ludwik Margules and Don Juan en Chapultepec (Don Juan in Chapultepec) by Vicente Lenero, directed by Iona Weissberg. The monologue remains an acid test for actors. This year’s best included two fine performances by actresses, Emmoe de la Parra in William Luce’s Emily and Emma Dib in Ella Imagina (She Imagines). As for musical comedy, which is not to the taste of all in spite of its many hits, La M ujer arana (Kiss o f the Spider Woman) from the play by Manuel Puig, featured Cristian Bach, Mario Ivan Martinez, Tomas Goros and Eduardo Linan. Finally, out of a hundred or so plays for children, an exceptional production was Maribel Carrasco’s La verdadera vengan^a del Gato Boris (The Real Revenge o f Boris the Cat).

Highlights of 1998 1998 saw some superb shows, including Anouilh’s Becket, or the Honour o f God, directed by Claudio Valdes Kuri. Tiempos furiosos (Times o f Fury) by Jesus Gonzalez Davila, like his other plays, gave ordinary people a life on stage which his writing made worthy of attention. He offers us their forgotten reflection in the shards of a broken mirror. This piece ran for a second season at the Shakespeare Studio, with two other plays, Rojo carmesi (Carmine Red), a new work by Susana Robles, a series of fragments about the lives and destinies of the sleeping beauties described by the Japanese writer Kawabata; and La Grieta (The Crevasse) by Sabina Berman. Among young writers, we can pick out Gerardo Mancebo del Castillo Trejo’s Las tremendas aventuras de la capitana Gaspacho (The Tremendous Adventures o f the SS Captain Ga^pacho), a farce of genius, full of freshness and youth, which was directed by Mauricio Garcia Lozano. Also, from the already established Oscar Liera, cam eA lp ie de la letra (At the Foot o f the Letterj, directed by Enrique Gorlero. In the final part of the Don Juan Project, Sabina Berman had some success with her Moliere. Horizonte de sucesos (Horizon o f Success) by Raquel Araujo had an unexpected aesthetic quality, rich in new staging ideas. Leonor Azcarate’s La Coincidencia (The Coincidence), magnificently directed by Estela Lenero, was a study of a couple’s agreements and disagreements. While Susan Robles, pursuing the tastes of popular theatre, wrote H uefanos de Besos (Orphan Kisses) as a homage to Augustin Lara. Luis de Tavira premiered his Venta/as de la epiqueya (The lirtu es o f Equality) with magnificent sets and direction by Philippe Armand. Among other important productions of the year, were the staging of Q uienyo? (Who, Me?) by Dalmiro Saenz, in which Kitty de The World of Theatre

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MEXICO Hoyos showed great enthusiasm and talent in the leading, double role of Felipe Azul de Metileno. At the same, the playwright Hugo Argyelles brought his two most recent works to the public: Los coyotes de Coydcan (The Coyotes o f Coyacan) and Fabula de la mantareya quinceanera (The Story o f the Fifteen Year Old Manta Ray) with Monica Sema in the role of the deranged fifteen-year-old. In student theatre, Jose Ramon Enriquez staged Elmaleficio de la mariposa (The Butterfly’s Spell) by Lorca. The most controversial production, a multi-media work largely based on Indian territorial claims, was Victor Hugo Rascon Banda’s Malinche. In it the author traces the traits of a character with multiple personality, incarnated in today’s woman, johan Kresnik gave it a remarkable production which set off strong controversy among the critics. Laura Almela give fine performances in Larry Temble’s The Anatomy Lesson and John Jesurun’s Faust, the latter as part of INBA’s next project, the Faust Cycle.

