The Legend of Europa

ongoing

We seek a theatre that responds to the increasingly diverse societies that it serves, and which models collaborative and dialogic approaches to life in intercultural Europe. THE LEGEND OF EUROPA is a collaboration between 5 theatre organisations from 4 countries, employing innovative approaches of collective creation to develop a new play in response to the founding myth of Europe itself. This will directly address the development and promotion of European cultural and linguistic diversity and heritage, questioning narratives that regard these as exclusive, and demonstrating the centrality to Europe of migrant communities and cultural minorities. We know what we need to do about Sustainability: but we aren’t doing it, because we continue to think of the natural world as existing for our exploitation. THE LEGEND OF EUROPA, with its complex stories about relationships between the human and the other-than-human, offers us the potential to address this problem creatively through theatre, and so contribute to a shift in thinking. Three 9-day devising workshops, one each led by Border Crossings, Teatro Dell’Argine and Théâtre du Soleil, will involve the core devising team from each partner organisation: a group of “cre-actors” who both make and perform the work in response to the methodologies of the partner leading the activity. Dramaturgical methodologies developed by The Fence (an international network of dramatugs) will help bring together the materials generated, culminating in a showcase of the work, at Riksteatern in Stockholm. Riksteatern will also develop a green future touring model for the prototype co-production: attracting invited presenters, theatres and festivals. A filmmaker will follow the project through its different stages, to produce a documentary that responds to the journey of the project, its context, themes and creative outcomes. Project showcase, film and booklet are all outward-facing elements intended to ensure sustainability and continuation.