International Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus 2001

Resume

  International Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus 2001 was held September 14-23, 2001, in the framework of the European Cultural Month in Riga. The festival was organized by the New Theatre Institute of Latvia (NTIL) - non-governmental, non-profit organization.

   Homo Novus, a biannual festival (1995), encourages audiences to question what is considered to be officially the new drama and the new artistic developments in European theatre. (Homo Novus in Latin means - the new, hitherto unknown person. Homo Novus was a contemptuous word for young men of unaristocratic origin that had integrated into the highest society of Ancient Rome. Later it referred to an upstart and non-conformist.) Each time the festival is dedicated to the specific theme ('95 - education and training, '97 - new directing, '99 - new drama and the status of theatre in the framework of the state cultural policy). This was the fourth festival and the largest one.

  The focus of cultural events in Latvia in 2001 is put on the development of Riga City; Homo Novus 2001 was organized to highlight the notion of where theatre can be performed. Homo Novus 2001 performances were performed at different venues mostly outside the city centre. The objectives of the festival - re-using of different buildings in the city, decentralizing cultural events off the centre to the outskirts and involving new groups of audiences in cultural activities - have been reached.

During the ten days of the festival:
* 22 performances (13 different titles) were shown in the Main Program at 13 different venues, specially prepared for the shows;
* 15 performances (8 different titles) were presented in the Latvian Showcase at the theatres of Riga with a translation in English provided for foreign guests;
* 3 performances were produced by the New Theatre Institute of Latvia:
- "I Played, I Danced" (collaboration with the Lithuanian Theatre Miraklis),
- "Thirsty Birds" (collaboration with the Goethe Institute in Riga),
- "Friendship of the Nations" (collaboration with the Association Golden Mask (Moscow));
* 9 foreign companies from Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Norway, Sweden, Germany, France and the Netherlands visited the festival and presented their performances in Riga;
* 35 foreign guests from 14 countries visited the festival. They represented 10 European theatre festivals, 4 theatre institutes and information centers, 6 theatres and production companies (excluding the participants of the festival) and 9 foreign mass media;
* Several meetings and discussions were held during the festival with the participation of foreign guests, Latvian theatre directors, critics and managers, and representatives of NTIL;
* The fulfillment of the halls reached 90%.
* Festival Homo Novus 2001 was supported by 5 financial supporters, 8 sponsors, 59 collaborative partners and supporters, 16 informative supporters and around 70 volunteers.

  Homo Novus is the only international theatre festival of such scale in Latvia and it has been recognized and appreciated as a regional event by theatre professionals, mass media and audiences. Homo Novus has become an important meeting point for people involved in the performing arts regionally and internationally.

PROGRAM OF PERFORMANCES

  The festival program consisted of two parts: the Main Program (13 performances) and the Latvian Showcase (8 performances).

  The Main Program included 8 foreign and 2 Latvian performances, and 3 performances were specially produced for the festival at unconventional venues. The Main Program was formed with an aim to show the Latvian audience theatre different from what we have used to see here, and to attract new audience to the performing arts events. In general, the festival performances made a wide range of styles and genres, and they were interesting for people of very different ages and social backgrounds.

  The Latvian Showcase was composed with an aim to expose and present the new generation of the Latvian theatre within a broader European context. There were 2 international projects ("Black over Red", Latvian Radio Choir & Theatre Cryptic (Scotland); "3 x", Latvian National Opera), 4 performances of the New Riga Theatre ("Dark Deer" and "Margaret", dir. Viesturs Kairiss; "The Maidens from Wilka", dir. Alvis Hermanis; "after Poe", dir. Evgene Grishkovets) and 2 independent projects ("The Turn of the Screw", dir. Peteris Krilovs; "Don't Give Flowers to Wolves", dir. Zane Kreicberga).

