cafebabel.com

Ousted director Istvan Marta: 'my successor will create a demagogic theatre'

('ChristopherR',) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:18:25 -0000

Istvan Marta managed the Budapest’s new theatre for thirteen years. On 1 February, he cleared his desk to make space for György Dörner, a supporter of the extreme-right wing Jobbik party. We talk to the outgoing director who fears that his theatre could become a stage for extremism

Obituary: Vaclav Havel, master of peace

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:00:00 -0000

The dissident, thespian and president, who was a symbol of change in the 1989 velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia, died on 18 December at the age of 75 after a serious illness. Homage to a European master of peace, as a three-day mourning period officially begins on 21 December

Spanish actor Santi Senso, creator of 'house theatre'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:12:25 -0000

The thirtysomething actor is otherwise known for his 'intimate' theatre performances in people's homes across Spain, something he says is driven by a ‘beautiful madness’ inside him. His latest play 'Orgy Me' has just ended its residency in a hotel room in Madrid

Hungarian singer Erzsi Kiss: ‘My language is based on musicality’

('kovakovics',) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:15:00 -0000

It’s much more meaningful gobbledygook, says the singer in the Hungarian band 'Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene' about her lyrics. The musician and puppeteer talks to us about singing 'in no language'

Ascanio Celestini: 'I denounce verbal violence of our time’

('Annie Rutherford',) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:00:00 -0000

He is the mouthpiece of contemporary Italian theatre, a critic of power, an anthropologist who depicts the evils of our time better than anyone else. The 39-year-old actor, director and author talks about coming from outside Rome and where his one-man-show gets its inspirations from

Trio Joubran: ‘It’s hard to be Palestinian musicians in the world’

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:25:16 -0000

Samir, Wissam and Adnan Joubran are international musicians whose performance and perspectives nonetheless remain rooted in their homeland: Palestine. Just before the UN is due to consider Palestine’s official bid to become a UN member as well as a state, we meet the brothers in Paris about how their hopes for their country influences their music

‘Allez Calais!’ Historic French football match replayed in theatre

('ZoeBBee',) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:00:00 -0000

‘Come on, Calais!’, a theatrical monologue written by the Italian journalist Osvaldo Guerrieri, tells the story of the amateur football team who played FC Nantes in the historic French cup final in 2000. It’s one in the back of the net for football, as the epic tale of the underdog takes to the stage in Paris

Greek tragedy of a Macedonian tragedy: the story of #Martin in five acts

('Annie Rutherford',) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:51:02 -0000

On 5 June 2011 21-year-old Martin Neskovki was killed at the hands of Igor Spasov, bodyguard to the Macedonian prime minister. Two months on from demonstrations attended by thousands outraged by the government’s inaction, a handful of remaining protesters present their own conclusion to the investigation – onstage and online

Edinburgh fringe festival 2011: the problem with passing around the hat

('jellingworth',) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 17:54:44 -0000

At first glance, Edinburgh’s Royal Mile in August seems like an anarchic, free-spirited display of all that the world’s largest arts festival has to offer. But after a while you notice how rigidly the twirling street performers stick to their allocated spots, the hard-faced hard selling in the ‘bucket speeches’ after each act and the ever-present banners advertising Richard Branson’s latest venture - a credit card firm

Sex, Sartre & rock n’roll in Paris theatre

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:44:34 -0000

Anyone coming to Jean Paul Sartre’s ‘No exit’ (Huis clos) playing at the Lucernaire theatre until 10 September shouldn't expect a tedious and stiff evening. French director Vladimir Steyaert surprised the entirely young audience with a contemporary, ironically serious version of the classic, which of course, had to have an international cast

Croatia’s writers and playwrights: no post-war no-hopers

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:00:00 -0000

It’s impossible for the moment to imagine a literature and theatre scene in Croatia which does not blend in the story of Yugoslavia’s collapse. The wounds are too fresh, holding back the development of a certain maturity. One young generation of playwrights and writers between Zagreb and Split literally put the streets on their stages and pages, as they move between the daily quest for an identity and the desire for renewal

Claire Ruppli: ‘Erasmus generation have to create Europe now’

