Patchwork Family - Intercultural project in theatre for young audiences
The world premiere: July 26, 2012, National Theatre of Korea - Daroreum Stage as a part of Multicultural Festival
We are happy to present one of the largest international cooperation theatre projects for children and young audiences in 2012: Patchwork Family - ASSITEJ International Project, that includes theatres and theatre festivals in Europe (Austria, Croatia, Russia) and Asia (Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan).
The result of the collaboration is an original performance Superhero, a theatrical reality show for children of 9+, written by Russian playwright Mikhail Bartenev and directed by Ivica Šimić, Croatian prominent theatre director and actor.
In the following you will find all required information. I do hope it will be of interest for you and we are looking forward to our possible future cooperation on presenting the project.
Partners:
Dschungel Wien, Vienna, Austria, producer Stephan Rabl
Mala Scena, Zagreb, Croatia, producer Vitomira Lončar
Mingri Theater, Hong Kong, producer Simon Wong
Kijimuna Festa, Okinawa, Japan, producer Hisashi Shimojama
Ekaterinburg Theatre for Young Spectators (TUZ), Russia, producers Svetlana Uchaikina and Natalia Druzhinina
Joyful Theater, Seoul, South Korea, producer Byong Ho Kim
Song Song Song Theater. Taipei, Taiwan, producer Ju Shu Ming
with a support of the partners
Guangzhou Filming and Performance Ltd., Guangzhou, China
SAMART, Samara, Russia
Artistic Team:
Playwright: Mikhail Bartenev (Russia)
Director: Ivica Šimić (Croatia)
Music: Alen Kraljić (Croatia)
Translation drama from Russian to English: Lucija Žigrović (Croatia)
Producers:
Vitomira Lončar (Croatia)
Hisashi Shimoyama (Japan)
Actors:
Michael Alexander Pöllmann (Austria)
Dražen Čuček (Croatia)
Leung Tin Chak (Hong Kong)
Tomoko Inoue (Japan)
Natalia Kuznetsova (Russia)
Sanghoon Han (South Korea)
Hsuan-Ju Hsieh (Taiwan)
Team in South Korea:
General producer: Byong Ho Kim
Actor (voice): Juseong Kim
International coordinator: Yonghee Kim
Technical supervisor: Soungtae Kim
Russian translator: Heejeong Jang
Assistant director and English translator: Boyoung Kim
Technical director and Lighting designer: Wonkyoon Han
Performances in Seoul, National Theatre of Korea - Daroreum Stage
July 26, 27
3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
July 28
3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
July 29
3 p.m.
About the performance
The minute we are born we find ourselves in a situation of being casted, selected, competed against ... for a place in the kindergarten, in the most prestigious (or the nearest) school, in the sports team.
Then there are exams, school competitions, grading scales. Followed by final exams, entrance exams and university exams. Then resumes, CVs and job applications - suffer through anything imaginable, only not to be prematurely retired.
And not to forget - it is also very important in which cemetery you are buried.
On TV, endless competitions: who is to win the million, who will participate in the Big Brother and become famous, Eurosong contest for adults, Eurosong contests for children (that's right, people have to be sucked in while still very young).
Miss World! Miss Universe! Tears of joy, tears of disappointment...
Books of records, minutes of glory...
To win, to fight through no matter what, to gain advantage over others (by whatever means necessary: tripping others, tricking them, pouring them with acid) - that is the only way to shiny happiness. There are no other ways to achieve happiness. Only to become a star in the show business. America's Next Top Model, Russia's, Japan's, Austrian. Dancing with the Stars, Figure Skating with the Stars, Circus with the Stars, Shunting with the Stars.
Stars, stars, stars, how are they keeping up? What are they doing? Who are they living with? The new astronomy. Total peep show...
Mikhail Bartenev, playwright (Russia)
About the process:
At the beginning, there was a wish to create an intercultural production that will be based on the stories, experiences, motives and the ideas of the actors from seven different cultures of Europe and Asia. The process started in the ateliers we made in Linz, Austria and Okinawa, Japan in summer 2011. Mikhail Bartenev and Ivica Šimić met in Zagreb in October 2011 to formulate all the ideas and stories into the first draft of the play. In February 2012, all the actors gathered in Okinawa, to start their work having for the basis the first draft. After three weeks of improvisations, rehearsals and tryouts through which lot of intercultural contacts and exchanges were made and explored, huge material was set and organized, and that was a treasure! The work in calm and isolated February Okinawa gave a birth to the second draft that Mikhail wrote in June, and which is the basis for SUPERHERO performance rehearsed and performed in Seoul, Korea in summer 2012.
The form of the story is reality show. We chose this form not to create a parody, but because it allows actors to show their individuality. It is the reality show, because the process we were creating the play in many ways resembles a reality show (actors involved in the project spend a lot of time together, getting to know each other in the process of working, improvising towards a not entirely clear goal, living together, eating together...). That is one of the reasons why our SUPERHERO performance has the very same form.
Ivica Šimić, director (Croatia)
Timeline of the work:
October 2009 - Zagreb, Croatia - the idea came from Hisashi Shimojama presented to Ivica Šimić and Vitomira Lončar
January 2010 - Seoul, Korea - the first presentation to Korean partner
Spring 2010 - communitation with potential partners
Juni 2010 - Šibenik, Croatia - meeting with partners from Austria, Croatia, Japan, South Korea and Italy
November 2010 - Vienna, Austria, artistic team meeting
April 2011 - Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, atelier
July 2011 - Linz, Austria, atelier
July 2011 - Okinawa, Japan, atelier
October 2011 - Zagreb, Croatia, artistic team meeting
February 2012 - Okinawa, Japan, company building
July 2012 - Seoul, South Korea, rehearsals and the opening night