Sovanna Phum Company （Cambodia）＋ IPAG （Mindanao）＋Waterfield Theatre (Taiwan)
| A | Beyond the Mirror ：Exile Theatre (Afghanistan)＋Bond Street Theatre(USA) | |||
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Beyond
the Mirror, which was created and performed in
collaboration with Bond Street Theatre. We developed this piece together
one year ago in Afghanistan -- four actors from Bond Street Theatre and five
actors from Exile Theatre. We will return to Afghanistan in March 2005 to
continue work on the production. Our goals are similar to yours -- to use
theatre as a way to communicate across culturals and promote better
understanding and explore our common humanity! |
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| Exile Theatre Director Actor Actor Actor, Actress |
Mahmood Shah Salimi Mohammad Jamil Abdul Salim Musician Ahmad Zia Musician Anisa Wahab |
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| Bond Street Theatre (USA)-- | ||||
| Director Managing director Performer Musician |
Joanna Sherman Michael McGuigan Christina Gelsone Andy Teirstein |
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Exile Theater
is an ensemble theater established in 2000 in Peshawar, Pakistan, by several
Afghan theater, cinema and TV artists and writers who were forced to leave
Afghanistan when the Taliban forbade all arts. The organization was
established to rehabilitate the theater arts while in exile, and during that
period they created six programs including 15 short and long plays. In
Spring of 2002, the activities of the Theater were stopped by the Pakistan
police and intelligence departments during their last performance in
Pakistan due to its political content. Company works feature political,
social, economical and cultural problems and the crisis of identity, and
uses verbal theatre, mime and music. After the interim government was established in Afghanistan, Exile Theatre returned to Kabul and set up its first productions – In the Mirror and Garden Party – in Kabul, in collaboration with the American company, Bond Street Theatre in June-July 2003, using a non-verbal, physical, abstract style. Their second production, The Search, was held on October 7, 2003 – Arts Day in Afghanistan. The content of this production talked about the search of mankind for historical formations, the triangle of religion, politics and money, and was also accomplished with a non-verbal style. Exile Theatre uses different art genres to convey its message and ideas from the artistic schools of realism, expressionism and symbolism. Exile Theatre is primarily a dynamic theater rather than a narrative and static theatre and uses the genres of photography, cinema, dance, acrobatics and sport in its works and training programs. Due to its style and focus, Exile Theatre is alternative and experimental in relation to traditional theater in Afghanistan. |
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Bond Street Theatre,
founded in 1976, creates original
theatre works and innovative treatments of classic texts and creates
performing arts projects worldwide. The company has trained in the physical
and gestural arts of many traditions (Chinese Opera, Brazilian capoeira,
etc.) to develop a theatrical language that is captivating and
understandable across lingual and cultural borders. Their work draws on the
gestures, rituals, symbols and games which give life its shape and dynamics,
and complements them with striking theatrical forms such as stilts,
acrobatics, masks, music, puppetry and dance. The company has presented its
work at theatre festivals around the world, and received a MacArthur Award
in 1990 for its innovative intercultural and interdisciplinary programs. In 1984, BST created the first Israeli-Palestinian street theatre company in Jerusalem, and has conducted interethnic arts projects in Belfast, Colombia and Canada. In 2000, the company collaborated with Bulgarian puppet company, Theatre Tsvete, to create a non-verbal Romeo and Juliet in response to the Kosovo crisis. The production toured throughout the Balkans and the USA from 2001 through 2003. BST originated the Performing Artists for Balkan Peace in 2002, a network of artists dedicated to inter-ethnic collaboration and peace in the former Yugoslavia. Following Sept.11th, the company performed in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. In 2003, they traveled to Afghanistan to collaborate with Exile Theatre, an Afghan group they had met in the camps. The two companies created two original theatre works which toured throughout Afghanistan. Bond Street Theatre was given an award by the Afghan Minister of Culture for bringing new theatrical visions to the country. The company has received funding from the Trust for Mutual Understanding, ArtsLink, Arts International, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the US State Department, among others, and has performed and created theatre projects in Japan, China, Indonesia, Israel, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Pakistan, Afghanistan and across Eastern and Western Europe and the USA. Bond Street Theatre is an NGO affiliated with the United Nations Department of Public Information. |
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OMUR - Life…. Bishkek City Drama Theatre （Kyrgyzstan） | ▲Top | ||