Accents of the festival program
* The idea of the festival - theatre outside the traditional theatre venues - worked in two directions: to investigate new venues where cultural events in Riga can be held and to explore the relationship between the space and performance. Each of the festival performances in some way corresponded to this theme.
* The other focus of the festival program was inter-disciplinary projects, in which the syntheses of different art forms was reached: theatre and dance ("The Night in the Inkpot", "The Seagull"), theatre and new technologies - video, internet etc. ("norway.today", "Thirsty Birds", "Euro-Huh?"), theatre and circus ("TRIX").
* The festival performances were targeted to different audiences: performances for the whole family ("I Played, I Danced", "TRIX"), performances for youngsters "norway.today", "Euro-Huh?") etc.

Favourites of the critics
  The professional theatre critics of Latvia were rather careful choosing the performances which to attend. Most of them saw 3 performances - "The Seagull" (France), "Aristocrats" (Estonia) and "The Play Which Has Never Existed…" (Russia). These performances presented the more traditional part of the festival program. Best of all the critics favoured the "Aristocrats" directed by Estonian director Priit Pedajas.

Favourites of the audience
  The highlight of the festival was "TRIX" by the Swedish group Cirkus Cirkor. It was presented 3 times at a full house in Riga Film Studio. All Latvian productions of the Main Program - "I Played, I Danced" (dir. Vega Vaiciunaite, Ilze Klavina, at the Daugavgriva Fortress), "Thirsty Birds" (dir. Mara Kimele, at the Spilve Airport), "The City" (dir. Alvis Hermanis, at an appartment), "after Poe" (dir. Evgene Grishkovets, at the Warehouse at Citadeles Str.) - received the great interest and the best reviews from the audience. All the festival performances were well attended and had a more or less specific audience depending on the genre and the venue of the performance.

Festival guests
  Festival guests appreciated the idea of the festival - theatre outside the traditional venues - and the diversity, quality and composition of the program. Most of all they liked the performance "The City" directed by Alvis Hermanis (New Riga Theatre).

PARTICIPANTS
  The NTIL invited to the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus 2001 internationally active partners or potential partners, which are working on innovative and collaborative performing arts projects.

Participants of the festival Homo Novus 2001:
a) Theatre companies with the productions included in the Main Program of the Festival:
· Theatre Miraclis (Lithuania) - "I Played, I Danced"
· Passage Nord Project (Norway) - "The Night in the Inkpot"
· Bak-truppen (Norway) - "Euro-Huh?"
· Estonian Drama Theatre (Estonia) - "Aristocrats"
· Centre Dramatique National de Normandie (France) - "The Seagull"
· Baltic House Theatre (Russia) - "The Play Which Has Never Existed…"
· Cirkus Cirkör & Orionteatern (Sweden) - "TRIX"
· Stuffed Puppet Theatre / Kleine Spui Produkties (The Netherlands) - "Re: Frankenstein"
· Duesseldorfer Schauspielhaus (Germany) - "norway.today"
· Petlura & his Fashion Show (Russia) - "Friendship of the Nations"

b) Individual guests:
· Representatives of the European theatre festivals:
· Theaterformen Festival, Germany,
· Theater der Welt Festival, Germany
· Kunstenfestival des Arts, Belgium
· Festival Baltoscandal, Estonia
· Contemporary Drama Festival Budapest, Hungary
· Festival Krackow Theatrical Reminiscences, Poland
· Golden Mask Festival, Russia
· Festival Baltic House, Russia

Representatives of the performing art production and information centers and theatre institutes:
Intercult, Sweden
Centre for Drama Art, Croatia
Prague Theatre Institute, Czech Republic
Estonian Theatre Information Centre
Lithuanian Theatre and Cinema Information and Education Centre

Representatives of different types of theatres:
Q-Teatteri, Finland
Traffo, Hungary
Oskaras Korshunovas Theatre, Lithuania

Representatives of international networks:
THEOREM, France
Baltic Circle Network, Finland

  Theatre critics and journalists from Great Britain, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Slovenia, Macedonia.
Press reviews of the festival were published in several foreign newspapers: the Herald (Glasgow, GB), Dnevnik (Daily newspaper in Slovenia), Sirp (cultural newspaper in Estonia), Theater der Zeit (German theatre magazine).