Highlights of 1999 One of the best plays from the Monterey Festival of November 1998 was presented in Mexico DF in February: this was Guta nocturna (Night Guide) by Edward Coward, writerdirector of the Divina Fauna group from Tijuana. In the large contingent of foreign plays and adaptations were some fine productions, such as that by Enrique Pineda of a musical based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula with a cast well known to television viewers: Rebeca Jones, Alejandro Camacho, Mauricio Islas and Ignacio Lopez Tarso; Woody Allen’s Interiors; Ben Elton’s Tarantino-style Popcorn, directed by Mario fispinosa; and Moises Kaufman’s play about Oscar Wilde, Gross Indecency . Literary texts adapted included Polvo de mariposa (Butterfly Dust) by Sandra Felix, who also directed; Las historias qite se cuentan los hermanos siameses (Stories Siamese Twins Tell One Another) adapted from various texts and directed by Luis Mario Moncada and Martin Acosta. Mexican authors were represented by Victor Hugo Rascon Banda’s La mujerque cayo delcielo (The Woman Who Fellfrom Heaven), with an excellent performance from Luisas Huertas, and Fernando del Paso’s La rnuerte se va en Granada (Death Goes to Granada). Notable children’s plays included Diente de Leon y Juan I ’olado (Lion Tooth and Juan Volado) and Los ojos al reves (Eyes in the Back o f the Head) both by Jaime Chabaud. In the 5th Theatre-Lovers Meeting, organised at the Jimenez Rueda theatre by the Mexican ITI, IATA and IATC and with the support of the INBA theatre, more than twenty plays were staged, some of them written by the participants. Among these can be mentioned Fe de erratas (Faith in Errors) by Agustin Meza. Five of the plays were by Mexican authors: Hugo Argyelles, Gabriela Inclan, Tomas Urtusastegui, Sabina Berman and Willebaldo Lopez. There wer two adaptations from works by Octavio Paz and Juan Rulfo, M i vida con la ola (My Life with the Wave) by Hector Bourges and Porvenirdelsueno (To Arvakefrom a Dream) by Edgar Muniz. Foreign authors represented were Lorca, Ionesco, Dario Fo and Edgar Allen Poe. But the most important factor of the event for young Mexican theatre-makers was certainly that Mexican ITI succeeded in persuading INBA to put a medium-sized theatre at their disposal, so that those of them with no institutional support could present their work as directors, actors or writers. All sorts of possibilities have been opened up for the theatre one hopes to see in Mexico in the coming millennium. The public, as well as the critics, are expecting that creativity, backed by experiment, will bring good results, for this is a theatre-loving country.

Reyna Barrera is apri^e-mnning writer andpoet. Since 1985 she has been writingfor the widely circulated Saturday cultural supplement o f the magazine UNOmasUNO. 172

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NORWAY IDALOU LARSEN Norway is a young country, and theatre is a young art in Norway. Before getting its first professional theatre Norway had to wait until 1850, when the renowned violinist Ole Bull founded Den Nationale Scene (The National Stage) in Bergen. And Norway’s national theatre, Nationaltheatretin Oslo, is still younger, and celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 1999.

19 subsidised theatres Yet we still don’t have a real opera house. In Oslo the national opera resides in an inadequate building from the fifties, and though the question of building an opera was first broached a hundred years ago, it was only in the spring of 1999, after many long and heated discussions, that the Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, finally voted to build an opera house, which according to plan will open in 2007 or 2008. Maybe because the theatre as a popular entertainment has no long tradition in Norway, we have no permanent private theatres. From time to time private companies put on commercial shows in Oslo, mostly popular British or American comedies, but our nineteen permanent theatres are all subsidised, either exclusively by the state, or by the state in co­ operation with the counties and the municipalities. Of the nineteen institutional theatres, six are national theatres, entirely financed by the state. Three are in Oslo: Nationaltheatret, Det Norske Teatret and the opera. One is in Bergen, Den Nationale Scene, our oldest professional stage. The Beaiwas SamiTeahter, which is also entirely financed by the state, is a very small company in the North of the country, playing for the Lapp minority who never had any theatrical traditon. The last national theatre is a touring company, Riksteatret, which was established fifty years ago, as a part of the effort of the Labour government to give people in the rural areas professional art of high value.