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Production Group: | |||
| Idea and staging Choreographer Set design, costumes Video, light, sound |
Bekpulat Parmanov Sergey Streltsov Zukhra Mukambetova Urmat Belekbayev |
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| Characters and performers: | ||||
| Mother (Hind) Child (Deer foal) ackal Leader (Wolf) Shadows Traveler (Man) |
Dinara Abdykadyrova Nazgul Razzakova Taalaikan Abazova Bayastan Abylkasymov Gulzhamal Mamytbekova, Nakinai Dyikanova uslan Orozakunov |
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| One act parable – performance – 60 minutes | ||||
| Brief resume of the performance: | ||||
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A parable about a Child and his Mother. It
teaches people to live according to the laws and in harmony with Nature. The
Child encounters the reality and beauty of this huge world and must find his
place in this life on his own. It is up to him to decide which way to choose
for himself. The parable is narrated by the Traveler – Man… |
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Omar Kaiyam 1. My intellect, you follow the ways of the quest And you repeat it a hundred times a day: «Do value every minute of contact with your friends! You are a meadow, but cut, and you will not grow again!» 2. The World is an instant and I am one instant in it. How many breaths will I take for an instance? Be merry and lively! This perishable building Is never given to us for the ages. 3. Do beware the treachery of those who flee the sky. Not having friends, do not have contact with enemies. Do not rely on tomorrow’s day, but live this day, Try to be your real self at least for a moment. A parable about a Small Child, his Mother, a Leader, Jackal and Dervish Man has perception and understanding of the surrounding world from the moment of birth till the last moment of life and in this way creation builds a wonderful picture of the world for Man. To find out what is good and what is evil various tests are set. We have called the performance of the Small Child parable, Life, because life or time given to Man is his way of struggling to perfection. This subject is quite ordinary and understandable for all age categories nevertheless, it presents the cast with quite complex tasks, including how modern birthing methods are perceived. New technical achievements that have become rooted into everyday life, in particular, the enthusiasm for virtual information technologies demonstrated by young people are beneficial on the one hand but on the other hand, they strongly influence the formation of internal values thus individualising and removing them from spiritual activities. Taking into consideration how young people perceive the surrounding world, we offer new technical and artistic achievements in presenting the performance. For example, video is a new fine art direction in the region. We propose using rows of video screens that reflect both new methods and influences at the visual perception level. These are symbols and signs that give a number of terms, perceptions and knowledge, as regards humanity and natural development. The music written by a modern composer reflects his perception of the modern world. The performance’s flexible score is where the text is transformed into gestures and movements. A minimum of text and maximum of movement with changing pictures on the stage and sounds and melodies create a feeling of a full life and a desire to transform the surrounding world. |
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| A. Umuraliev Bishkek Drama Theatre | ▲Top | |||
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The Bishkek Drama Theatre was created in 1993
by the People’s Artist of the Kyrgyz Republic, Arsen Umuraliev and the
theatre critic, Tsytsygma Umuralieva, as an alternative to the academic
forms of state theatres. The theatre’s programme covers spectators of all
ages and always follows the main principles laid down at the very beginning
of the idea for the city theatre. Ideas of the Theatre: making theatre performances more aesthetic, overcoming stereotypes, experimenting with different forms of dramatic art, experimenting with the types and forms of performing art, preserving and developing traditional types of culture, cooperating with cultural and art workers of different countries. All these ideas have been strengthened in theatre performances offered to audiences from 1993-2005. The main task of the Theatre is to inculcate aesthetic criteria to the younger generations by providing the public at large with achievements of world culture and to form its own audience. 1993, April – The Bishkek Drama Theatre opened its first season with a performance based on the ancient Japanese legend entitled Crane’s Feathers by D. Kinosita. 1993, October – the Theatre presented Kyrgyzstan Drama at the International Drama Art Festival entitled Theatre: East-West, which was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, attended by theatres from more than 30 countries. The Crane’s Feathers was well received by experts of the Festival and was judged one of the ten best performances. 1993, December – the Theatre created the Saamal folklore group and prepared a programme of Kyrgyz national music as a combined stage performance telling the audience about the ancient, nature-loving, musical soul of the people. 