Image and Forum Theatre

The aim of the workshop is to understand the fundamentals and possibilities of these tools. Through games and exercises participants will be encouraged to collectively create several scenes on subjects they wish to work on.

Main objectives :
* Discover some tools of Theatre of the Oppressed through experimentation and acting.
* Understand how Forum theater helps transform the positions and practices of individuals and groups.
* Identify and expose problematic situations encountered by participants so they can collectively try their hand at finding alternatives.
* Enable the transfer of discoveries linked to the method and experience so that they can be re-used.

Welcome people with no experience and also people with some experience in Forum theatre or TO. 

Hakim Trabelsi Bononato is active for 8 years as an actor and director of theater of the oppressed. Trained in collective theatrical creation and oral memory collection, he also has solid training in group facilitation, physical theater, storytelling and intercultural pedagogy. 

Now that the time of covid FFP2 masks fortunately is over it ́s time to step into the fascinating world of theatre masks, to be exact the world of fullmasks, built from papermaché. Because the actor /actress is not able to speak behind these masks, body language becomes the elementary part for expressing thoughts and feelings. As this work is based in improvisation, we will focus on letting go, be present in the moment and following the mask and the wisdow of our bodies. We will discover how the masks deeply touch the emotional level of the audiance. Together as a group we will prepare a short presentation.

Judith Becker is a freelancer in theater pedagogic and facilitate workshops with kids, teenagers and adults in mask making / playing and other (theatre) stuff for around 20 years. 

Layers of Relations is a workshop in improv theatre. It is designed to learn the basics of improv, exploring spontaneous creation of characters, their emotions and relationships between them. In what ways can we easily empathise with new characters? How can emotions guide their actions? How do characters influence each other?
In the beginning of the workshop we will work on basic improvisation skills and build closer group awareness and connection. This will be followed by an exploration of the ways in which emotions are spontaneously performed and new characters created, we will explore and play with status differences and how characters and improvisers react to each other’s interactions. Finally, we will apply everything we will have learnt in improvised scenes, with the aim of testing ourselves in new roles, which will sometimes be silly, sometimes serious, but above all, honest and spontaneous.

Olivia Grafenauer is performing most of the last years in the collectives Gverila teater, Improške and Raglje as well as in various other groups.

Veronika Vižintin is an improviser and youth worker, trained in anti-discrimination, global and peer learning, and is also very involved with theatre of the oppressed. 

Jošt Jesenovec has been spending most of his time at the high school, but otherwise you can catch him in various improv shows of the Impro Liga, Gverila theatre, the Ana Desetnica festival and more.

Nina Beganović has been working for several years as an improviser in the Impro Liga and as a mentor in ŠILA – School Improv League.

SHININNG SHAMES

Workshop of Shadow theatre
and theater of the oppressed

Theatre of the Oppressed meets Shadow Theatre!
A creative and emotional space to tackle gender-based discriminations in a pleasant and poetical way. The combination of Shadow Theatre and TO can make societal power structures visible. TO invites us to dive deep into structural, interpersonal and even internalised oppression. Shadow theatre allows us to widen our imagination and dream of the unknown. It can foster a creative exploration of a topic by making visible the inner fears and desires of oppressors and the oppressed. The screen can offer protection and people may feel safer to express themselves bravely with their bodies – fearing less stigma, gendered expectations, or shame.

In the workshop we will play with light sources and effects combined with the shadows of bodies and objects to stage stories we want to change.

Everyone has a shadow, so everyone can do it!

Claudia Signoretti, TO joker and actress. She has worked on more than 20 Forum and Invisible theatre performances in Italy and abroad. She collaborates with schools, prisons, universities, non-profit organizations, institutions.

Image Theatre: Back to participatory photography!

The Image theatre and the mobilization of our silent and motionless bodies already are powerful ways to approach some problems and to share them with others. Initially, Augusto Boal developed the political use of human painting inspired by participatory photography: taking pictures is an accessible way, especially today, to reclaim our reality and to share it with others. Images are omnipresent, but the ones that are visible and the way they are created are also political. In this international festival, let’s experiment with that common language!

The morning will be dedicated to sharing experiences, bringing out some images about a thematic, refining the composition. The second part of the workshop will consist of staging themselves and taking pictures by addressing some basic notions of photography (angle shot, fore and background, colors, light, etc). If it’s technically possible and if the group wishes it, some kind of exhibition could be imagined, in order to share the result of that initiation to the rest of the participants.

