Award winners at Birmingham festival take to Europe.
For the fourth year, the highlights of Birmingham’s European festival will be touring the UK and Madrid, introducing three of Europe’s most exciting emerging theatre companies to UK and Spanish audiences.
The festival places a strong emphasis on collaboration, participation and exchange, and each of the pieces presented has been selected for their capacity to transcend cultural and linguistic boundaries. In this vein, all performances throughout the tour will conclude with post-show discussions, and an extended dinner interval with the performers will be provided at the Barbican, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, HOME in Manchester and the Traverse in Edinburgh.
From Hungary, Radioballet’s From the Waltz to the Mambo won the award for Best Individual Performer (Milán Újvári) at BE FESTIVAL, a 1960’s Hungarian ballroom dance manual becomes a tool to explore dogmas surrounding beauty and education. From Austria, Julia Schwarzbach’s Loops and Breaks puts the audience in the spotlight as she instructs them with phrases and language specific to each venue, inspired by overheard conversations in each area. Finally, winner of the ACT Arriaga International Touring Prize Waiting by Mokhallad Rasem from Belgium/Iraq is a meditation through film, movement, art and sound on the human experience of waiting.
BE FESTIVAL Co-Director Miguel Oyarzun said: “These three shows were all huge hits with this year’s BE FESTIVAL crowd in Birmingham, and were recognized by the jury. We are delighted that once again the Barbican will launch our tour, and that audiences across the UK and in Spain will have the chance to sample some of the best new theatre being made on the continent.
“The tour offers a chance to experience the unique flavour of BE in an entertaining evening which showcases daring and unforgettable international theatre in a passionate atmosphere of debate and exchange. We are especially pleased to have four new partners as part of this year’s tour: Circomedia in Bristol, HOME in Manchester, the Atkinson in Southport and the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh.”
At a time when conflict and discrimination in Europe is so often in the news, BE FESTIVAL aims to build meaningful connections between artists and audiences from a diverse range of backgrounds, bringing people together in unique and imaginative ways. Acknowledging racial and cultural tensions, the festival hopes to recognize the shared values and experiences that unite people from across Europe, while providing space to debate the existing problems and the potential future of the continent.
The tour includes appearances on 13th-14th October at The DOOR at Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Tickers are £20-£17 (inc. dinner) from www.birmingham-rep.co.uk or 0121 236 4455