1994, October – Saamal performed in Denmark 1994, October- the Theatre adapted the ancient Kyrgyz Kozhozhash epic and commissioned the modern Kyrgyz dramatist, T. Osmonov to write the Kereez stage version. 1995, July – the Theatre staged a version of Chingiz. Aitmatov’s Red Apple. In this performance the Theatre used a contemporary topic for the first time. 1996, February – the Theatre began this year by staging a performance based on the play by the 18th Century Japanese dramatist, M. Tikamatsu – ‘The suicide of people in love on the Island of Sky Nets’ – ‘Amidzima’. Actors and musicians of the Saamal folklore group acted in this performance. The performance was shown at the International Golden Lion Theatre Festival in Lvov, Ukraine, in October 1996 and was judged one of the best performances of the Festival. U. Alimova won main prize for best female role. 1996, November – Amidzima and the Saamal folklore group represented Kyrgyzstan on stage in MHAT (MAAT) in Moscow during the days of the Kyrgyz Republic in Russia. 1996, July - attempts were made to widen the audiences and educate existing audiences about the main task of the Theatre. That is why the repertoire of the Theatre had performances for children and young people. These were: Crane’s Feathers followed by the play by V. Sinakevich entitled The Ugly Duckling based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Andersen. The stage title of the play is ‘Performing Andersen’ and it was produced by the People’s Artist of Kazakhstan, B. Parmanov. 1997 – the Theatre was invited to participate in the International Theatre Festival in the Romanian city of Sibiyu, organised by the World through Culture World Fund. The Crane’s Feathers attracted the attention of theatrical specialists from different countries. Collectives and drama schools from more than 50 countries participated in the Festival. 1997, February – the desire to educate modern actors skilled in different styles resulted in the use of world classical literature. The Theatre staged a performance based on the one-act plays by the famous French writer, Prosper Merime, ‘Temptation of Saint Anthony’ and ‘African Love’. 1997, July – the next work of the Theatre, devoted to the 100th anniversary of the great Spanish poet, Frederic Garcia Lorca, vividly reflected an experiment with different genres of dramatic creative work. The Sky’s Print is not the sunset of poetry, though it is based on the poet’s verses related to different periods. The main idea of the performance was searching the soul: words, movements and sounds, produced by B. Parmanov. 1997 November – just before the Theatre’s 5th anniversary, leading critics from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan were invited to assess and analyse the Theatre’s actors, productions, stage performances, and musical accompaniment, which helped the Theatre identify its future repertoire policy. 1998 May - On the eve its 5th anniversary, the Theatre decided to perform the Kurt Kagan version of Shakespeare’s King Lear, set against a background of Turkic nomads. The Art Manager of the Large State Drama Theatre, People’s National Actor of the Kyrgyz Republic, A, Umuraliev played the role of Kagan (Lear). 1998 December – In 1998, Bekbulat Parmanov produced a performance of the play Sunny Circle by the Romanian Playwright, A. Popescu for both children and adults. It was an experiment that included mixing drama and a puppet show. 1999 June – the City Theatre’s experiment continued with the staging of a performance of Shakespeare’s comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 1999 September – The first solo concert of the Aura Folk Jazz Group on the stage of the Bishkek City Drama Theatre (BCDT) that included jazz, fusion and folk jazz. The group’s repertoire included compositions by world famous jazz composers, D. Ellington, D, Brubeck and others. The main repertoire of the group is folk jazz. The musicians had to play music based on a synthesis of traditional Kyrgyz and world music. The group’s basic repertoire consisted of compositions by the Composers T. Beisheev and B. Bessonov. In 1999, the first album called Aura was cut on CD in the Tumar Recording Studio in 2000. Since then, the group has created concerts entitled: “Steps”, “Excitement” and “Aero”. 2000 January – A first in the history of Kyrgyz theatrical art was the combined French/ BCDT premiere on January 10th of Apolloniy Rodosskiy’s the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece, Euripades and Seneca’s Medea and K. Dryer’s film. The producers were Adel Akim and Morris Ober from France. In spring 2001, the Theatre went on tour to Paris with its performance of the Golden Fleece. 2000 March – The Theatre’s next work was a performance of Gluttony by the 18th Century French Monk, Antuan Furtierre, produced by Natasha Cantor from France. This work was performed at the Mladi Levi Festival in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2000. 2000 July – Saamal represented Kyrgyzstan’s folklore arts at the Yalta-2000 International Folklore Festival. 2000 August – The BCDT’s Saamal Folklore Group and the Aura Instrumental Group took part in the For the Sake of Peace International Festival of Arts devoted to the 3000th Anniversary of Osh, Kyrgyzstan. 