PARALLEL PROGRAM
Festival is always a time for special events, special rhythm of life and atmosphere for the participants, organizers and the audience. In addition to the program of performances there were organized some other events:
- Opening of the festival at the Passengers' Port of Riga;
- Closing of the festival at the Spilve Airport including the performance "Friendship of the Nations" that was specially produced for this event by the fashion artist Petlura from Moscow;
- Jam Session of poetry, music and dance at the Dream Factory with the participation of the modern dance company Ad Infinitum, Ansis Rutental's Movement Theatre, poet Andris Akmentins, singer Anna Marta Kreituse and others;
- After-parties after the Norwegian performances "Euro-Huh?" at the Dream Factory with the participation of musicians from Bak-truppen and The Hedgehogs.

FESTIVAL CLUB
  During the festival nights after the performances the Festival Club events took place in different places in Riga (restaurant Arba, Bites Blues Club, New Riga Theatre and Dailes Theatre, Dream Factory and the floating gallery NOASS). The Festival Club served as an informal meeting point for the festival guests and participants to discuss the performances and to develop new collaborations.

WORKSHOP
  During the festival the Circus workshop for street children was organized in Liepaja, Karosta in collaboration with the Culture and Information Centre K@2. The workshop was lead by the artists from the Swedish company Cirkus Cirkor. With the support of Liepaja City Council the children had the possibility to visit the performance "TRIX" in Riga.

IMAGE AND SELF-PROMOTION OF THE FESTIVAL
  Festival Homo Novus had its own strong image that was very important in the context of numerous events of the European Cultural Month in Riga. The image of the festival in the city surroundings was elaborated by the visual artist Izolde Cesniece. The main accents were the big yellow banners at the venues of performances, festival flags and the action "Signs in the City". In cooperation with the Riga City Council yellow traffic signs with the logotype of the Homo Novus were placed on streets showing directions to the venues.

  In the Latvian National Opera the Festival Information Center worked from the beginning of September till the end of the festival with an aim to provide potential spectators with the information about festival performances and other events. There were two more information sources - at the Information Centre of the European Cultural Month (Doma Square) and the information service ZL Hotline.

  Besides the traditional promotional materials (posters, flyers, a catalogue, audio and video ads etc.), the organizers searched new ways to reach the audience:
* In collaboration with the Administration of Trams and Trolleybuses the festival flyers with the program were put in specially made bags and distributed in trams and trolleybuses. The conductors wore yellow arm bandages with the logotype of the festival.
* The information about the festival was distributed in different public places - in Janis Roze bookshops, in health centers, through the networks of the optics shops Pasaules optika and washhouses Irve, in different cafes and restaurants of Riga.
* Those spectators who bought a ticket got a discount voucher to 9 cafes and restaurants and to the washhouse Irve.
* Particular attention was paid to the information and advertisement in the internet. In collaboration with the Nordik IT company the home page of the festival was designed and updated regularly, and the advertisement campaign in the internet portals Delfi, TVNET, Filmas, ZL Hotline was performed.

FESTIVAL SITES
-  For the sites of the festival there were chosen different venues and surroundings in Riga. All the Festival venues were placed outside the very centre of the Riga City. They were chosen with an aim to decentralize the cultural life of Riga and to draw the attention of the citizens, the city and state authorities to the new emerging cultural activities and venues.

-  Daugavgriva Fortress - ruins of the historical buildings at the seacoast. This place is supposed to become an active cultural park of the specific area of Riga City called Bolderaja. During the festival the open-air performance "I Played, I Danced" (Latvian-Lithuanian co-production) perfectly fitted in this historical surrounding.

-  Spilve, former airport - a perfect example of Soviet architecture and art of the 50ies. Nowadays this venue should be evaluated as a historical monument. It is a property of the City Council that soon has to be privatized. The festival proved that this venue could be nicely used for public cultural events. The performances "Thirsty Birds" and "Friendship of the Nations", as well as the Closing of the festival were held at the Spilve Airport.

