DESANT 2013: workshops and stage reading during White Tower Festival in Brest, Belarus

DESANT 2013: workshops and stage reading during White Tower Festival in Brest, Belarus

DESANT in Brest: 8-11 September 2013

The events of DESANT in Minsk were organized in cooperation with: XVIII International Theatre Festival White Tower in Brest, National Old Theatre in Cracow, Kryly Halopa Theatre, and  Brest Academic Drama Theatre.

The programme of the White Tower festival in Brest included the performance of “The Gallery of Polish Kings”, a production of the National Old Theatre directed by Krzysztof Garbaczewski. The presentation of the performance was followed by a workshop by Krzysztof Garbaczewski and Robert Mleczko “New media in theatre”, and a workshop on theatre criticism by Roman Pawłowski. These events, organised by Adam Mickiewicz Institute, were accompanied by Desant educational activities:

• Performative reading of Małgorzata Sikorska-Miszuk’s play “Szajba” [Nuts] by Belarusian actors, prepared by Weronika Szczawińska and Agnieszka Jakimiak.

The performative reading of the Polish play was not only the first event of this kind at the White Tower Festival, it was also an opportunity to showcase a new model of presenting a dramatic text in contemporary theatre. Audience members were able to follow the work in progress during open rehearsals.

• “Programming the repertoire in theatre”, a workshop conducted by Sebastian Majewski.

The two-day workshop was attended by playwrights, curators, and theatre managers working both in state-owned and independent theatre. They worked with specific Brest institutions in mind, designing their hypothetical repertoire, defining basic objectives and outlining ways of reaching their audiences.

The Desant educational project is addressed at curators, managers, critics and theoreticians, as well as artists: directors, playwrights, dramaturges, actors, dancers, choreographers, stage designers working in Eastern Partnership countries. Its aim is to support bold, innovative initiatives and projects, enhancing the competence of artists, critics, and audiences, deepening the knowledge on those theories and practices in performing arts which construct culture not as a commodity to be consumed but an instrument to be utilised in a conversation about the present.

The aim of the Desant educational project is to support bold, innovative initiatives and projects, enhancing the competence of artists, critics, and audiences, deepening the knowledge on those theories and practices in performing arts which construct culture not as a commodity to be consumed but an instrument to be utilised in a conversation about the present.

The organising principles behind Desant activities are rootedness in the local reality; reference to a specific socio-political context; combining practical activities with a cultural and sociological reflection. Apart from practical actions (thematic workshops, staging a production, writing texts), we include elements of theory-based activities (lectures, film and stage production screenings, debates). We try to connect diverse environments, motifs, as well as creative and research strategies, in this way releasing theatre from the “high art" niche in which it was locked by the tradition of state-run academic theatres, still dominant in Eastern Partnership countries.

The programme of Desant is created in close cooperation with our partner organisations as well as cultural activists and artists from the countries where the activities take place. The curators of Desant are not interested in a one-way export of knowledge and specific (“good”) practice. What they care about is exchanging experiences, infecting each other with ideas, working together. They do not want to measure the effectiveness of this joint work by means of an instant product.

Curator of DESANT educational project: Joanna Wichowska

Cooperation (2013-2014): Goran Injac
Idea and coordination of the events in Minsk: Goran Injac (EEPAP), Lavinia Oreshko (IAM)
Partners: XVIII International Theatre Festival White Tower in Brest, National Old Theatre in Cracow, Kryly Halopa Theatre, Brest Academic Drama Theatre

Instructors: Sebastian Majewski (Poland) – playwright i dramaturge, Weronika Szczawińska (Poland) – theatre director and dramaturge, Agnieszka Jakimiak (Poland) – dramaturge