V4@Theatre Residency for young theatre critics from Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia and Slovakia

Application deadline:  15 August 2016

Association Divadelná Nitra

together with its partners:

Arts and Theatre Institute, Czech Republic,

Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, Poland,

Trafó – House of Contemporary Arts, Hungary,

Theatre Institute Bratislava, Slovakia

and East European Performing Arts Platform, Poland

announce an open call for young theatre critics from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia and Slovakia to take part in the V4@THEATRE RESIDENCY 2016

The residency is made possible thanks to support from the International Visegrad Fund.

6-day residency under the mentorship of Patrice Pavis (France) at the Divadelná Nitra International Theatre Festival 2016 open to young theatre critics from the Visegrad Group countries and Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia and up to 35 years of age.

Dates of residency:                           23 – 29 September 2016

Location:                                             Nitra, Slovakia

Deadline for applications:                15 August 2016

Selected participants:                         from Ukraine – 2 people + 1 substitution

                                                              from Moldova – 1 person + 1 substitution

                                                              from Belorussia – 1 person + 1 substitution

V4@Theatre Residency 2016 is a creative hub for young theatre critics who will, under the leadership of internationally acclaimed theatre theorist and critic Patrice Pavis (France), attend the 25^th edition of the Divadelná Nitra Festival.

Participants will follow all performances of the main programme and selected performances of the accompanying programme. For 6 days, they will work together with Mr Pavis as their mentor, mediator and facilitator.

The participants will be tasked to prepare and make a presentation about the current situation in the performing arts scene in their country (topics will be announced in advance by Mr Pavis and the Divadelná Nitra), to write at least three articles which can take the form of reviews / articles about the Divadelná Nitra performances and programme or interviews with artists presented and published during the festival at the V4@Theatre website and Divadelná Nitra Facebook.

They will attend and participate in public talks with selected artists and each day they will work with Mr Pavis, discussing and reflecting on the productions they have seen. Some of the presentations and discussions of the V4@Theatre participants will be open to public – theatre professionals and students attending the festival.

This year´s Divadelná Nitra is featuring the theme: Ode to Joy? (past – present – future)

The preliminary programme of Divadelná Nitra 2016 will be published at the beginning of July on www.nitrafest.sk The final programme will be ready at the end of July.

To apply, submit a motivation letter and your professional bio in English language to the project partner in your country no later than 15 August  2016:

Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia:  East European Performing Arts Platform, Poland (EEPAP)

                                                     Marta Szymańska, [email protected]

Selection criteria:    

• Professional theatre critics – citizen of one of the Visegrad Group countries or Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia (priority will be given to applicants who already pursue their professional carriers in theatre / theatre criticism, not students)
• Fluent in English (both spoken and written)
• Up to 35 years of age
• Interested to improve his / her presentation skills, critical reflection and writing skills, and analysis of a theatre production and festival dramaturgy
• To apply with an application form containing motivation letter in English and a professional bio in English
• Once selected – to prepare a presentation on the theatre scene of his / her country (10 minutes) – will be presented at The Breakfast with: the current trends, contexts, generations of artists, current themes, the resonance of the Divadelná Nitra festival’s theme in the productions in his / her country (topics will be specified by the Residency mentor)

The selected participants will receive:

• The opportunity to follow the 25^th edition of the Divadelná Nitra 2016 – International Theatre Festival under the mentorship of Patrice Pavis
• Complimentary tickets to all festival performances of the main programme and access to accompanying programme events (films, performances, installations)
• Accommodation for 6 nights in single rooms with breakfast (arrival 23/9/2016, departure 29/9/2016)
• Reimbursement of travel costs to Nitra – the most economical means of transport after publishing three articles/reflections about Divadelna Nitra 2016 at V4@Theatre website and Divadelná Nitra Facebook during the festival.
• Lunches during their stay at the Festival and invitation to the opening party
• Festival catalogue and other festival materials

Preliminary work schedule:

23/9/2016   Arrival of participants before 14:00

                     14:30–17:30 First session with Mr Pavis including a welcome dinner (closed to public)

                     18:30 Festival Opening Ceremony, performance

24/9/2016 – 28/9/2016          

                    8:30–13:00 Work time (internal meetings with Mr Pavis,

                    public talks with artists – Breakfast with…, V4@Theatre presentations)

                   13:00–15:30 Lunch break, free time

                   From 15:30 onwards – performances

29/9/2016   Departure of participants

What to expect during the V4@Theatre Residency?

Residency mentor Patrice Pavis: We will take the different performances as a point of departure for our discussion and analysis. The main questions will be:

• How to approach such a specific performance and what kind of performance analysis is possible?
• What knowledge do we need to receive a performance and react to it?
• What tools are available to analyze, or simply discuss, a performance?
• What is the difference between a performance and a mise en scène?
• What is your own practice of criticism and theory?

What is expected and required from the participants:

• The ability, but also readiness, to discuss a performance, beyond the subjective point of view.
• The possibility to write reviews/articles for the festival purposes; to compare different types of discourses.
• The ability to study and use a theoretical notion, chosen in cooperation with the mentor, a notion which can possibly be discussed within the group.
• The willingness to co-chair, with the residency mentor, one of the public talks.
• The possibility to reflect on your own theatrical context at home (both for plays and performances).
• Evaluation of the theoretical and cultural discourse at home and in other countries.
• Description of the role of a dramaturge in your context in your country and in other countries?
• The evaluation of the status of the author in theatre in your country and of the relationship author–dramaturge–director–performer.
• The connection, in your country, between theatre practice and theory. How does this resonate in your own practice and what impact does it have on your reflection on theatre?

Patrice Pavis, France – Residency mentor

Patrice Pavis was Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Paris (1976–2007). He is currently Professor at the School of Arts at the University of Kent in Canterbury. In 2011 and 2012 he worked as a visiting professor at the Korea National University of the Arts. He has published a dictionary of theatre and books on semiology, performance analysis, contemporary French dramatists, and contemporary theatre. His most recent book publications are La mise en scène contemporaine (Armand Colin, 2007; English translation, Routledge, 2013) and Dictionnaire de la performance et du théâtre contemporain (Armand Colin, 2014. English translation for Routledge forthcoming).