Theatre Olympics
Theatre Olympics | |
---|---|
Genre | Performance festival |
Frequency | Variable |
Location(s) | Various |
Years active | 27 |
Inaugurated | 1995 |
Founders | Theodoros Terzopoulos |
The Theatre Olympics (
Established in 1994 by an international committee led by
The organisation's administrative headquarters are located in
The Committee
The first official meeting of the International Committee of Theatre Olympics took place on 18 June 1994 in Delphi, Greece, however discussions between the members had been ongoing since 1989.[2] The founding committee was a group of eight internationally renowned theatre directors: Theodoros Terzopoulos, Nuria Espert, Antunes Filho, Tony Harrison, Yuri Lyubimov, Heiner Müller, Tadashi Suzuki and Robert Wilson. The International Committee of Theatre Olympics meets once a year. New members can join after being recommended by one of the existing members and being approved by two-thirds of the committee.
Currently the International Committee of Theatre Olympics consists of fifteen members:
- Theodoros Terzopoulos (Greece) – chairman
- Giorgio Barberio Corsetti (Italy)
- Choi Chyrim (South Korea)
- Nuria Espert(Spain)
- Antunes Filho (Brazil)
- Jurgen Flimm(Germany)
- Valery Fokin (Russia)
- Jarosław Fret (Poland)
- Tony Harrison (United Kingdom)
- Georges Lavaudant (France)
- Liu Lubin (China)
- Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)
- Tadashi Suzuki (Japan)
- Ratan Thiyam (India)
- Robert Wilson (United States)
Former founding members of the Theatre Olympics:
- Yuri Lyubimov (1995–2014) (Russia)
- Heiner Müller (1995–1995) (Germany)[3]
Hosting Countries
The Theatre Olympics are held in a different country each edition. So far there have been nine festivals. The festival allows the host country to reflect their own theatre heritage and the event is reinvented each time by a new artistic director – who is usually an International Committee member of the Theatre Olympics. The festival's national organising committee usually consists of prominent representatives of the country's cultural life.
The hosting cities have been:[4]
City / Country | Year | Theme | Artistic Director/s | Number of Productions | Number of Countries | Additional Information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Delphi, Greece | 1995 | Tragedy | Theodoros Terzopoulos | 9 | 7 | The inaugural edition was focused around Greek tragedy. |
Shizuoka, Japan
|
1999 | Creating Hope | Tadashi Suzuki | 42 | 20 | For the second edition, the organisers created an art village in the Japanese industrial city, Shizuoka, which was designed by the famous architect, |
Moscow, Russia | 2001 | Theatre for the People | Yuri Lyubimov | 97 | 32 | The third edition was presented alongside the Chekhov International Theatre Festival. The festival incorporated a large-scale outdoor programme, where 40 theatres from 15 countries were presented. |
Istanbul, Turkey | 2006 | Beyond Borders | Theodoros Terzopoulos and Dikmen Gürün | 38 | 13 | The fourth edition was a joint-festival with the fifteenth International Istanbul Theatre Festival (IITF). |
Seoul, South Korea | 2010 | Sarang: Love and Humanity | Choi Chyrim | 48 | 13 | The fifth edition placed an emphasis upon theatre's role in and contribution to globalisation. The festival also coincided with Seoul rebranding itself as “the city of culture and the arts". |
Beijing, China | 2014 | Dream | Liu Lubin | 46 | 22 | The sixth edition's theme "Dream", was divided into three sub-themes: "In Memory of the Classics," "Vitality and Creativity" and "Audiovisual Feast."[7] |
Wrocław, Poland | 2016 | The World as a Place of Truth | Jarosław Fret | 86 | 14 | The seventh edition was organised by Poland's Grotowski Institute. The festival's theme is a paraphrase of the title of a speech that Jerzy Grotowski gave in 1976.[8] The festival also coincided with Wrocław being the 2016 European Capital of Culture. |
Delhi, India | 2018 | The Flag of Friendship | Waman Kendre | 465 | 35 | The eighth edition was held in 17 different cities around India, with the opening ceremony in New Delhi and closing ceremony in Mumbai.[9] |
Toyama, Japan
|
2019 | Creating Bridges | Valery Fokin and Tadashi Suzuki | 50 | 21 | The ninth edition was the first time the Theatre Olympics was hosted in two countries.[10][11] |
Budapest, Hungary | 2023 | 'O Man, strive on, strive on, have faith; and trust' | Vidnyánszky Attila | 750 | 58 [12] | The tenth edition is focused around autonomy, liberty and helping the access to culture. [13] |
References
- ISBN 978-981-10-2573-0.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ International Committee of the TO, Theatre Olympics: Crossing Millennia, Athens, 1994
- ^ "About|The 9th Theatre Olympics". www.theatre-oly.org. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "Artist Interview: Satoshi Miyagi (Artistic Director of Shizuoka Performing Arts Center)". Performing Arts Network Japan. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ Kennedy, Gilles (16 June 1999). "A Triumphant 'Olympics' in Japan". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "The Theatre Olympics The World as a Place of Truth | Theatre Olympics 2016". www.theatreolympics2016.pl. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
- ^ "8th Theatre Olympics 2018 in India – Official Website". 8ththeatreolympics.nsd.gov.in. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ "The 9th Theatre Olympics". www.theatre-oly.org. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ "Olympics 2019". theatreolympics2019.com (in Russian). Retrieved 11 February 2020.
- ^ Színházi Olimpia nyitórendezvénye https://www.magyarhirlap.hu/kultura/20230415-megkezdodott-a-10-nemzetkozi-szinhazi-olimpia-nyitorendezvenye Retrieved: 2023.04.16
- ^ https://szinhaz.org/en/10th-theatre-olympics-budapest-hungary/
Further reading
- Kim, Jae Kyoung (2016). International Theatre Olympics: The Artistic and Intercultural Power of Olympism. London: Palgrave. ISBN 978-981-10-9655-6.