Devised Theatre Workshop
Achim Wieland / Radar Sofia @ Goethe Institut Sofia, Bulgaria
“An Image of a thousand words”
June 27, 17h-21h, Goethe Institut Sofia,
An Image of a thousand words
Devised theatre offers an opportunity to develop material for stage through an organic and fluid process in which the written word is not a “locked” entity that prеcedеs all dramaturgical/visual choices, but in which text plays an integrated part and equal role in the simultaneous development of visual and auditory material.
There are stories hidden everywhere. Sometimes they come to us as fragmented images we see during the day, sometimes in the form of single words or concrete photographs existing in the past of which we only remember a sound or a smell. Often lingering on a subconscious level we will uncover and decompress such material with a special focus on visual, behavioral, sensory and auditory memory as points of departure.
Partially using the Ensemble’s (SRSLYyours) working methodology, we will free-associate material based on “images” and “word constructions”, building narratives/scores with the potential to resonate in a larger social and political context.
Aside from performers and theatre professionals, the workshop particularly welcomes the participation of artists working in other fields (music, visual arts, dance/choreography, etc) who are interested in exploring new material or to further develop existing ideas for stage.
Duration: 3-4 hours
- Working Language: English
- Registration: Participation is free but advance registration is necessary as the number of participants is limited (12 people).
- You will be notified a few days in advance of the workshop to inform you of some basic image- and text material you will be asked to bring to the workshop.
- Please, send a note to info@radadarsofia.org with a short description of your professional background to reserve a place.
The work of German Artist and Author-Director Achim Wieland shifts between the Visual Arts, Stage Performance and Writing. He is a founding member of the performance collective SRSLYyours ––a group of international performers, writers, visual artists and dramaturges devoted to an inclusive and non-hierarchical content development process around socio-political themes. Their devised-performance Fear Industry has been selected in the Category “Best Theater Performances on Berlin Stages” (Berlinale Issue, Zitty Magazine) and is on Tour since 2015 (Berlin,
Montenegro, Stuttgart, Zurich, Gothenburg, Athens, Malmö). In 2016/2017, he was the Artistic Director of the project Uniting the Mediterranean Sea commissioned by the Cultural Capital of Europe/Pafos and has directed the Bi-Communal Project/Performance Myths and Tales across the Divide commissioned by the Goethe-Institut Cyprus. After Egoland (2017, Sweden/Cyprus/Germany), the collective’s latest production Tea Ceremony (Germany/Japan/Cyprus) will be on Tour from Spring 2019. Since March 2018, Achim Wieland is the Artistic Director of the Buffer-Fringe Performing Arts Festival in Cyprus. Born and raised in Germany, Achim Wieland holds a MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design/USA and has taught and lectured throughout Europe, North
America, and the Middle East. Prior clients and projects include work for the Deutsche Guggenheim, New York University, the Bronx Museum, Harvard University or the J. Paul Getty Museum Los Angeles and his work has been awarded and exhibited at the American Center for Design (ACD) Chicago, Cultural Capital of Europe/Cyprus, Museum of Contemporary Arts Thessaloniki, Jan van Eyck Akademie/Netherlands, Explosive Festival/Bremen, Dance Platform Cyprus, the Experimental Film/Video Festival Strange Screen, among others. He held teaching positions in the Design and Graduate Program of the Rhode Island School of Design/USA, HWZ (Switzerland), VCU/Q (Virginia Commonwealth University/Qatar), F+F School for Media and Design Zurich and the University of Nicosia (Cyprus). He conducts workshops and gives lectures internationally, exhibits independent art projects, and directs performance and theatre work staged throughout Europe.
Supported by: Culture Programme of Sofia Municipality, National Culture Fund and Goethe Institut Bulgarien