A superfluous touring theatre? When Riksteatret was established in 1948 there were no professional stages outside of our few major cities, but during the last thirty years changing governments and Parliaments have granted money to establish regional theatres in nearly all parts of the country. Discontent with the Riksteatret has been steadily growing in the second half of the nineties. The general opinion outside Oslo is that Riksteatret has become more or less superfluous. Generally speaking, people dislike the idea of a company based in the capital coming and telling them what kind of theatre they ought to like. Of course, the fact that Riksteatret is getting 80 million Norwegian crowns from the state every year when no regional theatre is ever granted more than ten million or so, is not making the theatre more popular. During the nineties, successive directors have failed to put together a

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NORWAY repertoire capable of attracting a heteregenous public, and Ms Bente Erichsen, who is now the head of the theatre, has specialized in school performances.

The regional theatres Five small low-budget theatres, with a special oligation to encourage local amateur culture, were established between 1969 and 1979 as part of a broad cultural effort from the authorities. The original plan was that they should grow larger in time, but this never happened. Instead more small low-budget theatres were founded in new regions, which in their turn earned a place on the budget of the Ministry of Culture; today the original plan seems to be abandoned. The official subsidies are not big enough to allow the directors to have more than three, four or maybe five actors in the company, which means that to stage plays with large casts they have to hire freelance actors, and this is often economically prohibitive. Of course it is quite possible to make excellent, challenging and innovative theatre with only a few actors on stage. But with some exceptions the regional theatres’ repertoire is rather traditional. The directors prefer to play safe, choosing plays which they hope will attract a public more used to amateur theatricals than to sophisticated professional plays. Even if box office represents only about ten per cent of a theatre’s total income, that ten per cent is getting more important every year, and no director would dare losing his audience’s favour by putting on plays which could be called difficult or highbrow.

The Shakespeare project Still, there are exceptions, for instance Teatret Vart (Our Theatre), located in Molde, a small town on the West Coast. Teatret Vart was founded in the seventies in the wake of of the new political enthusiasm of 1968. Right from the start Teatret Vart occupied a special place among Norwegian theatres, and several of today’s most brilliant directors and actors started their career in Molde. Two years ago Edvard Hoem, the author of many acclaimed novels, and himself a native of Molde, was appointed director of the theatre. He had a vision of making Teatret Vart the best Shakespearean stage of the country, a really ambitious project as Shakespeare scarcely ever has been played outside of our four biggest towns. He started his project in the summer of 1998 with The Taming o f the Shrew, directed by Yngve Sundvor, one of our most talented younger directors. Sundvor treated the comic scenes in a truly Shakespearean way: they were bawdy, coarse and made fun of today’s actual phenomena much in the same way as Shakespeare did for his time. By contrast Sundvor chose to represent Katherine’s and Petruchio’s story, which is difficult to stage convincingly after Women’s Liberation, as a tragic love affair between two people who both are too proud and trendy to dare confess their weaknesses to each other. It was a striking and fascinating version of the play, but for some reason or other, most of the critics were negative. They were also negative, and with better reason, about Hoem’s next Shakespeare production, The Merchant o f Venice, played as a modern rococo opera pastiche. The production was a total failure, the theatre lost a lot of money, and the company, who at first had welcomed Edvard Hoem and his ambitious project, started complaining about his authoritarian way of leadership. In the spring of 1999 Edvard Hoem was more or less forced to resign. But this summer his production of Richard III, staged by the interesting Hungarian born, now Swedish, instructor, Hilda Hellwig, was a remarkable close-up study of a terror regime. Unfortunately the critics of the most influential papers did not like this production 174

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Knut Hamsun’s H u n g e r- National Theatre o f Norway

(photo: Leif Gabrielsen)

either, and the general opinion now is that the Shakespeare project has been a failure, allegedly because it is impossible for a small regional theatre to play Shakespeare well. I do not agree. Even if all the productions had their flaws, as a whole the project was an interesting attempt to show an audience which was not very familiar with either the theatre or Shakespeare, that he is not a distant classic whose plays must be treated with the utmost respect (as he is too often played here) but a playwright who can still shock and delight us today.

