NEAT Studio: Theatre to Inspire Change

RSA Fellow Susannah Tresilian is running NEAT STUDIO at the Nottingham Playhouse for the cities NEAT16 Festival. She's curated a two-week programme (21 May - 3 June) under the umbrella 'theatre to inspire change', and it includes performances, staged readings of unknown brilliant European plays, debates, opportunities to perform, and in particular a lot of time dedicated to inspiring us about our own strength to change.

The Nottingham Playhouse programme is here: http://www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk/whats-on/spoken-word/neat-studio/ and full details about NEAT16 - a festival for everyone celebrating the extraordinary cultural life of Nottingham – from our amazing spaces and events to our status as a UNESCO City of Literature can be found online at http://www.neatfestival.com/  

 

There will be contributions from Good Chance Calais (UK/France), Freedom Theatre (Palestine), Théâtre et Réconciliation (Belgium/Burundi/Congo), Stages Theatre Company (Sri Lanka), Waking the Feminists (Ireland), Dah Theater (Serbia), Ashtar Theatre (Palestine), The What Works (UK) - and much more: Ariadne, working with women who make theatre in conflict zones.  As well as plays from Croatia, Romania, Spain, Belarus - and the premiere of The Syrian Monologues.

 

There are also two Sundays specifically for creative industry professionals, who would be interested in reflecting on our current situation, and finding ways to improve it:

 

ANGRY YOUNG WOMEN? 

Sunday 22 May, 11.30-6pm, followed by panel discussion at 6.30pm

A day discussing gender equality in theatre today - what are the industry realities and what are we doing to change them?  Are we angry, and if not, should we be?  What do women and men need to do to make the industry gender equal?  What will we commit to?

 

Joining us for the whole day, we have Imogen Butler-Cole, director of The What Works; and Dr Naomi Paxton, actor and specialist in suffragette theatre and gender studies.  Later for the panel discussion, we will be joined via Skype by Dijana Milosevic from the Serbian theatre company Dah Theater.

 

THEATRE TO INSPIRE CHANGE

Sunday 29 May, 11.30-6pm, followed by panel discussion at 6.30pm

A day discussing and informing ourselves on theatre around the world that inspires change.  How can theatremakers influence change, spread the word, become contagious?  What are examples of inspiring practice? Who can we look to and learn from?  How can we inspire hope?  What will we commit to?

 

Joining us for the whole day will be Frédérique Lecomte from Belgian/Burundian/Congolese company Théâtre et Réconciliation; Zoe Lafferty from Freedom Theatre in Jenin; Amy Reade from Good Chance Theatre in Calais.  And for the evening presentation, Skyping in from Ireland is Lian Bell of Waking the Feminists, and Ruwanthie de Chickera of Stages Theatre Company in Sri Lanka.

 

There are twenty places available for participation in either of the day-long workshops, and in the evening we hope to welcome as many people as we can for the open panel discussions.  Please join the team who would love to see you there, to discuss all of the above, and see what we can do together to inspire change.  Please contact box office to reserve a place.

 

Schedules:

• 11.30 - 2 - Laying the groundwork
• 2 - 3  - Lunch at Cast downstairs (or bring your own)
• 3 - 5 - Actions
• 6.30pm - Panel discussion and open forum with audience

 

There is no cost for these sessions but please bring your own lunch or purchase it from Cast. 

 

If any of you are near Nottingham, would like to come up to the Playhouse, or know people around - please come, spread the word, tell people you know.  NEAT STUDIO runs at the Nottingham Playhouse from 21 May - 03 June. The more the merrier!

Contact Susannah Tresilian for further details