13 Shades of Romanian
We are delighted to introduce to you a wonderful project:
13 Shades of Romanian is a 45 minutes documentary film that portrays the stories of 13 Romanian people living in Britain. Founded by young Romanian creatives, This is Insomnia embarked on a mission to present a “genuine, fresh and holistic view of Romanians in Britain” looking intimately at different personal stories. The innovation of their approach is the commitment to engage each contributor in the filmmaking process and devise the story in a creative collective manner.
To make it happen we need your support.
Visit the crowdfunding campaign and help us show a different shade of Romanian in Britain.
Participative Theatre
Participative Theatre: Engaging Audiences in Digital and Non-digital Environments
Date: Wednesday, 23rd April, 2014-04-09
Time: 16:00-17:30 pm
Venue: Room 2.44, University Square Stratford, University of East London, 1 Salway Road, Stratford. London E15 1NN
http://www.universitysquarestratford.ac.uk/find-us.htm
The event is Free
You are invited to a PhD seminar event organised by the Centre of Performing Arts Development (CPAD) at the University of East London. This event seeks to investigate and develop dialogues between digital and non-digital participation in theatre practices.
16:00
Etheatre Project: Political Participation in Online Theatre, Christina Papagiannouli
Etheatre Project is a series of experimental cyberformances aiming to redefine the characteristics of theatre and the methodologies of theatre directing within the phenomenon of ‘remediation’ of cyberculture. By the use of online platforms, including UpStage and Waterwheel Tap, I explore the interactive and political potentials of online theatre. Cyberian Chalk Circle adaptation looked at the revolution of Egypt during 2011, Merry Crisis and a Happy New Fear was a verbatim performance about the current economic crisis in Greece and for Etheatre Project and Collaborators 8 distributed artists collaborated remotely to create a piece about migration. To accomplish public discussion about key political topics, Etheatre project developed the forms of real-time cyber-adaptation, cyber-ethnotheatre and cyber-collaboration with the audience for the co-creation of the performances, making the participants part of the collective ensemble. Cyberformance creates in-between spaces for the audience to actively fill in, while the participants can manifest themselves and chose whether they want to collaborate or not, stay silent or take active part in the happening. The paper discusses the remote participation of the cyberformance audiences, as dealt with by Dixon (2004), Miessen (2010) and Bay-Cheng, et al (2010).
16:30
Open Arena: Theatre of Testimonies, Anca Doczi
Open Arena: Theatre of Testimonies is an umbrella title for a series of performances performed and created by Immersive Theatre. Immersive Theatre is making use of Augusto Boal’s Forum Theatre and other means of creatively interrogating contemporary concerns by placing individuals and communities at the core of the theatrical production. By working with memory and oral histories brings into focus matters of identity and belonging. As a form of applied drama, forum theatre is closely related to present-day questions about the politics of context, place and meaning of social relations. This contextual theatre practice is intended to address the concerns of local audiences and participants, while theatre becomes the medium by which the society can be changed through the collective exploration of ideas. Open Arena is a creative research platform exploring the life of Romanian community in UK by collecting personal narratives and looking at how Romanian contemporary culture and identity might have been affected and shaken by the visible/invisible traces of the communist oppression. The research aims in understanding concepts like exile, refuge and migration in relation to historic, political and socio-cultural contexts. By means of participative theatre experiences and immersive performances, personal and community narratives will be explored. Through active participation, audiences are enabled to make decisions, to critically address the issues presented to them and to reflect on the social life within a safe environment offered by the theatrical design.
17:00
Open Discussion/Debate
The discussion aims to highlight the differences between the two forms, identify their strengths and weaknesses and suggest effective ways of using participation in online and offline theatre.
The Centre for Performing Arts Development (CPAD) at the University of East London is focused on developing original and innovative research in Performing Arts including Drama, Theatre, Performance Studies, Music, Dance and Creative Writing with a particular emphasis on socially engaged practices, performative cultures, practice-based research, and digital and interdisciplinary research.
JONAH AND THE WHALE
JONAH AND THE WHALE
An immersive installation depicting the life of a Communist Romanian soldier who is caught up in a conflict of beliefs
By Alexandra Margarint
Immersive Theatre is proudly supporting Alexandra Margarint’s immersive installation project which would be exhibited between the 20th and the 22nd of June at the Ambika P3 Gallery at the Marylebone Campus of the University of Westminster. To reach its full aestethic potential, the project needs your support. Please see details of the project below and get involved. Also, we would be happy to see you at the exhibition.
When Jonah turns 20 he is enrolled in the Army. The Romanian Communist Army to be more precise. He spent enough time there to understand that the Communist principles and beliefs were a lot less beneficial for the people than for the leaders. There was no freedom of expression, no access to information and fear and suspicion were the main methods of control. He saw all of this and much more. He knew that was not the way to lead a country. But he was following the orders. He had no choice. Not long after that, the Revolution took place and the time came for Jonah to realise that he did have a choice.
My name is Alexandra Margarint and I will illustrate Jonah’s story through a four room immersive installation. The main inspiration for this project is a 1968 Romanian play entitled “Iona”, written by Marin Sorescu, a well-known Romanian playwright. He presents the story of a man trying to get back to shore after being swallowed by his most dreamed of prey, the big fish. He finally reaches day light, only to discover that the horizon is in fact an endless number of fish bellies.
Much like being swallowed by a whale, our Jonah is engulfed in the Romanian Communist Army and during the 1989 Revolution he is confronted with making a very difficult decision. The visitors will examine his life in the oppressive system after which they will travel through his mind and discover the consequences of such a system on the individual and the society.
The project is in the construction stage and any help would be very much appreciated! If you would like to donate a few pounds you could do so at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jonah-and-the-whale/x/6410954. To track the process of development you can find updates on https://www.facebook.com/JonahAndTheWhaleAM?ref=hl as well as on my blog at http://alexandramargarint.wordpress.com/. If money’s too tight, it would also be very helpful to spread the word or even lend a hand in the construction of Jonah’s World! The artistic director, April Ibinceanu and I will be building the installation at the Harrow Campus of the University of Westminster until the end of April so if you would like to be involved, you could let me know by sending an e-mail to alexandra.margarint@my.westminster.ac.uk. It’s good fun and it will also be a great opportunity to gain some hands-on experience of building an art installation!
Come and get immersed in Jonah’s world between the 20th and the 22nd of June at the Ambika P3 Gallery at the Marylebone Campus of the University of Westminster. The installation will be part of Borderless, the Contemporary Media Practice Final Degree Show and therefore you will be able to also view a lot more exciting artistic projects from my fellow colleagues!