A new wind blowing Stavanger and Trondheim, the biggest towns in Norway after Oslo and Bergen, each have their own theatre with fairly large companies. In Trondheim Trondelag Teater in 1997 moved into a new and impressive building, and Ola B Johannessen, who had directed the theatre earlier and was very popular in Trondheim, returned to his hometown. He decided to put on big musicals like West Side Story, his opening production, on the main stage, to be assured of box office successes, and he reserved the secondary stages for more artistically interesting plays, like Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen o f Teenane, which, directed by Yngve Sundvor in 1997, was a great success and was voted Play of the Year. From the very start the theatre’s subsidies were too small to meet the demands of a costly new building, and in January 1999 Ola B. Johannessen decided to quit the theatre. In Stavanger, Rogaland Theatre offers many interesting and challenging productions of high quality which, by some miracle, also attract big audiences. Under the direction of Eirik Stubo Rogaland Teater has proved so successful that Stubo was recently appointed leader of Nationaltheatret from January 1st, 2001. Eirik Stubo is also a very gifted director The World of Theatre

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NORWAY who, though he today administers Rogaland Teater as he soon will Nationaltheatret, still finds the time to stage two productions every year. He has invited outstanding foreign directors like the Hungarian Gabor Zsambecki to Stavanger, where he in 1998 directed the most intelligent and amusing version of Molieres classic U Avare that I’ve ever seen, or like Jan Hakanson from Sweden who gave new life to the well known text of Chekhov’s Three Sisters. In this way Eirik Stubo has brought much needed new European impulses to a theatre which has a tendency to be very self-sufficient. Stubo has also put interesting new Norwegian dramatists on his stage, and he is actively trying to encourage young writers by workshopping their productions. Needless to say, everybody is impatient to see whether he w ill manage as well when he assumes the responsability for Nationaltheatret. The country’s most important national institution with the most outstanding Norwegian actors in its troupe will undoubtedly be more difficult to lead than a rather small provincial theatre. It will be a great challenge for Eirik Stubo, but though he is very young to assume such a big responsibility, he is without comparison the most interesting theatre director in Norway today, and with him at the head of Nationaltheatret it may well become Norway’s most exciting theatre in the years to come.

A generation change I have dwelt at such length on Eirik Stubo because in a way he can be said to symbolize the new generation which these last three seasons has reinvigorated the Norwegian stage. Of course, the previous generation of directors like Stein Winge, Kjetil BangHansen, Terje Masrli and actress Ellen Horn, the first woman ever to lead our Nationaltheatret, still reign over our theatre, and offer many remarkable and often less flawed productions than the newcomers. But the most interesting thing that has happened from 1996-99 is the emergence of a new generation of challenging and talented young directors. It’s worth noting that three of them have had their training outside of Norway, Hans Henriksen in Petersburg, Yngve Sundvor in Moscow, and Per Olav Tandberg in the USA. Even though they all three have very different approaches to the text and to the actors, they have one quality in common: They seem to be much less interested in imposing their own personality on the final production. They esteem the actors more than do the directors of the generation before them, and are themselves more occupied in understanding the text for the text’s own sake, than making it fit their own preconceived ideas. In this way they resemble the Russian director Sergei Gennovatch who, when he was in Norway in 1997 to produce Romeo and Juliet for Teatret Vart, wrote in the programme that in his opinion the period when where the director was a kind of dictator was coming to a close, and that today both the actors and the text were regaining their importance.

The free companies Another new tendency is that the institutional theatres and the small free companies are beginning to cooperate. In the end of the 1960s, Eugenio Barba left Oslo for Holstebro in Denmark. In Oslo he got no financial support, while the municipality in Holstebro granted him the means to found his Odinteatret. He still exercised a great influence upon many young Norwegian theatre enthusiasts, and after he had left Norway small independent companies, who got their inspiration from avant-garde European theatre, began to emerge also in our country. For nearly thirty years these independent companies have gone their own ways, and have not been an influential factor in the established theatre. This has proved unlucky for both, for just as contact with the companies could 176

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NORWAY have provided the theatre establishment with sorely needed new ideas, the companies could have learned much from the established theatres’ professionalism and from their respect of the audience. But during the last three or four years this situation has been changing, and in the spring of 1999 Nationaltheatret collaborated with a small independent company headed by director Yngve Sundvor. Together they produced a (for Norway) both innovative and subtle dramatic version of Knut Hamsuns novel H ungerw hich got Yngve Sundvor The Critics’ Assocation Prize and also was a big box-office success. This is a good sign for the future.

