“Sounds Like a Whisper” – Workshop by Erik Altorfer in Alexandria
Egypt
March 27, 2019 till April 3, 2019
Sounds Like Whisper
From 12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
A writing workshop / blog project (work in progress) for Theatre is a Must 2019
Content:
Migration and revolution in so called post-colonial times. Can we combine poetry and politics? What are potential individual, local and international issues for future plays? How do we sketch out the according plots, the form of the play and the use of language?
In this workshop, small writing exercises accompany the process of working on a new play. They cover questions regarding genre, form, content and language. In addition, the group might also work on the draft of a collective play.
During the process of the week the participants are active on a blog. They will post short essays, new scenes, pictures, audio-podcasts and videos with readings of new scenes, reflections on issues that were discussed in the sessions: notes, diary entries. The contents of the blog will be in Arabic. If it is technically possible, the blog could emphasize on writing and producing audio-podcasts (spoken text, music and sound).
The aim is to build up a group that pursues a collective project. A play (or a series of plays / theatre texts) and a blog. Artistic work and reflective work. Writing and thinking about writing (and theatre), thinking about the proper role as an artist and the position of art in society. The aim is sustainability, to continue the work in the blog after the workshop and to discuss the developments of the individual plays and projects in a forum. The group may have another workshop in the following year.
The workshop will be held in English with an Arabic translator. The participants will write and discuss in Arabic.
The workshop and blog project is intended for playwrights and writers in a wider sense.
Meaning: it is also open for dramaturges and directors who create texts:
adapting pre-existing texts (novels, plays, theory-texts) for theatre
developing texts in rehearsals via improvisations,
creating documentary work (for example based on transcriptions of interviews.. etc.)
Curator
Swiss dramaturge and director Erik Altorfer.
Duration
7 days. 28 March – 3 April 2019 from 12:00 to 6:00 PM
Participants
12 writers. 20–40 years old. Gender mainstreaming. Playwrights and authors from Egypt, writers in exile in Egypt, writers from Yemen.
Details
Schedule:
The workshop-days consist of two sessions:
Writing workshop (4 hours / day)
Blog (2 hours / day)
Between the workshop-days the participants continue their work and bring the results to the next session.
Preparation
The participants will get tasks to prepare for the first day of the workshop.
Deadline 17/03/2019
Selected participants will be notified with the place of the workshop beforehand.
About Erik Altorfer:
Erik Altorfer studied German and English literature and linguistics at the University of Zurich and was an assistant director at the Schauspielhaus Zurich. Since 1997, he works as director and dramaturg with a focus on contemporary writing and projects that assume various artistic styles in theaters and festivals in Germany, Austria, England, Argentina and Switzerland. Amongst many other plays he directed “The Bus” by Swiss playwright Lukas Bärfuss. He launched an initiative to organize festivals showcasing new plays in Switzerland, Austria and Argentina. He was artistic director of the Swiss playwrights’ program Dramenprozessor which received the Swiss Theatre Award in 2015. Since 2011 he is teaching at the Zurich Academy of the Arts (faculty of theater: directing and dramaturgy). He also directs radio plays for German and Swiss radio stations. He held writing workshops in Bahrain, Belarus, Bolivia and Egypt (Alexandria 2011, 2012, Cairo 2018). Together with the Syrian playwright Mudar Alhaggi he led writing/theatre workshops with refugees in Beirut, Graz (Austria) and Zurich (Switzerland).
Apply HERE
