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The Naked Stage festival is upon us again! Or better yet, we are upon it, we are in it, we are the festival. It is people who create it, not the other way around. There is no production void of people. Artists, audiences, technicians, producers, production assistants, pedagogues, workshop participants, cleaners, cooks, writers, photographers are the festival. The festival are the relations between them. Those that have been built before and those that weave, disintegrate, change, deepen and begin in a festival embrace.
This year’s Naked Stage festival is part of a large international project called Our Lives that brings together improvisational artists from all 28 countries of the European Union at festivals, coproductions, workshops and panel discussions. It explores lives and ways of living in different geographic, cultural, political and economic conditions. In its research it does not access these topics through general, theoretical or media perceptions, but through personal domains.
In November in Stara mestna elektrarna - Elektro Ljubljana and Layerjeva hiša Kranj, a motley international crew from at least six countries (namely, we are hoping that members of the audience come from even more parts of the world) will be focusing on the topic of connection. Whether it is a connection between performers, a connection among the audience and the performers or simply a connection between lives that have been thus far shaped by different historical, social and personal pasts.
Theatre improvisers lack many things, like strong production conditions and financial support, continuous access to work space, a broad attention from critics and the media, the support for long creative processes. We also lack sustainable art pieces that do not dissappear once they are born. We often fall short in constructing concepts of performances. We do not learn often enough from other contemporary art fields and approaches, we turn a deaf ear to music, sound, motion, light and space. We don’t work on complex characters, perfect dramaturgy and meticulous stage virtuosity. Sometimes we lack self-criticism, other times we run out of self-confidence. But we definitely have – the commited exploration of the connection. We approach it playfully, but decidedly, gently and persistently, utilizing a lot of knowledge and experience, but also endless curiosity. And that is priceless.
Long live the connection! Deeper, livelier, more genuine, more playful!
Maja Dekleva Lapajne
Artistic Director of Naked Stage 2018
This year’s Naked Stage festival is part of a large international project called Our Lives that brings together improvisational artists from all 28 countries of the European Union at festivals, coproductions, workshops and panel discussions. It explores lives and ways of living in different geographic, cultural, political and economic conditions. In its research it does not access these topics through general, theoretical or media perceptions, but through personal domains.
In November in Stara mestna elektrarna - Elektro Ljubljana and Layerjeva hiša Kranj, a motley international crew from at least six countries (namely, we are hoping that members of the audience come from even more parts of the world) will be focusing on the topic of connection. Whether it is a connection between performers, a connection among the audience and the performers or simply a connection between lives that have been thus far shaped by different historical, social and personal pasts.
Theatre improvisers lack many things, like strong production conditions and financial support, continuous access to work space, a broad attention from critics and the media, the support for long creative processes. We also lack sustainable art pieces that do not dissappear once they are born. We often fall short in constructing concepts of performances. We do not learn often enough from other contemporary art fields and approaches, we turn a deaf ear to music, sound, motion, light and space. We don’t work on complex characters, perfect dramaturgy and meticulous stage virtuosity. Sometimes we lack self-criticism, other times we run out of self-confidence. But we definitely have – the commited exploration of the connection. We approach it playfully, but decidedly, gently and persistently, utilizing a lot of knowledge and experience, but also endless curiosity. And that is priceless.
Long live the connection! Deeper, livelier, more genuine, more playful!
Maja Dekleva Lapajne
Artistic Director of Naked Stage 2018