New dramatists For a long time Norwegian playwrights have strived to free themselves from Henrik Ibsen’s towering shadow. But in the second half of the 1980s Tom Remlov, who then was director of Den Nationale Scene in Bergen, started an ambitious project. Convinced that there were many talented dramatists who only needed professional help to write plays which would interest the audiences, he decided to give young playwrights their first chance. During the ten years he directed Den Nationale Scene he produced more than forty original plays and, what is more interesting, the public came. It was king an established truth that Norwegian audiences accepted new English or American dramas, but didn’t want new Norwegian plays. Remlov proved this to be wrong. Of course, not every production attracted big audiences —a lot of them got very bad reviews, and most of them were staged on small secondary stages with from forty to hundred seats. But today Remlov’s project is considered a success, and it is the general opinion that it had a very revigorating impact on Norwegian playwriting. Every director now strives to present new plays, and more young authors try their hand at writing for the stage.

A ‘new’ Ibsen The most well-known playwright of this younger generation, Jon Fosse, is now beginning to gain a reputation in Europe, and in Norway he is hailed as a ‘new Ibsen’. At first sight the comparison may seem ludicrous. Jon Fosse’s minimalistic and poetical plays are far from Ibsen’s realistic dramas, with their virulent critique of late Victorian society. But if one looks closer, there certainly is a kinship between Ibsen’s plays and Fosse’s tense and melancholy psychological close-up studies of the couple and the family at the end of the millenium. During the last season, Fosse has widened his scope, and his dramas are evolving towards a more dramatic representantion of extremely complex relationships. During the three last seasons Jon Fosse has established himself as our most interesting contemporary playwright. But his last play, A Summer Day, which one of our national theatres, Det Norske Teatret in Oslo, produced in February this year, was not seen by more than 3500 people. Still, it is his largest ever audiencer. In other words, he cannot compete with his great predecessor in the art of attracting big audiences.

Play safe - play Ibsen Not surprisingly, Henrik Ibsen is still our most popular playwright, and scarcely a season passes without new productions of Peer Gynt, A D oll’s House, Ghosts, The Wild Duck or Hedda Gabler. They are all very safe cards to play for a director who can rest assured that all the secondary schools in the region will send their students to see them. Of course many of these Ibsen productions are highly conventional. But in these last seasons young directors have been given the opportunity to stage Ibsen in less respectful The World of Theatre

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NORWAY and more exciting ways, maybe especially less wellknown dramas like Little E yolf and Rosmersholm. The biennial Ibsen Festival at the Nationaltheatret has encouraged this trend. It was director Stein Winge, who was head of Nationaltheatret at the time, who founded the festival to which, besides staging its own Ibsen-shows, Nationaltheatret invites outstanding or especially interesting Ibsen productions from all over the world. The festival has also given Norwegian audiences a unique opportunity to see rather exotic theatre like An Enemy o f the People from Beijing, an African Peer Gynt and an Italian Doll’s House. These last years, Nationaltheatret director Ellen Horn has added a new and very welcome dimension to the Ibsen Festival by inviting internationally reputed artists like Canadian Robert Lepage in 1996 and Eimuntas Nekrosius in 1998 to present their Shakespeare productions.

Box-office and musicals For many years, the greatest box-office successes in Oslo were the big musicals staged by Det Norske Teatret. It is typical for the theatre situation in Norway that musicals like West Side Story or Les Miserables are produced by one of our national theatres, and not by a private theatre. But these last years the directors have not managed to discover new and popular musicals. In Trondheim director Ola B. Johannessen was certain that his production of R