2000 December – The BCDT met the new millennium with the premiere of Kereez based on Z. Usenbaev’s version of Kozhozhash and fragments of T. Osmonov’s play, Kereez. It was a virtually new version attempted for the first time based on the verbal creativity of Kyrgyz people called dastan. The Kozhozhash is the most ancient Kyrgyz epic. The Theatre used “archaic space” in this staging. Kereez was performed in the Skiff’s Narrow Look programme of the Third International Theatrical Olympiad held in 2001 in Moscow, Russia. 2001 March – A.S. Pushkin’s Mozart and Saliery was performed with the People’s National Actor and Art Manager of the Bishkek City Theatre of Drama, Arsen Umuraliev in the role of Saliery 2002 April – Sofokl’s Tsar Edip was performed. 2002 October – Zh. Zhue’s Three Times Three Wishes or The Ability to Propose, produced by B. Parmanov was staged. 2003 February - The Bishkek City Drama Theatre suffered a great loss with the death of The Art Manager and Director, People’s National Actor of the Kyrgyz Republic, Arsen Umuraliev. A requiem performance was staged of I Am Flying to You in Remembrance in honour of the Theatre’s creator. It was also the Theatre’s 10th anniversary. 2004 March – The Theatre was named after its creator, Arsen Umuraliev. 2004 April – The BCDT together with the Arsen Umuraliev Social Foundation organised the For the Sake of Peace – Central Asian Meetings, Second International Festival of Arts. The Festival’s programme included theatre, music, dance, applied arts, master classes and a critics’ conference. 2004 December – T. Osmonov’s Yusuf’s Last Evening was staged. 2005 June - M. Lado’s Very Easy Story produced by B. Parmanov was staged. 2005 October – Premiere of OMUR – World – Moment experimental performance |
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Reviving subalternity ： | ▲Top | ||
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Sovanna Phum Company
（Cambodia） Integrated Performing Arts Guild （Mindanao） Waterfield Theatre (Taiwan) |
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Co-director:
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Steven P.C. Fernandez (IPAG) Mann Kosal (Sovanna Phum) King C. Lok Melvin Pascubillo, IPAG Wenna Balaido, IPAG Amado C. Guinto IPAG Chumvan Sodhachivy Sovanna Phum Sam Pysak, Sovanna Phum Skaya Xigu, Waterfield theatre Fudu. Waterfield theatre Racquel de Loyola New World Disorder |
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The work is about an experiment of Asian theatre language of gesture between Cambodian and Mindanao dance theatre tradition. The work had process of researching workshop in Taipei, hosted by an aboriginal performing company, the Waterfield theatre . The motif is to search for the zero point of in the history before destructive power of invasion from outside, for a re-narration in historical context of post-colonialism. Cambodian people experienced genocides, yet art is to heal the wounds of people’s mind, Sovanna Phum is an independent theatre established for 10 years. They did works with Singaporean producer On Ken Seng, in 2002 on genocide. Sovanna Phum performed contemporary work in London International Theatre festival (LIFT) in 2003. IPAG
( in full name: Integrated Performing Arts Guild)
of Mindanao is a company established for 25 years, is a residence company in
Mindanao State University in Iligan City. They are leading a way to do
experimental theatre in Philppines. They researched on indigenous dance
theatre and re-invent physical language, called Pangalay. Mindanao preserved
much of original Malay culture of performing arts, which has great similar
to Cambodian. Mindanao is having civil war over 30 years. There are
pre-condition of erupting genocides. Asian artists will take the chance to
reflect their existing history by physical exchanges in performance. |
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Unbearable Dreams３ Asia meets Asia Collaboration Project No.４ |
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Co-Composing | Tong Sze Hong
(Hong Kong) Kamaluddin Nilu (Bangladesh) Setsu Hanasaki （Tokyo） Hiroshi Ohashi （Tokyo） |
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| Co-Casting | King C. Lok | |||
| Performers | Ying Zhou (dancer, Dispora Asian) | |||
| Archana Kumar (dancer ,Dispora Asian) | ||||
| Manh Hung Nguyen (musician Vietnam) | ||||
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Le Vu Long (dancer Vietnam) | |||
| Tong Sze Hong (actor,Hong Kong) | ||||
| Nelson Hiu (musician, Hong Kong) | ||||
| Chan Wai Fat (actor,,Hong Kong) | ||||
| Rabijita Gogoi (actress, Assam, North Eastern India) | ||||
| Md. Belayer H. Khan（actor Bangladesh） | ||||
| Lai Fang-yu (actress, Taiwan) | ||||
| Setsu Hanasaki (actress Tokyo) | ||||
| Hijiri Yaegashi (actress Tokyo) | ||||
| Akihiro Nakajima (actor Tokyo) | ||||
| ☞Participants Profile | ||||
| Under Construction | ||||
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The Oil Field II ： Imageopera （Tokyo) | ▲Top | ||
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Team Tapas （Tokyo） | ▲Top | ||
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[rest/labor] ： CUATRO GATOS （Tokyo） | ▲Top | ||
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