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 Ion M. TOMUŞ O INSTITUȚIE CULTURALĂ: FESTIVALUL INTERNAȚIONAL DE TEATRU O INSTITUȚIE CULTURALĂ: FESTIVALUL INTERNAȚIONAL DE TEATRU Autor: Ion M. TOMUŞ Conducător ştiințific: Prof. univ. dr. Silviu ANGELESCU Lucrare realizată în cadrul proiectului „Valorificarea identităților culturale în procesele globale”, cofinanțat din Fondul Social European prin Programul Operațional Sectorial Dezvoltarea Resurselor Umane 2007 – 2013, contractul de finanțare nr. POSDRU/89/1.5/S/59758. Titlurile şi drepturile de proprietate intelectuală şi industrială asupra rezul‐
tatelor obținute în cadrul stagiului de cercetare postdoctorală aparțin Academiei Române. Punctele de vedere exprimate în lucrare aparțin autorului şi nu angajează Comisia Europeană şi Academia Română, beneficiara proiectului. Exemplar gratuit. Comercializarea în țară şi străinătate este interzisă. Reproducerea, fie şi parțială şi pe orice suport, este posibilă numai cu acordul prealabil al Academiei Române. ISBN 978‐973‐167‐203‐8 Depozit legal: Trim. II 2013 Ion M. TOMUŞ O instituție culturală: festivalul internațional de teatru Editura Muzeului Național al Literaturii Române Colecția AULA MAGNA Cuprins ARGUMENT .......................................................................................................... 9 Capitolul I: FESTIVALUL. SEMNIFICAȚII, ISTORIC.................................... 13 Originea teatrului: ritualurile şi caracterul lor repetitiv ........ 14 Festivalul ca instituție culturală: o abordare modernă........... 18 Capitolul II: FESTIVALUL INTERNAȚIONAL DE LA EDINBURGH....... 25 Istoric. Primele ediții ale unui festival de muzică la Edinburgh, în secolul al XIX‐lea ................................................ 25 Începuturile Festivalului Internațional de la Edinburgh. Organizarea primei ediții ‐ 1947................................................ 28 Valorificarea unor identități culturale....................................... 37 1. Spectacole‐monument, produse pentru Festivalul Internațional de la Edinburgh: Satira celor trei clase................ 37 2. Dimensiunea multiculturală...................................................... 40 3. Teatrul francez............................................................................ 41 4. Teatrul italian............................................................................. 42 5. Teatrul de expresie germană şi austriacă.................................... 43 6. Teatrul japonez ........................................................................... 45 7. Teatrul american......................................................................... 46 8. Teatrul britanic........................................................................... 49 9. Spectacole româneşti la Festivalul Internațional de la Edinburgh.................................................................................. 52 Spații de joc................................................................................... 55 Identități culturale ....................................................................... 57 Structura organizatorică şi bugetul........................................... 60 The Fringe ..................................................................................... 61 5
Privire generală asupra celor mai importante festivaluri din Edinburgh (conform Edinburgh Festivals Impact Study) ............................................................................................ 62 Edinburgh International Science Festival (aprilie).................. 62 Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival (mai)............................... 63 Edinburgh International Film Festival (iunie) ......................... 63 Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (iulie) ................................ 64 Edinburgh Art Festival (august şi septembrie)........................ 64 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (august) .......................................... 64 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (august)............................... 65 Edinburgh International Festival (august şi septembrie)...... 66 Edinburgh International Book Festival (august) ..................... 67 Edinburgh Mela Festival (august) ............................................. 68 Scottish International Storytelling Festival (octombrie)......... 68 Edinburgh’s Hogmanay (decembrie‐ianuarie) ........................ 69 Capitolul III: FESTIVALUL DE LA AVIGNON .............................................. 70 Istoric. Primele ediții ................................................................... 70 Identități ale perioadei de început a Festivalului de la Avignon. Promovarea dramaturgiei franceze contemporane............................................................................... 74 Piesele istorice: Cidul şi Prințul din Hombourg .......................... 76 Câteva repere ale esteticii teatrale practicate de Jean Vilar ............................................................................................... 78 Primul moment de criză şi „Întâlnirile Festivalului de la Avignon”: 1964......................................................................... 80 Reorganizarea festivalului.......................................................... 83 Criza din 1968............................................................................... 85 Perioada de după Jean Vilar: Paul Puaux................................. 88 Avignon Off .................................................................................. 89 Începuturile anilor ’80 şi primii paşi spre un festival modern .......................................................................................... 91 Primele spectacole importante ale anilor ’80 ........................... 92 6
