EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE IN CENTRAL EUROPE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY
International Theatre Symposium
Ljubljana / Viteška dvorana, Križanke - Slovenia
26–28 November 2009
The researches of the phenomenon in question were conducted during the whole year 2009. Their authors from all participating countries met in Ljubljana on November 26th and 27th2009. The symposium was very successful. On November 25th Opening of Exhibition II was held in Town hall of Ljubljana. One of the major accompanying event of the symposium was the round table at the Ministry of Culture regarding the new National Theatre in Ljubljana (theme of Workshop II and Exhibition II).
Participating speakers: Judit Csanádi (HU), Oleg Dlouhý (SK), Anna Grusková (SK), Primož Jesenko (SI), Andreja Kopač (SI), Tatjana Lazorčáková (CZ), Joanna Ostrowska (PL), Ivo Svetina (SI), Borbála Szalay (HU), Juraj Šebesta (SK), Pavel Štorek (CZ), Tomaž Toporišič (SI), Julius Tyszka (PL), Barbara Novakovič (SI), Dragan Živadinov (SI) and Tomáš Žižka (CZ).
The International Theatre Symposium was organised into four thematic blocks focusing on the recent history of Czech, Slovak, Polish, Slovenian, and Hungarian non-traditional, experimental, and alternative theatre. Considering the overall focus of the international TACE project, major attention understandably focused on the influence of Central European trends in theatre on the development of theatre architecture. The first block was dedicated to a historical review of individual Central European countries, the second block focused on historical contexts, the third block concentrated on newly emerging spaces and successful reconstructions, and the conclusion of the symposium mapped theatre spaces between the 1960s and 1990s. Presentations were moderated by the theatre historian and director of the Slovenian Theatre Institute Ivo Svetina and participants included specialists in this field in individual countries. The symposium heard papers from Tatjana Lazorčáková (Experimental Theatre Space in Moravia), Tomáš Žižka (Site-Specific Projects in the Czech Republic), Pavel Štorek (Industrial Theatre Spaces in the Czech Republic), Judit Csanádi (Avant-garde and Experimental Theatre Space in Hungary), Borbála Szalay (Alternative Dance Space in Hungary), Oleg Dlouhý (Experimental Theatre Spaces in Slovakia), Primoš Jesenko (Experimental Theatre in Slovenia), Joanna Ostrowska and Piotr Morawski (Locations and Spaces of Polish Experimental Theatre), Juliusz Tyszka (Polish Experimental Theatre 1950–2000). The history of southern Slavonic avant-garde theatre was the subject of papers by the Slovenian artists and theorists Barbara Novakovič, Tomaž Toporišič, Dragan Živadinov, Adrej Kopač and Ivo Svetina. The accompanying programme included a performance of ‘Jelizaveta Bam’ (Zavod Muzeum) directed by Barbara Novakovič and ‘Show Your Face’ (Betontanc) produced by Bunker.
Experimental, non-traditional, alternative, or independent – these terms, the leitmotifs of the symposium, were used to describe the specific kinds of spaces that the theatre has moved into while it was developing dynamically as an artistic field and a social phenomenon in the second half of the 20th century. Situating art in non-traditional spaces and settings has always been and still is a source of inspiration and new direction for all kinds of artistic expression, but also a ‘space’ for anthropological exploration. The alternative and experimental space is an important part of culture because of its social context, enabling the theatre to make a comment on current social issues through its choice of space and the kind of activity that goes on in that space. The themes covered at the symposium naturally also looked at current knowledge on the development of theatre as a specific phenomenon in European cultural heritage.
The symposium drew attention to a number of original approaches and tendencies that surfaced in the theatre arts in Central Europe during the 1980s and 1990s. The theatre history of each of the countries participating in the symposium has its own exceptional figures and theatre ensembles which have inspired other artists at the national and international levels.
Judit Csanádi from Hungary talked about the transformation of Hungarian theatres between 1989 and 2009. ‘The political transformations after ´89 brought about the onset of parliamentary democracy attacking to the political field several outstanding intellectuals, formerly in opposition, as a result of which several theatre companies active for many years ceased their artistic activity. (...) In the years around the system change receiving venues and supporting institutions have been founded in great number and later the alternative theatre set up their own organization.’
In her paper Borbála Szalay, who discussed the theatre of dance not just in Hungary but in all of Central Europe, described alternative spaces for modern dance in Hungary. ‘The majority of Hungarian companies was thus compelled to perform in more marginal culture houses, while the few dance performances premiered in PeCsa where seen by a considerably more modest audience. (...) The anti-establishment attitude of the Hungarian contemporary dance fields equals the evasion of these receiving venues, thus being compelled to finding a new experimental spaces for themselves.’
Tomaž Toporišič, a well-known Slovenian dramaturg and theatre critic, presented a description of experimental theatre in Slovenia in the 1980s and 1990s. ‘The 20th century was characterized by constant newly-emerging crises of classical representation and the Baudelairean wish to escape this world, namely that of the Italian Black Box bourgeois theatre. To the late 1980-s and early 1990 brought the ultimate demolition of the borderline between the theatre and visual art, and drew nearer to the new understanding of performance art as an interdisciplinary art of the spectacle that derived from the traditional of the happenings of the artistic group OHO, Pupilija Ferkverk, performance art Pekarna, the early stages of Glej Theatre,.....’
The Slovakian expert Oleg Dlouhý honed in on the relationship between theatre architecture and alternative theatre spaced in Slovakia. ‘The factographical examination of development tendencies of theatre in Slovakia until the critical year 1990 indicates that the alternative theatre spaces were created in a close connection with actual persons. (...) New theatrical forms after 1990 only support this statement; represented by companies such as Stoka Theatre, Teatro TATRO, GUnaGU, SkRAT, Hubris Company, Debris Company, DAJV, PAS, etc.’
The top Czech theatre historian Tatjana Lazorčáková focused her paper on the regions of Moravia and Silesia, discussing the development of experimental theatre in these regions after 1945. One very interesting remark related to the thematic and temporal definition of concepts of theatre architecture and the non-traditional space. ‘When we think of theatre architecture we think of classic theatre buildings, that is, stone theatres with the traditional peep-show arrangement of space and halls used for theatre. The non-theatre space comes from the second theatre reform in the sense of opening theatre up ‘to the outside’, setting aside the conventional attributes of theatre, abandoning the aesthetic focus of the production and instead gravitating towards theatre as a kind of encounter, a dialogue, as a shared experience, as being together. We generally associate the concept of the non-theatre space with a departure from classic theatre architecture and the conventional framework of the peep-show theatre and in the second half of the 20th century with experimentation in theatre. The concept of theatrical experimentation took on a different meaning than what it had in the period of the interwar avant-garde. This can especially be traced in connection with activities in a non-theatre space, which represent two basic trends in Czech theatre since 1945, bearing both the artistic and ideological aspects of theatre culture.’
There were many other interesting, specialised papers presented, that addressed the influence of the work of such figures like Tadeusz Kantor, Jerzy Grotowský, Gábor Goda, Blaho Uhlár and the artistic ensembles Teatr Ósmego Dnia, Teatr Gardzienice, Krétakör, Pekarna Theatre, Mladinsko Theatre, Glej Theatre, STOKA, Goose on a String Theatre, Ha Theatre, and many others.
Individual expert outcome from the symposium covered the widest possible target group and both experts and the general lay public.
As a futher outcome of the symposium, the volume OCCUPYING SPACES. EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE IN CENTRAL EUROPE 1950–2010 was published.