Daphné Vanattenhoven-Mortier likes to mix practices, mainly theatre and photography, but also other mediums as plastic arts or writing. 

KRESNIČKE

Kresničke (Fireflies) are a conceptual-punk-socially-critical-satirically-cynical-two-person band. Just like fireflies brighten up summer nights for night wanderers with their glowing backsides, so Kresničke create hit after hit with their music and word-scarse lyrics.
“Neighbour is bugging me”, “Valuk” “Socialist crap”, “Democracy”, “Haludovo ” and “Ratas!!! are just the most popular from their list of hits.

Kresničke are: Anja Bezlova, Goran Završnik

CAPTIVE CHAINS: UNRAVELING STATE VIOLENCE

17. 8. 2023, 19.00, @PLAC

The State and its organs are key contributors to the perpetuation of violence and repression against marginalised people. Recent events have underscored the deep-rooted oppression embedded within these institutions creating barriers that hinder the pursuit of justice, equality, and basic human rights. This theatre performance confronts these realities, inviting you to engage with the stories of those affected by State violence. Through a series of thought-provoking scenes, we explore the intricate complexities of discrimination, racial profiling, and the struggles for justice within a system that perpetuates violence. By actively involving the audience, we aim to create a space for dialogue and exploration, encouraging critical thinking and inspiring collective action to dismantle those oppressive systems.

Performers: Theater of the Oppressed Vienna

From the Paleolithic to Twitting (Satirical Cabaret)

Slovenians are a remarkable people. Just look at our country: mountains and valleys, the sea and plains, karst caves and forests, fences and barb wire. And the most tractors and the most square metres of shopping malls per capita. We have Tina Maze, Tadej Pogačar, Luka Dončič, even Tesla is almost ours. (Not the one from SpaceX, though.)
But how did it all start? And when? Did it start in ’91, when we fulfilled our millennial dream and won our own state? Did it all begin with the settlement of the Slavs, or even much earlier, with the Veneti, the pile-dwellers or perhaps even with the Neanderthals? Who are we? Where do we come from? Why did we come here? And what are we actually supposed to do now that we are here?

Three tireless explorers, adventurers and time-travellers will try to answer these difficult questions. Through the magic of theatre, imagination and, above all, a great deal of fun, we will peek far back into the past.

***The satirical cabaret will be held in Slovenian.

Performers: Urban Logar, Uroš jezdić, Jaka Andrej Vojevec, Script and directing: Jaka Andrej Vojevec,  Musical arrangement: Rok Šinkovec, Uroš jezdić, Urban Logar, Set and costume design: Katarina Zalar,  Executive Producer: Ankica Radivojević, Production: Društvo Matafir, Jaka Andrej Vojevec

THE RED ROCKET

The Red Rocket is a mix of physical theatre, poetry and hanging out. The first part of the event is conceived as a short theatre performance inspired by the poetry of Srečko Kosovel, while the second part is an informal gathering of the creators of the event and the audience, through which they get to know each other, share thoughts, memories and verses. The event is organised by young theatre enthusiasts with two theatre mentors, and it is primarily intended for the elderly. 

Mentors: Grega Močivnik and Nina Vombergar

The Red Rocket is part of a project funded by the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps.

BECOMING TAIGA (Documentary movie)

A touching, soul-grasping short documentary following members of a collective artistic gathering in Massia. A group of women from diverse backgrounds gather at the art residency for the annual new visions gathering “Becoming Taiga”. The attendees know eachother from the online world, monthly new visions meetings, for some of them it’s the first time they are seeing eachother in real life. All fo them share common interest in personal growth and empowerment – they either took part in in one of new visions transformational leadership programs for women and queer folks in art and culture, or are connected in some way through art and activism. Over the course of the journey, they participate in various activities designed to foster connection and intimacy.

Afther the short documentary there will be talk with the director z  Agnieszko Gąsiorek and Liene Jurgelāne, co-funder of the organisation New Vision.