Regândirea principalelor spații de joc ale Festivalului de la Avignon ............................................................................... 95 Peter Brook şi Mahâbhârata, în 1985 ........................................... 98 Interesul pentru poezie ............................................................. 100 O nouă criză: raporturile cu muncipalitatea.......................... 102 Revenirea lui Bernard Faivre dʹArcier la conducerea Festivalului de la Avignon şi cele mai importante spectacole ale anilor ʹ90............................................................. 104 Criza majoră din 2003. Ediția „lipsă” a Festivalului de la Avignon....................................................................................... 112 Un nou început, în 2004 ............................................................ 115 Momentul 2005........................................................................... 116 Festivalul de la Avignon în prezent ........................................ 119 Capitolul IV: FESTIVALUL INTERNAȚIONAL DE TEATRU DE LA SIBIU............................................................................... 123 Teatrul românesc de după 1989 ............................................... 123 Primii ani ai Festivalul de Teatru Tânăr Profesionist ........... 126 Secțiunea „Mari spectacole”..................................................... 130 Silviu Purcărete .......................................................................... 132 Andriy Zholdak ......................................................................... 139 Identități ale Festivalului Internațional de Teatru de la Sibiu – preocuparea constantă pentru teatrul asiatic ........... 144 Secțiunea „Teatru de stradă” .................................................... 147 Secțiunea „Spectacole lectură”................................................. 155 Dimensiunea editorială dezvoltată de Festivalul Internațional de Teatru de la Sibiu.......................................... 178 Sibiul, Capitală Culturală Europeană, în 2007....................... 185 CONCLUZII ...................................................................................................... 190 BIBLIOGRAFIE .................................................................................................. 193 ADDENDA SUMMARY .................................................................................. 201 CONTENTS.................................................................................. 206 7
ADDENDA Summary A Cultural Institution: the International Theatre Festival International theatre festivals are a relatively new type of cultural events that have increasingly developed within the social and cultural context of post World War II Europe. Similar to the theatre as such, which is, in reality, a form of leisure that requires availability and financial means, theatre festivals are institutions which, by their power to bring artists together and to create a coherent cultural dialogue, are modern inventions that have come to define people’s artistic concerns, their cultural orientation and, ultimately, their taste in art. The present study is aimed at analysing the most important European international theatre festivals: Edinburgh International Festival, Avignon Festival, and Sibiu International Theatre Festival, focusing on the cultural specificity of each of them. The three case studies, approached in such a manner as to provide a contrastive analysis, are presented in the order of their importance, which is given by the number of participants in the artistic events, the number of spectators, and by their impact on audiences. Throughout the study, special attention was paid to the early stages of the three festivals, given that their creative energy at those stages is defining for the directions of approach, for the specific areas of interest in performing arts, and for the impact on local communities. The festivals of Edinburgh and Avignon were founded in the first years after World War II, against a social and cultural background highly unfavorable to such artistic events: the scars of the atrocious world conflict were still very visible in 201
1947 (the year when the two great festivals were founded), the French and British economy were down, the vast majority of audiences were affected by the economic crisis, even the mear act of interpersonal communication was compromised, with serious implications at the artistic level. Rudolf Bing (the first director of the Edinburgh International Festival) and Jean Vilar (the first director of the Avignon Festival) were well aware that human society could only resume its natural evolution by the cultural dialogue encouraged by such major art events. In 1993, Constantin Chiriac (Director of Sibiu International Theatre Festival) felt the need for a similar system of artistic expression in Romania, one meant to transform the local community, to help people acquire a taste for high quality theatre, with a view to offering the city an international outlook. The Romanian context of the 90s was similar to that of Europe in the ʹ40s and ʹ50s: the economic crisis co‐occurred with a social crisis and the public was constantly in search of cultural values and landmarks. Theatre halls were empty, dialogue (in most of its forms) had moved to the streets, and the administrative region was nothing more than a dull and conservative cultural province. However, in addition to the international impact that would generate an active and effervescent artistic dialogue, the first beneficiaries of the theatre festivals chosen as the topic of the present study are local communities. From the very first pages, the study points out that all three festivals are organised in cities apparently not very open to such artistic events: Edinburgh is a cold and windy city, with unstable weather conditions, located far away from London, but with a noteworthy cultural and artistic background that deserved to be revived in 1947. Similarly, Avignon is located in the south of France, far from Paris, but very close to Marseille, Nice and Cannes. However, it benefited from a unique urban structure: the old medieval fortification, with the stately courtyard of the Papal Palace, provides plenty of unconventional space for outdoor performances, fostered by the favorable weather conditions. Similarly, in 1993 Sibiu was a mere provincial town located at a comfortable distance from Bucharest, but conservative, with a cautious and complacent artistic community that indulged in a vegetative state. However, similar to Avignon, Sibiu provides excellent conditions for outdoor performances open to the community: the historic centre, the ensemble of squares: 202
Kleiner Ring, Grosser Ring, as well as the less conventional performance places located in the fortified churches around the town. To all these advantages of Sibiu, one ought to add its multicultural structure: the high number of speakers of German and Hungarian, as well as the existence of a German section of the local theater, with a longstanding tradition. We have demonstrated throughout the study that the main beneficiaries of Sibiu International Theatre Festival are the local theatre‐