-  Theatre Museum - there is a potential venue for the performing arts events that is staying empty. By placing there one of very interesting festival performances - "The Play Which Has Never Existed…" - the NTIL tried to draw the attention to the society on the using of this venue. After the festival the discussion with the Ministry of Culture regarding the future of this venue was started.

-  The Film Studio - as the film industry is collapsed in Latvia (1 or 2 feature films a year can be hardy produced), this venue could be used for other purposes. In one of the pavilions a perfect theatre venue was built up for the Swedish performance "TRIX".

-  Statoil petrol stations - to place the art event in this public space mean getting the new audience. The Norwegian performance "The Night in the Inkpot" was played twice in two different petrol stations and gained great response from the audience.

-  Alfred's House - the private exhibition hall, still under construction, that is supposed to became the multi-functional cultural center of the specific area of Riga City. The Estonian performance "Aristocrats" was the first public event in this venue.

-  Dream Factory - private open venue that is looking for partners. It was well known among youth as the venue for alternative parties, so-called sub-culture events. Collaboration with the Dream Factory brought the new audience to the festival, on the one hand, and changed the image of the venue, on the other hand. During the festival the Jam Session and the Norwegian performance "Euro-Huh?" followed by an after-party was held in the Dream Factory twice.

-  Railway Museum - has been already used for different kind of cultural events. Homo Novus showed that it could be also very appropriate venue for theatre ("Re:Frankenstein" from the Netherlands).

  Before the festival we were afraid that the unusual festival sites could keep spectators from attending the performances. However, the festival performances were very well attended - about 90% fulfillment was reached. It made the additional interest for the audience - to visit interesting places, some of which normally are not available for visitors.

FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS, SPONSORS AND COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS

Festival Homo Novus 2001 attracted 83 collaborative partners and supporters:

· 5 financial supporters - Ministry of Culture of Latvia, Cultural Capital Foundation, Cultural Department of Riga City Council, UNESCO and Soros Foundation - Latvia;

· 8 sponsors - TV company LNT, daily Diena, Reval Hotel Latvija, Latvija Statoil SIA, Airbaltic, company VV LINE LV, Stora Enso Packing SIA, SIA Balta.

· 29 collaborative partners - Goethe Institute in Riga, Auswartiges Amt, French Cultural Centre, AFAA, Swedish Embassy in Riga, Nordic Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Stichting Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten, Association Golden Mask, Riga City Council, PVAS Latvenergo, Dailes Theatre, SIA Augstceltne & Kursi, Culture and Art Project NOASS, Latvian National Opera, Independent Theatre Skatuve, Riga Film Studio, Riga Latvian Society House, New Riga Theatre, Latvian Railway company, Museum of Latvian Railway History, Administration of Riga Free port, SIA Aumeisteru muiza, E. Smilgis Theatre Museum, Latvian National Armed Forces, Dream factory, Mencendorf's House, Bites Blues Club.

· 20 supporters - ITS 2 sia, Riga Taxi, Baileys, Factory of Paints and Polishes, SIA Elste un VS, SIA Apsara, RPPU Talava un RPPU AP Imanta, SIA Mazais Martins, Merrild, Diena Repro, Diena - Duni, SIA Hansab, cafe Apelsins, Design studio Graffiti, High school of Food production, club Austrumu robeza, SIA Riola N, International Exhibition Centre, Kolonna, SIA Impro Jurmala.

· 15 informative supporters - radio KNZ, grafton entertainment and internet portal TVNET, internet portal Delfi, art magazine Studija, Riga This Week, ZL Hotline, Radio Klasika, Administration of Trams and Trolleybuses, Health Center 4, Janis Roze bookshops, Vanag's Dentistry, Medical company Ars, club Metro, Advertising Company Busines Partner, Pasaules Optika.

· 10 provided with special discounts - restaurant Ordenis and restaurant Hollanders, gambling club Melnais Kakis, Ai Karamba, bar Jautras masas, Kolonade, Ala, Pie cepla, bar Rigas balzams, SIA Irve.