ABOUT
12 - 14 MARCH 2021
The Chorus Project is a three-year international collaboration between four theatre companies across Europe, making new pieces of performance about democracy and justice. Upstart Theatre, MKC in North Macedonia, Theater am Lend in Austria and Pathos Theater in Germany have come together to make four new shows inspired by The Oresteia – the oldest surviving series of plays in the world. In this online festival, we’ll be bringing together our four shows with workshops, discussions and international networking events to ask how we can come together to create a better world through theatre.
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
12 & 14 MARCH
7:30PM / 3PM
IT'S A JOURNEY
It's a Journey is a reflective and poetic short film which explores the three-year artistic journey behind The Chorus Project and the questions it’s been asking. What is a Chorus? What can it be today, in a globalised society in the midst of great upheavals? How do the classic texts and intellectual approaches of the past come together with today’s unheard voices? It’s a Journey blends of classical theatre, dance, travelogue and song to investigate how people can come together in a shared Chorus of individual voices.
Language : German / English
Duration : 30 min
ORESTEIA ¼ (The Libation Bearers)
MKC Skopje’s digital adaptation of their stage production Oresteia ¼ takes the story of Electra and Orestes and brings it into the present day, with the Chorus appearing as social media users trolling the heroes. Using a combination of film techniques and theatrical symbolism, Oresteia ¼ reinvestigates an ancient myth to ask what we really mean when we talk about ‘democracy’.
Language: Macedonian / English
Duration : 40 min
TICKETS £4.50
13 & 14 MARCH
7:30PM / 7PM
THE CHORUS
Eleven citizens of Birmingham are locked in their homes, watching the news from a distance as the world transforms around them. The Chorus, a piece of audio performance created by, with and for the local community, brings together found text, personal reflections and new music to ask what we can do to make change, and whether we can ever really be on the right side of history.
Language : English
Duration : 20 mins
PROTEUS
Proteus is a new play, inspired by the mysterious lost part of the Oresteia. Together with a Chorus of senior citizens, our theatremakers found a lost part of the puzzle – a satyr play. Proteus creates a connection between the past, present and future, both socially and personally, with results that are humorous, sad and touching. This film version places the Chorus within the landscape of Graz and its surrounding area, creating texts and stories that seem to come from the land itself.
Language: German / English
Duration : 40 min
TICKETS £4.50
WORKSHOPS & TALKS
PANEL DISCUSSION
13 MARCH / 3pm
FREE
Upstart Theatre's Artistic Director, Tom Mansfield talks with representatives from Creative Europe, British Council and Goethe-Institut the challenges and opportunities for international funding from both the artists' and the funders' perspectives.
WORKSHOP
SMALL DIRECT ACTIONS
13 MARCH / 4:15pm
FREE
A workshop connecting artists from the UK, Macedonia, Germany and Austria to think about how we can build sustainable collaborations, especially working outside large-scale funding structures.
RELATED PAGES
THE CHORUS
The Chorus, a piece of audio performance created by, with and for the local community of Birmingham. It brings together found text, personal reflections and new music to ask what we can do to make change, and whether we can ever really be on the right side of history.
BENEATH THE CITY
After the death of her mother, a young woman flees from her home. She arrives in a new city, asking for sanctuary. But before it's granted, furious bureaucrats demand their own justice.
PRODUCTION PARTNERS
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