goers who are presented with high quality performances organized into categories that will each be analyzed at the right time. First, indoor performances form the “foundation” of such a festival, because their target audiences are mainstream ticket‐paying audiences, which are opinion‐
makers, with higher expectations from the artistic act. Secondly (and more interestingly), all three festivals ‐ Edinburgh, Avignon and Sibiu – show constant interest in the use of unconventional performance locations: street performances, as well as performances in courtyards of historic buildings or palaces, in churches, museums, public squares, pedestrianized streets, cafés, etc. This aspect concerns us even more because it points to the artistic environment openness to the community, to the orientation of theatrical performance towards the general public and its inclusion in the normal lifestyle of theatre‐goers, who are thus “bombarded” with theatrical performance. As a matter of fact, the picture is much more exciting, given that, through these exceptional theatre festivals, we witness a change in performing arts, which are beginning to be increasingly oriented towards the general public by leaving the topos of the theatre hall, a longstanding favorite mainstream location for performances. If until about 1950, since the Renaissance, street theatre had been the preferred expression of non‐
mainstram, marginal performers (except, perhaps, the commedia dellʹarte), the three major European theatre festivals bring street performance back to the attention of respectable theatre‐goers, which means, in our opinion, a return to the origins of theatre and to its initial goals, by their impact on large masses of people and by their tendency to reduce the distance between performer and spectator. In the context of an increasingly desacralised world, street theatre and performances held in unconventional spaces manage to gather people together, to keep them close to one another, to make them part of a common perception of the artistic act, 203
which may be a means of resisting wrongly understood globalization, which brings the masses into uniformity, by discovering and advocating local specificity and multiculturalism. Another possible change discussed in the present study, specifically focused on Sibiu International Theatre Festival, concerns radio theatre, that is reading performances. This important section of the festival, which fosters and promotes contemporary drama, is developed in partnership with the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, and the recorded performances reach the listeners of Radio România Cultural. In a world of images, in which the written word is increasingly marginalized, an international theatre festival advocates a seemingly obsolete type of artistic expression, that is radio theatre. However, upon closer examination, this endeavour is well‐founded, given the enduring interest of the public in this art form, and possibility of gaining access to this type of theatre through a variety of media in modern times Towards the end of the study, we brought into discussion the future of international theatre festivals as cultural institutions in general, and more specifically the future of Edinburgh, Avignon and Sibiu festivals. There is no doubt that the three major cultural events have a future, due the cultural policies developed so far (Edinburgh), to the fostering of an effervescent artistic dialogue (Avignon), and to a direct and precise orientation towards the needs of the local community, closely connected to those of other European countries (Sibiu). However, in a world where globalization tends to become a problem rather than an advantage, the theatre is faced with a common threat, that of focusing on the same identity. Therefore, we believe that the future strategies of development of the three major international theatre festivals (and of any festival for that matter) should be based on networking, that is on creating networks among similar events, on fostering partnerships with international bodies that would ensure credibility, funding and human resource training, as well as a marketing strategy focused on new types of audiences, but preserving local and regional identity. However, the effect is not supposed to be that of localization and regionalization of the theatre festival, but rather a more intense promotion of local resources: from the epic 204
performances discussed in the case of Edinburgh festival, to the exquisite dialogue promoted by the Avignon festival, to the idea of capitalizing on the most diverse and unconventional performance locations in Sibiu. A top international theatre festival should first and foremost be able to identify the aspects that make it unique among similar events, with a view to turning the former into unbeatable advantages. Viewed from this perspective, it seems natural that the future should belong to events, which means that modern man is offered an opportunity to break away from the current pace of his life and to take on a number of identities specific to the local (and global) community. Under the circumstances, the festival is no longer conceived as a period of time defined by specific spatiotemporal characteristics, but a phenomenon that transcends community boundaries, and expands, generating parallel artistic movements that are not competing, but complementary. 205
