Program: The Performing Arts
The programming principles in the Performing Arts Unit were determined by the need for international standards, the willingness to cooperate with local institutions and the indie scene, the determination to get Linzers involved and to make use of Linz’s public sphere, the allocation of commissions for works to be performed, getting the mixture right of own productions and coproductions and trying out different festival formats.To make sure productions in Culture Capital Year would measure up to international standards, the Performing Arts unit gave several internationally renowned theatre makers the chance to form first impressions of Linz through residencies during the limbering-up phase of the project, as residencies were felt to be indispensable for them to be able to create outstanding productions. This would enable new perspectives to thrill Linz audiences with. The group of international artists included Arjun Raina (India) with ECDYSIS, Luk Perceval (Belgium) with DIE VERBORGENE STADT [Hidden City] and Roman Paska (USA) with SCHULJUNGENSPIEL [School Boy Play]. Linz09 had a hand in several international coproductions, such as MENTAL FINLAND by Kristian Smeds (Finland), BOLLYWOOD BANDWAGON by Anurupa Roy (India) and EMPIRE by Superamas (France/Austria). These productions continue to be shown at international festivals.
The cooperation with “local players” was considered essential from the outset. The most important partner on the ground was Landestheater Linz. Three cooperations and four copro-ductions were realised with the Landestheater ensemble. Here too considerations of internationial standards and of what is unique to Linz were of paramount importance in the selection of projects and of leading teams. Ong Keng Sen, Betty Shamieh, Peter Missotten, Martina Winkel, Li Liu Yi and Matthias Langhoff brought their highly individual styles to bear on the stage work, setting high standards both for the ensemble and the audience. A new aesthetic became visible and new audiences were won over for a previously unheard dramatic language.
The Bruckner Orchester took part in the production that marked the opening of Hafenhalle09: DAS BUCH DER UNRUHE [Book of Disquiet], based on Fernando Pessoa’s labyrinthine novel, featuring Klaus Maria Brandauer. SICHT:WECHSEL was another important partner for the realisation of several cooperative projects. Linz09 wanted to give this young festival, whose emphasis is on stage work involving people with special needs, the chance to integrate their important and artistically remarkable work into Linz’s everyday culture and the public sphere. Linz09’s collaboration with SCHÄXPIR prioritised international coproductions. Four productions developed by the festival for Linz have established its international reputation. Theater des Kindes showed three Linz09 coproductions. PLATZ FÜR DEN KÖNIG [Room for the King], a coproduction with the Swiss director Frauke Jacobi, was shown as part of EXTRA EUROPA. The other works, both commissioned by Linz09, were staged outside the traditional theatre context: MITTEN DURCHS BILD [Put Yourself in the Picture] at the Schlossmuseum and FRANZISKA JÄGERSTÄTTER ERZÄHLT [Franziska Jägerstätter Tells Her Story] at the Haus der Geschichten. The school and youth theatre festival ZÜNDSTOFF benefited from two extraordinary productions: a cast of young women from the Township Alexandra in Johannesburg / South Africa and children and adolescents from the Palestinian refugee camp Ayda in the West Bank were involved in productions that gave the audience authentic, emotional insights into their everyday lives. In addition to coproductions and commissioned works involving local theatre makers, such as Theaternyx, Hubraum, Gerti Tröbinger, Gabriele Deutsch, Theater Hausruck and 1N0UT, cooperations with Posthof and support for the existing formats HEIMSPIEL and TANZTAGE-LABOR represented another stimulus for Linz’s cultural scene. Many theatre makers and artists from the indie scene were also involved in the large-scale projects KLANGWOLKE and I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT.
Three important projects are emblematic of Linz09’s drive to make participation happen. The ACADEMY OF THE IMPOSSIBLE offered workshops in summer 2008 and 2009 for virtually everybody, which included staging them in pre-schools and in Asten Penitentiary. FLUT [The Flood], the first part of KLANGWOLKE09, could not have been realised without massive support from the local population. More than 1,000 volunteers from Linz and the surrounding regions built more than 500 polyethylene animals, a task that was begun in May and for which they received help from students of the city’s University of Arts. I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT was one of the biggest projects of Culture Capital Year. Almost 100 schools all over Upper Austria took part in this school reform project, which represented an attempt to combine creativity and education. 32 artistic teams from Austria and from abroad staged workshops in regular classes involving more than 2,000 pupils and 700 teachers.
The time between PFLASTERSPEKTAKEL at the end of July and KLANGWOLKE in early September was taken up by the summer theatre festival THEATERLUST2: SONNENBRAND, which, having as its motto “All the city is a stage”, made use of the most unusual places as venues. The main venue was located underneath the motorway bridge on the left bank of the Danube. The deck of the new AEC, Beethovenstraße, Freinberg, the Hausruckviertel, the route of the bus No 27, the children’s playground on top of the Limonistollen, the Botanical Garden, the skateboard rink in Urfahr, Volksgarten and the open space in front and below the Lentos Kunstmuseum – all these were used as venues. In collaboration with PFLASTERSPEKTAKEL Linz09 realised two projects: DAS UNBESCHRIEBENE BLATT [The Blank Page] by Luc Amoros and a bursary for a new production to be shown as part of PFLASTERSPEKTAKEL 2010.
The most important own productions were PURIMSPIL by David Maayan (Israel) at the Cembran Keller, JOAN DARK and MARIA STUART directed by Austrian theatre maker Aida Karic at the Hafenhalle09, the dance project IMPOSSIBILITY OF A SOLO, DIE ANDERE SEITE [The Other Side] at the Landesgalerie, four works commissioned as part of the Kasperlfestival and a great number of cooperations with the local cultural scene.
As Linz does not have its own great theatre festival yet, the Performing Arts unit attempted to give an idea of what is possible. THEATERLUST1: SCHNEESTURM was designed to introduce Linz audiences to the contemporary stage’s latest developments. The programme offered a mixture of new productions and tried and proven productions realised by visiting companies. The festival with its more than 9,000 spectators gave a first indication of how successfully the Performing Arts programme was unfolding; the quality of the performances attracted new and curious audiences. There were three festivals following: THEATERLUST2: SONNENBRAND, DOPPELGÄNGER and WO? WENN NICHT ALLE DA!
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