Venice Biennale’s International Theatre Workshop

For the first time, the Venice Biennale’s Theatre section, directed by Maurizio Scaparro, plans its activity over a period of two years and around a single theme, the Mediterranean. The International Theatre Workshop, which will take place in Venice from October 27th to November 27th 2008, develops around the idea of theatre as a “construction site for art”, in which the works of tomorrow may take root and sediment, while offering the young and future artists an opportunity for an educational experience, the communication of knowledge and a direct rapport within a research project.

Many of the workshops scheduled for November, will later flow into the 40th International Theatre Festival –which will be held shortly before Carnival, from February 20th to March 8th 2009– this time in the form of performances that will follow the presentation of some of the development phases during the International Theatre Workshop.

The Workshop and the Festival are inspired by the theme of the Mediterranean, seen as “a complex place of encounters and currents, which implies the movement of peoples, histories and cultures, which underlines the continuous sense of historic transformation and cultural tradition that makes it a place of continuous transition” (I. Chambers). The first part of the project takes place along a journey that begins with our literary and cultural roots to end with the burning realities of the history of our times -from Palestine to Lebanon, from Israel to the Balkans.

The International Theatre Workshop will be distributed across the five great themes that express the many facets of the Mediterranean: Shakespeare’s Sea, Myths Rediscovered, Once upon a Time, The Lingua Franca of the Mediterranean Ports, and Sans papiers.

Selection of candidates will take place by considering the curriculums sent; the artistic director and the curator of each specific workshop will be in charge of the selection process.

Enrollment and attendance to the workshops are entirely free of charge. There will be no payment or fee to attend the workshops. There will be no grants, free accommodation or meal tickets for attendees. Selected candidates will have to get to the place where workshops are held with their own means of transport and at one’s own expense. Learn how to participate here.