Contents PREFACE .......................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER I. THE FESTIVAL. MEANINGS, HISTORY................................. 13 The origins of theatre: rituals and their repetitive feature ........................................................................................... 14 The festival as a cultural institution: a modern approach ..... 18 CHAPTER II. EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL........................ 25 A brief historical approach. The first years of a music festival in Edinburgh, during the 19th century ....................... 25 The interest for the cultural identities....................................... 37 1. Monumental performances, which were produced for Edinburgh International Festival: Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites ........................................................................... 37 2. The multicultural dimension ..................................................... 40 3. The French theatre...................................................................... 41 4. The Italian theatre ...................................................................... 42 5. German and Austrian theatre .................................................... 43 6. The Japanese theatre ................................................................... 45 7. The American theatre ................................................................. 46 8. The British theatre...................................................................... 49 9. Romanian performances selected for the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival ................................................... 52 Venues ........................................................................................... 55 Cultural identities ........................................................................ 57 The management and the budget.............................................. 60 The Fringe ..................................................................................... 61 206
A general survey on the most important festivals in Edinburgh (according to Edinburgh Festivals Impact Study) ............................................................................................ 62 Edinburgh International Science Festival (April).................... 62 Bank of Scotland Imaginate Festival (May) ............................. 63 Edinburgh International Film Festival (June).......................... 63 Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (July)................................. 64 Edinburgh Art Festival (August and September) ................... 64 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (August) ......................................... 64 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (August).............................. 65 Edinburgh International Festival (August and September).................................................................................... 66 Edinburgh International Book Festival / (August).................. 67 Edinburgh Mela Festival (August)............................................ 68 Scottish International Storytelling Festival (October) / 68 Edinburgh’s Hogmanay (December and January) / 69 CHAPTER III. FESTIVAL D’AVIGNON ......................................................... 70 The first years ............................................................................... 70 Specific identities from the first years of Festival d’Avignon. The interest for contemporary French drama ............................................................................................ 74 Historical plays: Le Cid and The Prince of Hombourg ................ 76 Some details of Jean Vilar’s theatrical approach ..................... 78 The first crisis and the debates around the Festival d’Avignon: 1964 ........................................................................... 80 Reorganizing the festival ............................................................ 83 The crisis in 1968 .......................................................................... 85 The years after Jean Vilar: Paul Puaux...................................... 88 Avignon Off .................................................................................. 89 The beginning of the 80s and the first steps towards a modern festival ............................................................................ 91 207
The first important performances of the 80s............................ 92 Reorganizing the most important venues of the festival ....... 95 Peter Brook’s Mahâbhârata in 1985 ............................................. 98 The festival’s interest in poetry ................................................ 100 A new crisis emerges: the connection with the local authorities ................................................................................... 102 Bernard Faivre d’Arcier’s come back as the manager of Festival d’Avignon and the most important performances of the 90s ............................................................ 104 The major crisis in 2003. The missing edition of the festival ......................................................................................... 112 A new beginning in 2004 .......................................................... 115 The special edition in 2005 ....................................................... 116 Festival d’Avignon today.......................................................... 119 CHAPTER IV. SIBIU INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL............... 123 The Romanian theatre after 1989............................................. 123 The first years of the Young Professional Theatre Festival ........................................................................................ 126 ‘Great Performances’ focus ....................................................... 130 Silviu Purcărete .......................................................................... 132 Andriy Zholdak ......................................................................... 139 Specific identities of Sibiu International Theatre Festival – the constant interest for Asian theatre................................. 144 The street performances............................................................ 147 The play readings ...................................................................... 155 The books printed by the festival ............................................ 178 The European Capital of Culture in 2007............................... 185 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................. 190 WORKS CITED................................................................................................... 193 208
Editura Muzeului Național al Literaturii Române CNCS PN ‐ II ‐ ACRED ‐ ED ‐ 2012 – 0374 Coperta colecției: AULA MAGNA Machetare, tehnoredactare şi prezentare grafică: Luminița LOGIN, Nicolae LOGIN Logistică editorială şi diseminare: Ovidiu SÎRBU, Radu AMAN Traducerea sumarului şi sintezei, corectură şi bun de tipar asigurate de autor ISBN 978‐973‐167‐203‐8 Apărut trim. II 2013