Open Call: V4@THEATRE CRITICS RESIDENCY 2017 (Nitra, Slovakia)

Association Divadelná Nitra together with its partners
Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, Poland
Trafó – House of Contemporary Arts, Hungary
East European Performing Arts Platform, Poland (EEPAP)
Arts and Theatre Institute, Czech Republic
The Theatre Institute Bratislava Bratislava, Slovakia
Armenian Actors Union NGO/State Institute of Theatre and Cinema, Armenia
Visual and Performing Arts Centre ART CORPORATION, Belarussia
Center for Cultural Projects Azart, Moldova

announce an open call for young theatre critics from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia, Armenia and Slovakia to take part in theV4@THEATRE CRITICS RESIDENCY 2017.

7-day residency under the mentorship of Patrice Pavis (France) and Thomas Irmer (Germany) at the Divadelná Nitra International Theatre Festival 2017 open to young theatre criticsfrom the Visegrad Group countries and Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia, Armenia and up to 35 years of age.

Dates of residency: 22 – 28 September 2017

Location: Nitra, Slovakia

Deadline for applications: 31 July 2017

Selected participants:
Slovakia – 2 people + 1 substitution
Czech Republic - 2 people + 1 substitution
Hungary - 2 people + 1 substitution
Poland - 2 people + 1 substitution
Ukraine - 2 people + 1 substitution
Moldova – 2 people + 1 substitution
Belorussia – 2 people + 1 substitution
Armenia – 1 person + 1 substitution

V4@Theatre Critics Residency 2017 is a creative hub for young theatre critics who will, under the leadership of internationally acclaimed theatre theorist and critic Patrice Pavis (France) and Thomas Irmer (Germany), attend the 26th edition of the Divadelná Nitra Festival.

Participants will follow all performances of the main programme and selected performances of the accompanying programme. For 7 days, they will work together with Mr Pavis and Mr Irmer as their mentors, mediators and facilitators.

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, Mr Irmer 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 and Mr Irmer, discussing and reflecting on the productions they haveseen. 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: FUNDAMENTALS = principle / principles, essence, a basic principle. It will present a process of searching for values – human, spiritual, intellectual, social as well as historical, through works of art presented at the festival, but also discussions, accompanying events and social activities.

The preliminary programme of Divadelná Nitra 2017 will be published at the beginning of July on www.nitrafest.sk The final programme will be ready at the end of July.

HOW TO APPLY?

To apply, submit an application form (scroll down to the bottom of the page) and your professional bio in English language to the project partner in your country no later than 31. July 2017.

Contact person for application:

• Slovakia: The Theatre Institute Bratislava, Diana Selecká,[email protected]
• Czech republic: Arts and Theatre Institute, Martina Pecková Černá,[email protected]
• Hungary: Trafó – House of Contemporary Arts: Beáta Barda [email protected]
• Poland: Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute, Anna Galas, [email protected]
• Ukraine: East European Performing Arts Platform, Poland (EEPAP), Anna Strzałkowska, [email protected]
• Moldova: Rusanda Curca, [email protected]
• Belorussia: Alexandra Danilevich, [email protected]
• Armenia: Shoghakat Galstyan,[email protected]

DEADLINE:  31 July 2017

Selection criteria:   

• Professional theatre critics – citizen of one of the Visegrad Group countries or Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia, Armenia (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 26th edition of the Divadelná Nitra 2017 – International Theatre Festival under the mentorship of Patrice Pavis, Thomas Irmer
• Complimentary tickets to all festival performances of the main programme and access to accompanying programme events.
• Accommodation for 7 nights in single rooms with breakfast (arrival 21/9/2017 or 22/9/2017, departure 28/9/2017)
• Reimbursement of travel costs to Nitra – the most economical means of transport after publishing three articles/reflections about Divadelna Nitra 2017 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:

22/9/2017  
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

23/9/2017 – 27/9/2017

8:00–13:00 Work time (internal meetings with Mr Pavis, Mr Irmer public talks with artists – Breakfast with…, V4@Theatre presentations)
13:00–15:30 Lunch break, free time
From 15:30 onwards – performances

28/9/2017

9:00 – 11:30 Evaluation, Departure of participants

What to expect during the V4@Theatre Critis Residency?

Patrice Pavis,Thomas Irmer, the residency mentors: 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 was Professor at the School of Arts at the University of Kent in Canterbury. In 2011 and 2012 he was 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,  2016). L'analyse des spectacles (3ed.)2017; l'analyse des textes contemporains, 2017, Armand Colin.

Thomas Irmer, Germany – Residency mentor

Thomas Irmer was editor-in-chief of the monthly journal Theater der Zeit, Germany (1998- 2003) and dramaturgical advisor for the international theatre season spielzeiteuropa at Berliner Festspiele (working, among others, for Robert Lepage, John Jesurun, Peter Brook, William Forysthe, Heiner Goebbels and Frank Castorf) in 2003 – 2006. He also run international lectures and talks. Current areas of teaching: American drama and theatre history, theatre criticism, history of East German theatre. Possible areas of teaching are focused on contemporary European theater, German drama and Heiner Müller, German theatre, documentary theatre, festival politics, theatre on TV.

Currently, he works for various theatrical magazines (Theater heute). He also lectures at the Kennedy-Institut at Freie Universität Berlin. He is a member of several juries of German and international dramatic and theatre competitions.

Supported by the Visegrad Fund and Slovak Arts Council