MEDUSA - Contemporary Playwriting and Inclusive Identities in Europe

forthcoming

A woman of horror with a round face framed by snakes, with a wide mouth and porcine fangs: this is Medusa. A vulvar monster created out of fear of the power of female sexuality. A victim of patriarchy, the judgmental and debasing eye of machismo. A symbol of female rage, with her gaze too terrifying to look at directly. She can only be watched through a mirror, a double, a simulacrum. MEDUSA uses contemporary theatre as the “eikon” which allows to stage and to look at identities which are increasingly frightening to European societies: female voices, LGBTIQ+ people, first- and second-generation immigrants, MEDUSA is set up with the aim of promoting the circulation of works by contemporary playwrights from different European countries and to promote the aggregation of ideas and contents around the theme of identity understood as a process of subjectivation that arises from the system of relations between the individual and gender, history, politics, and cultural roots. The project embraces identity as a lens for interpreting the present and as a platform for intergenerational and intercultural dialogue. Throughout the project, partners from three different countries (such as Bulgaria, Germany, and Italy) will work together - supported by a small committee of experts - to select a curated set of plays through a shared observatory. This collaborative process, including creative retreats hosted in the involved countries, will ensure artistic coherence while celebrating diversity. Each country will then host a week of events too, featuring stage readings, seminars with playwrights and scholars, and panel discussions with audience. At the same time, audience engagement will be fostered by involving groups of students in each country, encouraging them to explore the selected texts and actively participate in dissemination activities. The project will culminate in the publication of the plays and a wide-reaching dissemination of results to ensure a lasting cultural impact.