Directors in TYA - an International Exchange
By Kerryn Palmer
Berlin, Summer of 2019. It’s sweltering. 30 degrees. The locals tell us that the heat, unusual for early June, has been increasing annually and where they once never needed air conditioning, now hotel rooms are crying out for it. They also tell us that snow has become a rarity in the winter. This discussion around climate change and global changes within the world is one of a multitude of sharings between directors of Theatre For Young Audiences (TYA), gathering from 22 countries, for the bi-annual ASSITEJ[i]Director’s Exchange.
This year the capital of Germany hosts the event, and local theatre Theater Strahl are our excellent hosts. 2019 marks 30 years since the Berlin Wall fell, 30 years also since I have been in Germany. I realise that the first play I ever directed was about the fall of the Berlin Wall, and I have directed two other plays set in Berlin. For a director who predominantly directs New Zealand plays, I wonder if perhaps I have some weird connection with Berlin that has led me here. Mid-career directors, specialising in TYA, are selected from open applications from around the world. I feel lucky to be only the third New Zealander selected to attend this prestigious workshop.
In the introduction session, all 27 directors present an object from their home/office wall, as a way to introduce themselves to the group. (The overall theme of the workshop is “Walls”)
Five of the directors come from host land Germany and the other 22 from around the world including Botswana, Croatia, Bolivia, India, Norway, Turkey – all five continents are covered. I find myself desperately googling Latvia, as I realise, I know nothing about it. There are only three native English speakers in the group (Canada, Australia and NZ) but thankfully and crucially for me, the language of the workshop is English. I am reminded again of how inadequate we are in New Zealand for only having to learn one language. Most of the participants speak at least two languages fluently, some up to 10. This vital means of communication becomes apparent and I am constantly awed during the week of how, not only is everyone speaking in English, but how they are all able to discourse, theorise and debate passionately in a language that is not their mother tongue. The items from the walls demonstrate the similarities and differences between us and serve as a spring board for us to realise what we have in common and what we have to learn. The week is intense. Six full days are timetabled, with excellent German precision. The days are a combination of eating together, visiting tourist spots, seeing TYA plays and workshops in smaller groups of nine.
We visit the Berlin Wall and get a full historical spiel on the rise and fall of the infamous border. We learn of the complexities that surround the building and falling of the wall, and the stories of the many people that were affected by the almost overnight erection of a giant concrete wall through the middle of their city. Stories of those that tried and failed to escape, the catch 22 situations of the young guards who patrolled the checkpoints and the myths behind what it was like to live in the East. Amongst the participants in the workshop, there are first hand stories of living through the wall-era which reinforces the continuing impact on contemporary Germany.
We see a variety of TYA shows. A wonderful quirky show for babies, Future Beats, by Theatre o.N. We have a baby in our group, 6-month old Augustine from Chile, and are able to watch him experience the participatory and meditative performance, where dance, music and light are all combined to entrance and engage. I loved the simple story telling and the way that the group gently increased the intensity of lights and sound so that the babies were not startled. Towards the end, the ensemble opens the window to outside and the inclusion of the real world symbolises a shift from the magical storytelling realm, to a space where the babies can now interact and play with the performers and instruments.
A youth opera, Three Billion Sisters, is an interpretation of Chekov’s Three Sisters, performed on the prestigious Volksbühne ("People's Theatre") stage. The production is opulent, with serious dollars of investment in set and costume, and boasting a large and very accomplished youth orchestra. The show is beautiful, but polarises the group of directors. Some love it, others not so much. Myself in the latter category. For me the storytelling needs more clarity and engagement with the audience. The staging feels wooden with the actors often awkwardly standing in a straight line. I find myself comparing it to the New Zealand Youth Opera Kia Ora Khalid and remember how dynamic and potent this was. I am however, deeply envious of their budget. The polarising views of the participants, however, brings home for me again how subjective theatre is and how what is edgy and ground breaking for some, is unimaginative and pretentious for others. Even amongst a group of people that are all trained and work in the same field of theatre, the views are vastly different. This naturally leads to robust debate and lively discussion, which of course goes to the heart of what theatre can and should do.
We attend the debut of The Gap In the Construction Fence that is a commemoration of 50 years of GRIPS Theatre and a remake of one of their first plays. GRIPS is a revolutionary Berlin theatre company that claims to be the first theatre worldwide to deal socio-critically with the lives and living conditions of young people. The show had similarities to New Zealand playwright Gary Henderson’s, Stealing Games,and again polarised the directors. Notably the play was two hours long-with an intermission. In fact, this was the case for four of the five shows we saw. Not all had intermissions, but all broke the traditional TYA model of 45-minute shows, and really challenged the audience to stay and engage. This was done with varying degrees of success, but made me wonder if we are at times doing a disservice to young audiences by only making shows 45-minutes long -- films after all are generally two hours without an intermission and video games can last for hours. The final two shows we saw in Berlin were my favourites. Berlin Berlin was performed by out host theatre Theater Strahl. It was an intense familial drama set in East and West Berlin, the story of one family over 30 years. It had English surtitles and was dynamically staged with excellent live music and committed performances. The subject matter also seemed to engage most of the teenage audience, although noticeably - and highlighting the risk of having an intermission - some young people did leave at half time, again reiterating the subjectivity of all theatre.