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0000

The lovemaking Swiss theatre actress is taking on a one-woman stage interpretation of a haunted figure in Prague on Parisian floorboards. She talks getting into theatre, Europe and passion

Theatre: French director Pierre Notte’s Bidules Trucs in Paris

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 12:25:21 -0000

A variety of characters from every corner of the world have come to life in French theatre director Pierre Notte’s fairytales. Rendezvous: the Theatre La Bruyère in Paris

German clown Marenka: 'hit a woman and it's almost taboo'

('Jessie L.',) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:41:48 -0000

For seven years, the 37-year-old has acted in German-language performances throughout Europe, a trade she refined in Hannover, France and California - how does her public react to her clownish mishaps?

Madrid's Theatre Yeses troupe breaks prison bars

('James Friscia',) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:37:57 -0000

Its director is a prison officer with a degree in stage and performance management. Its actresses are inmates of the Alcalá de Henares penitentiary centre. The studio has allowed many to eventually begin new lives in the 'free world' and its story is depicted in a movie: everything about this artistic group is unique. Quick, the show is about to begin…

Volterra prison in Italy: theatre behind bars

('Mary Maistrello',) — Mon, 10 May 2010 18:29:25 -0000

Twenty-two years ago, a surreal project took over a group of life, majority illiterate inmates in a high-security prison. Someone’s dream and belief in this theatrical project led to making the Compagnia della Fortezza ('company of the fortress') an award-winning reality

'Conciliabules': French women fight for European poverty via theatre

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:00:00 -0000

Marginalisation, precarity - in any case, women are 'poorer' than men. But the ladies from this French troupe use art, not negativity, in their official response to Europe's designated 'year of poverty and social exclusion'

Budapest: stand-up comedy and playback theatre 'cures' crisis

('theroxbox',) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:00:00 -0000

It's an American pursuit gaining momentum in central Europe. Young comedian Balàzs Hajdù explains why he might eventually have to leave his job, and a doctor explains how theatre helps cure his patients

Sofia's directors and playwrights boom despite barebone budgets

('Darren Thompson',) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 12:57:13 -0000

In Bulgaria there are no cultural policy programmes and the crisis has consumed the ministry coffers. Filmmakers like Kamen Kalev, playwrights and other creative minds demand government transparency and methods to support their enterprising spirit. Part one of a five part 'EU crisis on the ground' city series

David Lescot: 'Europe is nothing more than a piggy bank for artists'

('Darren Thompson',) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The fearless French playwright, musician and director, 38, attacks the concept of Europe in his latest show 'L’Européenne', a wacky commentary on a continent that is still seeking to find itself

A cultural cacophony; international festival in Germany

('Annie Rutherford',) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0000

'Beirut? Isn't that in the near East?' You frequently hear this question when telling European friends about the Festival of Young Artists in Bayreuth. Has anyone other than avowed Wagner admirers heard of this small town deep in the franconian province?

Wajdi Mouawad and the theatre: ‘I don’t feel as if I belong to this world’

('Helen Swain',) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:43:50 -0000

'Strangely, this does not make me unhappy’, he says the Quebec-Lebanese author, 40. At the 2009 Avignon Festival, he presented Cielos, adding another work to his trilogy on wars, exile and the state of the world.

European theatre tips of the summer

('Helen Swain',) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:56:16 -0000

Sam Mendes subtitled in Greek, Oscar Wilde in the open air in Regent's Park and the British Shakespeare company with Czech director Jiri Menzel in a castle in Prague - the best music, dance and theatre doses in July and August

Brazilian director Rui Frati on the Theatre of the Oppressed post-Augusto Boal

('Alexandra Baxter',) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:08:10 -0000

The director of the TDO in Paris speaks over two months after the death of the theatre's founder, Augusto Boal, on 2 May

London and Berlin reviews of Mark Ravenhill's 'Over There' play

('Annie Rutherford',) — Tue, 19 May 2009 18:30:46 -0000

Mark Ravenhill’s unconventional play about identical twins who are reunited after growing up in east and west Germany travelled from London to Berlin this spring. Our London reviewer calls it a timely commentary on the EU’s current political troubles. Our Berlin reviewer wonders if the British director reproaches the Germans with the repression of history. Cross-reviews from the Royal Court and Schaubühne theatres

