The role of community art projects within and without the ... - Exedra

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exedra • special issue • 2011To celebrate this centennial, Peter van den Hurk 3 , leader of the Rotterdam Wijktheaterdevised a plan to create a show about the ups and downs of this legendary, world-famousfootball club and its faithful supporters. To produce the show he got together with theconservatoire and dance academy of Codarts University for the Arts, the InternationalCommunity Arts Festival and Theatre Zuidplein.The football club plays an important part in the lives of many families. Each match iseagerly awaited. Emotions run high: exuberant joy when the club wins and black sorrowwhen it loses. But, whatever happens, the Legion, as the supporters are called, alwaysstand behind their club. In good times and bad. Their bedrock is the supporters’ song“Hand in hand, kameraden” (join hands, mates). The context is formed by life in thequarter.64
Ineke Braak – van Kasteel • The role of community art projects within and without the school curriculumThe shows are produced in close co-operation with the actors, who are all local.Helped by professional writers and stage directors, the local people show their ownexperiences in the performances. The result was the soaring Community Art production“Hand in Hand”. A show full of music, dance and theatre. There were ten performancesof the show in the Zuidplein Theatre, the home of the Rotterdam Wijktheater company(RWT)The Rotterdams Wijktheater (Rotterdam Community-based Theatre) is a theatrecompany that, supported by Rotterdam City Council, produces theatre for and by peoplefrom the community. The main aim of this community arts organisation is to developnew writing, accessible, appealing and relevant to people who do not normally go to thetheatre. In order to invite new and culturally excluded audiences they present theatreperformances that are based on the stories of their own community, and thereforedealing with issues that are relevant to those groups. By the sheer amount of newwork they develop, the more than 60, usually packed, shows that are performed in thevarious community centres and the string of new projects in the pipeline, The RotterdamWijktheater is living proof that theatre by and for local people can be relevant, interesting,moving and entertaining.Some characteristics: RWT does not present the community with an existing play,but develops plays based on stories and events told them by the local people.All actors are drawn from the community - the people of RWT only facilitate, coach,direct, and provide technical back-up and assistance.RWT works primarily in disadvantaged neighbourhoods with people who have littleor no experience of theatre, either as performers or audience.The plays tend not to focus on big issues like ‘teenage pregnancy’ or ‘child abuse’but rather reflect life in the neighbourhood, with all the laughter and sorrow that thatentails. Depending on the ages within and the cultural diversity of the group they workwith, other disciplines such as dance, music or video may be incorporated.The Rotterdams Wijktheater is working on establishing an international networkof people or theatre groups with a similar approach. They are specifically looking forinitiatives that not necessarily have theatre as their primary medium but have a similarmethodology i.e. not the “distribution of the high arts” to the communities nor the sociodramamethods popular in the 1960’s and 70’s.The Rotterdams Wijktheater is funded by a small group of professional writers anddirectors. They register experiences from improvisations by local people and transformthese stories into a stage-play to be performed by people from the community. The‘actors’ come up with universal themes like fear, loneliness, drugs, the increase of65
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