I’M NOT A RACIST, BUT

The legislative theatre play ” I’m not a racist, but…” shows the concrete life situations in which new residents of Zagreb, migrants and foreign workers face discrimination. Problems the performance touches on are denial of health services due to the lack of necessary documentation, the spontaneous increase in the prices of products on the market, and exclusivity in renting apartments. This kind of socially engaged topic is undoubtedly an important part of legislative theater (a type of interactive theater focused on encouraging thinking about the system we live in, as well as ways to improve it). The audience is asked the question and becomes not only an active participant in the play, but also a co-creator of its meaning and message. 

The play is a part of our ACF project Language of theatre. Actors are members of POKAZ group and new residents of Zagreb who created material for the performance with their real life experiences.

layers of aggression

Layers of Aggression is a performance project in which the creators – experienced theatre improvisers – address the themes of violence from different angles. The performance addresses the social dimension of violence, violence as a learned behavioural pattern, and abuse. It addresses different types of violence – psychological, physical, sexual, economic, stalking, cyber violence and human trafficking. The aim of the show is not to glamorise, dramatise, generalise or resolve acts of violence, but to offer an insight into the lives of individuals and groups of people who are involved in the cycle of violence – or who experience or cause it at different levels – systemic, institutional, ideological, social, interpersonal and personal. Through the performance, the creators address moments that are recognised as taboo in society and are often trivialised.

The performance consists of 3-4 improvised scenes, and the creators take real-life testimonies, statistics, and professional materials as inspiration for the individual stories and scenes, as suggested by the audience. Improvisational theatre allows to draw on the associations and experiences of the improvisers on stage and the audience, and in this way intervenes in the collective social consciousness of everyone in the auditorium.

Authors of the show and performance: Olivija Grafenauer, Veronika Vižintin, Jošt Jesenovec, Nina Beganović, Production. Društvo za kulturo in izobraževanje IMPRO

SHOUT: FIRST VOICE

The project Shout: First Voice is a performance in progress, which problematises the topic of child sexual abuse and brings it to the forefront of social discourse through performance as an artistic gesture. It seeks to break the silence and detaboo the treatment of victims of sexual violence. Statistics show that on average, one in five people has experienced some form of sexual harassment, most of which occur in the family environment or by people we trust. Legal protection for individuals is still minimal, and the public dialogue on sexual violence is also pushed into the background. The show therefore approaches the subject in an exploratory way by means of devised theatre, questioning the civilisational and ethical patterns and seeking to destigmatise victims of sexual abuse. It encourages reflection on neglected topics and introduces them into the public discourse. The event consists of two parts – first, a performance that explores issues of abuse through performance and theatre form, followed by a conversation between the creative team and the audience. The discussion will touch upon the socially transformative potential of art, how theatre can be used to transcend the boundaries of accepted public discourse, and what contemporary theatrical mechanisms are required to perform sensitive issues. The project Shout: First Voice is conceived as a living organism that is constantly evolving and establishes a platform for both the audience and the creators for an open dialogue on taboo topics.

The performance will be held in Slovenian, with English subtitles. The discussion will follow the performance.

 Authors: Jure Žavbi, Lara Wolf, Katja Markič, Urša Majcen, Domen Lušin, Dramaturgs: Katja Markič, Urša Majcen, Light designer Domen Lušin, Sound designers Aljoša Živadinov Zupančič, Mary Anne Blanche, Costume Designer Nika Dolgan, Graphic designer: Oskar Miketič, Photographers: Ana Šink Krenner, Željko Stevanić, Performers: Jure Žavbi, Lara Wolf, Voices on the recordings: Katja Markič, Urša Majcen, Mary Anne Blanche, Jure Žavbi

INGVER in GVERILKE

A righteous child sits swinging in the hot air. A band along the paths of the Non-Festival.

Ingver in Gverilke (Ginger and the Guerillas) is a performance singing trio with a selection of original and inherited songs.

The group is inspired by school systems, educational and safety measures and folk. It gives opportonity for self-organisation.
We play accordions, the singing saw and tambourine.

Our primary instrument is our voice, from polyphony to improvisation. Our influences range from the Etno Histeria Orchestra and Choir, folk songs from the Balkan region, cheerleading, urban folk songs from the time of the quarantine, to Damir Avdić and the club scene from Sežana to Ljubljana.

Ingver in Gverilke are Mojca Marija Frida, Enja Rojenica, Eva Boke Ziblje ter gosti.