Between 25 August – 7 September 2023, the 6th annual International Summer School of Documentary Theatre (formerly known as International Summer School on Theatre in Social Context), organised by Archa Theatre in Prague, offered a platform for experimentation and research in the field of contemporary theatre for artists coming from all around the world. The summer school included ateliers, roundtables, and exclusive presentations by Czech and foreign theatre makers.
Theatre students and professionals from 15 countries around the world – from Iran, South Korea, France, England, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and so on – participated in the summer school.
Participants took part in three main ateliers during the initial part of the summer school. Jana Svobodová’s atelier focused on the textual sources and the use of Viewpoints technique in documentary theatre. This atelier was complemented with ‘Light as a space for action’, in which Pavel Kotlik introduced the principles of light design in the context of working with space, text, and movement. Ladislav Štěrba and Jan Sedláček provided the participants with the skills to create sound design for stage. Martin Krupa’s atelier focused on experimental methods of using moving image in live performance.
Apart from these ateliers, participants had the chance to attend exclusive presentations by Ondrej Hrab on the historical roots of social-specific theatre, and the relation between theatre and sociology. In addition, Lise Andrea Grimelund-Kjelsen led a complementary atelier on finding textual material for theatre and Merve Mutafoğlu led a roundtable focusing on socially engaged theatre in participants’ countries, presenting Turkey as a case example.
During the second part of the school, participants formed creative groups and prepared multimedia performances using the entire space of the Archa Theatre, with the support of the instructors.
Stay tuned for the next edition of the summer school!
Sneak peek: 2024 edition will provide the unique opportunity to experience countryside in the Czech Republic, providing tools to work with community in a specific region!
For more information please contact:
summerschool@archatheatre.cz
www.archatheatre.cz