Israeli-German theatre: the Holocaust, Nazi and Palestinian 'Third Generation'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:00:00 -0000

Together with the dramaturges Amit Epstein and Irina Szodruck, Israeli director Yael Ronen ventured on an experiment with Third Generation. The theatre project has already been performed as a work in progress in Halle (Germany), Tel Aviv and Parma (Italy). A newly finished version hit the Berliner Schaubühne in early May. Review and interview

Theatre: Balkans’ not dead, from Paris to Skopje via Pristina

('Joss Corner',) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:30:00 -0000

The Theatre de Syldavie company presents a sparse play in which the muslims and christians of Macedonia attempt to understand one another: - 'Blood Wedding’, or the re-writing of a great Balkan classic

Austrian tabloids make global headlines with Joseph Fritzl, incest father

('Lucy Davies',) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:00:00 -0000

Shortly before the incest trial begins on 16 March, the Vienna theatre production of 'Pension F.' is bringing the oppressive atmosphere surrounding the Fritzl case onto the stage, meaning it is not only 'the man on the street’s paper' who is discussing what happened in that cellar

Theatre: Auschwitz meets the French Auvergne

('Michelle Williams',) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:42:39 -0000

For the International Short Film Festival 2009, director Fabrice Dubusset is working with amateur performers for the group's first Fassbinder play. The revival of the German director's 'Just a Slice of Bread' brings critical themes to the European arena

Venice, Edinburgh, Perpignan - a festival for everyone

('Sarah Truesdale',) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:00:00 -0000

Italy's 'La Mostra', Scotland's Fringe, photojournalism in the south of France - it’s not too late to recover your cultural health before the end of summer. Monthly guide to the best culture picks in Europe

Stuttgart's Lokstoff: taking theatre to the city

('Lucy Davies',) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:12:00 -0000

No curtains, no stage. No cushioned rows of seats, no peep-show principle. The Stuttgart theatre group perform outside in urban spaces, right where the action is - be it in an airport, train station, underground station or buses driving their daily routes

Venice – alternative student Biennale

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Breaking with the usual traditions of contemporary art found at the Venice Biennale, Italian and German art students have ‘improvised’ scenes using Venetian passers-by

Sofia – Paris elephant truckers

('Sophie Paterson',) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

For years, the convoys of lorries on European motorways have been becoming longer and longer. Stefan Kaegi and Jörg Karrenbauer relate their European-style road movie in Paris with theatre production 'Cargo Sofia-Paris'

The musical: a phoenix from the flames

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:00:00 -0000

With new stories, new audiences and the latest in technology, the musical is back with a bang in Europe’s big cities

Free Theatre of Minsk: onstage resistance

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The Belarusian independent theatre company uses black humour and underground performances to protest against 'Europe's last dictatorship'

Free Theatre of Minsk in images

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 17 May 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Extracts from 'Breathing Technquies In A Place Without Air' and 'Being Harold Pinter,' by artists-in-residence the Free Theatre of Minsk at the Alfortville studio theatre, Paris, May 2007

New wave in theatre

Tue, 15 May 2007 07:09:00 -0000

Free from the shackles of Communist oppression, Czech theatre has discovered its own identity, lying somewhere between pop culture and experimental drama. Presenting three portraits of this new generation

Ivan Rajmont - from Kundera to Stoppard

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The Czech stage director explains why 'European theatre' doesn't fit snugly into one box

Eleonora Abbagnato, shooting star

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Through dedication and perseverance, this 28-year-old Sicilian has risen to the ranks of prima ballerina in the Paris Opera

Iron Curtain

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0000

When politics wants to influence the arts, it is often second in line to suffer. Polish theatre is currently going through its own personal crisis

Ukrainian bohemia

('G. Ring',) — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0000

Leonid Kantier is a pragmatic troubadour. Both entrepreneur and actor, the Ukrainian has travelled all over the world with his wooden tabouret under his arm

Pal Frenak, continuous movement

Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:00:00 -0000

As he travels incessantly between Budapest and Paris, 49 year-old Hungarian choreographer, Pal Frenak, talks about his sensual yet violent creations as well as the tormented world of contemporary dance.