STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

Street Artists in Europe
or in some other field of culture. It has over 300 members. Around 200 people between 9 and 29
take weekly part in workshops and other activities, where they can learn a whole range of drama
and other theatre skills. The company produces approximately 10 plays each year.
The Regional Arts Council of Satakunta promotes international activities in the cultural sector
in the region of Satakunta. The Regional Artist in Theatre is closely involved in the planning
of the Street Theatre Project. This ensures the best expertise in networking and resourcing.
Germany
From one-person-theatre to multitudinous ensembles, whether they have their own stage or not;
the Independent theatres are at home in all genres, whether puppetry-theatre or dance, and they
play for all types of audience - for children or adults; often, they cross the borders of the
different arts, sometimes they offer pure language theatre. Increasingly, they do no longer work
in established ensembles, but in production companies, where professionals come together for
one project, often at stages and venues such as Kampnagel in Hamburg or Sophiensäle in Berlin,
which function as production venues and not as a form of municipal theatre with its own
ensemble.
The war between independent and established theatres from the 1970s is over. The number of
co-operations and of professional producers and actors who change between both forms
increased blurring the boundaries. A lot of municipal and state theatres work experimentally; a
lot of independent theatres work conventionally, either still or again. Some independent theatres
can function better on the basis of experimental work; some municipal or state theatres function
better on conventional work. Sometimes, however, the reverse is the case. Measured on the
demand of the audience, every form is justified, no matter who does what. Various forms of
aesthetic ideals and types of work approach can be found in independent and established
theatres. The one thing to ascertain is that in both forms, we find a wide base and a small
quality top.
And, if there is a hideaway of theatre avant-garde, then this avant-garde can be found in the
small top quality of the independent theatres. Intransigent, though, are the structures of both
systems positioned towards each other. On the one side, the so-called independent one, people
work project-related, without security or reliability concerning social or planning matters, the
money available is invested to its best part into the artistic work. Artists work free-lance or
self-employed and enjoy no financial security between projects. On the other side, the
established one, the best part of funds is invested into running an enterprise which has huge
difficulties to raise money for the actual production of plays, much to the chagrin of the artists
engaged there. In Germany, all independent theatres taken together, an estimated number of
more than 2000 groups, have a budget of approx. 30 million Euros, whereas the state and federal
theatres – about 200 – have a budget of approx. 2,000 million Euros.
The Bundes Verband Freier Theater appeals to the local governments to offer abandoned spaces
for theatre performances for free 287 .
287 www.freie-theater.de
165
PE 375.307