The Party was a German translation of the intense and bleak Danish play/movie Festen. At the 60th birthday party of patriarch Helge, one of his children reveal the sexual abuse of him and his, now deceased, twin by their father. This was a final rehearsal of a graduation show, performed by third-year students of The School of Dramatic Arts: Ernst Busch.(https://www.hfs-puppe.de/) The whole play was performed with nearly life-sized puppets and a 15-strong ensemble. Even though there were no surtitles with this show, I knew the story well and was engaged for the whole two hours. It was compelling to watch the ensemble’s performance of music and movement, the complex puppetry and telling of a difficult story. For me it again solidified the magic and power of puppetry as a form of storytelling, as well as the way that young people can tell and listen to stories that are hard, dark and that push boundaries.
In amongst our theatre-going and site-seeing we also ate and walked a lot. We travelled via Berlin’s excellent public transport network, following the energetic, organised and delightful Assitej project co-ordinator Katja, who led us seamlessly to each new location. My overwhelming memory of these trips is of blindly following Katja while debating in depth with different participants about their work, theatre in their homeland, politics and crucially, the intersect between politics and art. I attempted to talk with and engage with all of the 26 participants and learnt about: the political situations in Turkey, Iran and India; the extraordinary Cultural Backpack programme in Norway where each child attends 6 cultural events per year; the Government policy that makes it mandatory that every child in Israel sees two pieces of theatre per year; and much, much more. People were interested in New Zealand. In particular: the Māori culture and the way our indigenous culture is integrated, our ground-breaking Prime Minister and New Zealand’s response to the terror attacks. They wanted to know what the TYA industry is like here and I explained the complexities of our arts and cultural industry and how I am writing a whole thesis on the TYA sector, providing an overview of the status quo and making recommendations about how we can strengthen what we do. I learnt about the ways TYA is funded, valued and presented around the world. All of this information is invaluable to my research and understanding.
The other major component of the week was the workshops. We were split into three groups of nine, given seven sessions and presented with instructions that we could fill this space in any way we wanted, and that there would be a sharing on the final day where we may, or may not, present something. This limitless open space of twenty-plus hours with nine leaders in one room was a huge provocation in itself. We were given a list of what other groups had chosen to do in the past. But it became quickly apparent that the point of the exercise was partially in defining what we as directors wanted to do with the time. Directors from Russia, Austria, Botswana, Bolivia, Germany, Israel, Iran and New Zealand formed my group. We began with exquisite politeness and the sessions evolved into periods of work that at times were painful, inspiring, frustrating, wonderful, annoying, joyful and, most often, all of the above. We decided to share on the final day and our “piece” was an amalgamation of a Russian punk song, stories of walls and stereotypes, ways we work as directors and a combined singing of Te Aroha. It is of course not this “presentation” we share that is important, but the process we went through in order to get to that point.
This in many ways is the most challenging part of the week; naturally it is also the part where I learnt the most. I learnt about group dynamics and leadership. About gender equality and the division of power. I learnt about directing and what it means to be a director and, ultimately, I learnt about TYA and theatre and culture in each of the seven countries and the work that is being done by each of the directors. Being a director is often a lonely and isolating role; having the chance to share the experience of directing with a group of directors was overwhelmingly satisfying and enriching. I am reminded of why I like this job and more than anything I am reminded of how important TYA is, and how vital it is for each country to have a vibrant TYA sector in order for theatre and culture to thrive and grow.
On Saturday evening we have a final beautiful summer BBQ in the grounds of Theatre Strahl where we have also been well-accommodated, staying in the adjoining beautiful Jugendherberge / Youth Hostel. There is German sausage, potatoes, beer, wine and still, even after a week of intense togetherness, discussion and sharing. My All Blacks-obsessed Russian friend insists I teach him the Haka, I explain that I don’t feel I can teach him, but we find an excellent on-line tutorial. I am able to work alongside him to get him to understand the cultural significance. I express my deep gratitude at how well the workshop has been run. Assitej Germany fund this every two years in a different city in Germany and have done so since 1976. 100’s of TYA directors from around the world have attended. All the meals, transport, theatre tickets and accommodation are paid for. It is programmed superbly. Although full, the organisers listen to the group and change the programme if needed. It is, I think, an excellent mix of history, fun, work and theatre-going. I am absolutely exhausted, but my brain and my heart are full of friendship, ideas, inspiration and learnings to bring back to New Zealand. I am filled with gratitude for the experience and certain that more New Zealand TYA practitioners need to experience this International Exchange.
Kerryn’s trip to Berlin was generously supported by:
[i]ASSITEJ is the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People. ASSITEJ unites theatres, organisations and individuals throughout the world who make theatre for children and young people. ASSITEJ brings people together so that they can share knowledge and practice within the field of theatre for children and young people in order to deepen understandings, develop practice, create new opportunities and strengthen the global sector. The members of ASSITEJ are National Centres, Professional Networks, and individuals from around 100 countries across the world. ASSITEJ Germany is the National Centre of ASSITEJ for Germany. More information about ASSITEJ Germany can be found on their website: https://www.assitej.de/en/