FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL EXCHANGE The international work of the Children’s and Young People’s Theatre Centre in Germany by Henning Fangauf and Jürgen Kirschner Since the Centre was founded in 1989 we have been involved in many different theatre initiatives for children and young people with international dimensions. On the one hand we pursue long-term projects; and on the other hand we like to be able to react flexibly to current challenges in international cultural and educational work. Our aim is to promote international exchange and networking in order to strengthen theatre for children and young people. The repertoire – a review A look at the repertoire of theatre for children and young people in Germany clearly reveals the interests of artists in international theatre. Up to 50% of the plays – in some theatres the proportion is even more – have been originally created abroad. In the 1980s theatre artists in West Germany began to take a greater interest in plays from Sweden, Holland and Italy, and shortly after in the work of Danish, English and French theatres for children and young people. After 1989, theatres for children and young people in the former GDR contributed their own experience of Russian and Eastern European theatre to the process of German unification. We have taken up these interests and developed formats in which individual countries can present their artistic work. Thus for many years now we have offered German artists innumerable opportunities for exchanges with leading artists in children’s and young people’s theatre from neighbouring countries in Europe. One initiative which had a long-term effect was the working meetings in the Kurt Schumacher Academy in Bad Münstereifel between 1991 and 1997, which featured the theatre topographies of the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and France. Here interest was equally divided between authors and their plays, the specific features of dramaturgy and translations, the respective structures of the theatre and education systems, and questions regarding training and cultural policies. Henning Fangauf und Jürgen Kirschner: From local to global exchange From specific countries to specific themes Since 1981 professionals in theatre for children and young people have regularly gathered in Berlin for the “Augenblick mal!” theatre meeting, which has always included an international programme ranging from Eastern Europe via Scandinavia to Israel. The “Augenblick mal!” festival is a good example of the conceptual change which has taken place in the international work of the Centre. Since 1999 at the latest we have gradually turned our attention away from the specific features of individual countries and concentrated more on searching for thematic links to German stage practices on an international level. Since then the “Augenblick mal!” festival has focussed on themes like European Schoolyard Stories (2001), Theatre for early years (2005), Experimental Theatre (2007) and Models of International Coproductions (2011). International work as part of foreign cultural and educational policies Today the Centre’s international work is more orientated on German and European foreign cultural and educational policies than it was in our early years. These policies include the advancement of the European process of unification, easier access to culture in all countries, and intercultural dialogue. Here the promotion of structures and networks play just as a significant role as the support given to individual theatres and persons. Example 1: “Theatre from the Start!“ In 2006 the Centre launched a project entitled “Theatre from the very beginning!“, whose subtitle “Networking, Models, Methods” was resonant with international dimensions. Rather like a circular argument, the project has taken up the experiences of other European countries with so-called “Baby Theatre” and passed on these impulses to many theatres in Germany, who in turn will present their knowledge to an international audience at the ASSITEJ World Congress in 2011. The starting point for this model project was the 8th German Children and Young People’s Theatre Festival “Augenblick mal!” in 2005 which presented four shows from France, Norway and Italy. This example demonstrates that the international www.jugendtheater.net Page 2 von 6 Henning Fangauf und Jürgen Kirschner: From local to global exchange work of the Centre closely follows tendencies in the European theatre scene, takes them up, reflects them and processes them for theatre workers in Germany. Example 2: “The German-Catalan Exchange“ The Catalan theatre topography is rich and multifaceted. In the southeast of Spain there exists a dense network of theatre groups, promoters and supporters of theatre for children and young people, also in universities and theatre schools. Much of this is similar to Germany, but a lot of it is different and more shot through with tradition. These are ideal pre-requisites for an exchange at equal level, where both sides will have the opportunity to give and take. Since 2007, when Catalonia was the special guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair, both countries have been meeting to exchange visiting productions, encourage discussions between authors, translations of plays, academic exchanges and workshops led by individual artists. The role of the Centre has long developed far beyond that of a mere initiator. Along with the Goethe Institute in Barcelona, the “Institut Ramon Llull” and the “Foundacio Xerxa” we are continually being approached for ideas and impulses. A website specially set up by the Goethe Institute in Barcelona1 documents these activities. Example 3: “Interplay“ The Centre has belonged to “Interplay” – a network for promoting young dramatists – since 1994 and guarantees German participation at the international authors’ meetings which take place every two years. In this respect we took over responsibility at a very early time. At two “Interplay Europe” meetings in Germany in 1995 and 1998 we set up the foundations for a regular exchange between European authors. In 1998 we created an international basis for these activities when we set up an official association entitled “Interplay Europe” in Berlin. One of the aims of the association is to set up “regular working meetings between young dramatists from Germany and other countries in Europe”. The Goethe Institute supports the activities of Interplay. 1 http://www.goethe.de/ins/es/bar/kue/the/jth/hfa/deindex.htm www.jugendtheater.net Page 3 von 6 Henning Fangauf und Jürgen Kirschner: From local to global exchange Example 4: “A Service Point for International Exchanges” It goes without saying that the German and international theatre scene has a right to expect services from our Competence Centre for Children’s and Young People’s Theatre. For this reason we advise German and foreign theatre artists in questions concerning international touring, provide information on international theatre and initiate the exchange of productions, persons, plays and ideas. The service centre cooperates closely with ASSITEJ Bundesrepublik Deutschland e.V. Example 5: “Learning a Language through Theatre“ The language departments of the Goethe Institute and German schools abroad have both adopted the idea of mediating the German language via touring theatre shows and theatre workshops. Our competence as experts on plays for young people and mediators of authors and theatre pedagogues has made us a much sought-after partner. We gathered our first experiences in further training in the 1990s in Ukraine, and since then we have continually provided further training opportunities for specialist teachers in Europe and beyond. Here we are able to refer back to our experiences with the national curricula for drama in schools, and integrate our project entitled “The German lesson”. All these current examples make clear that the interdisciplinary nature of the international work of the Centre affects all areas of our work. Here we are united in our common aim to link theatre artists working for and with children and young people, on a regional, national and international basis in order to advance theatre for children and young people. International Connections in the Centre’s Collection The international exchange between a globally active theatre scene has been developed out of the local border traffic between neighbouring countries, the interest of individual theatres in touring abroad, and the curiosity about art in other cultures. These tendencies are reflected in the library and archives held in the Children’s and Young People’s Theatre Centre in the Federal Republic of Germany. International stocks can be found throughout the different collections. The international outlook of the Centre has also played an effective part to support this scene. Programmes and reviews, posters, theatre photos and other media bear witness to our investigations www.jugendtheater.net Page 4 von 6 Henning Fangauf und Jürgen Kirschner: From local to global exchange abroad, and document the import of the knowledge we have gained there in order to enrich the German theatre scene. International documents and publications in German prove the liveliness of this discourse. After German reunification in 1990 we continued the discourse between the two German states which had been set up after the Second World War. The Berlin collection on theatre for children and young people in the GDR not only documents contacts with the socialist world, but also encounters with capitalist states. The committed international work of the ASSITEJ centre in the GDR, the positions taken up by the West German ASSITEJ and the development of ASSITEJ as a world organisation are all documented in the Centre’s archives. At the moment we are keeping a particular eye on production documents from the last two decades as a pendant to the discussions being held in the boards of ASSITEJ International. Donations of documents from the General Secretariat of ASSITEJ International highlight its main points of interest, and material provided by the national centres explains the development of the different continents and regions. The contemporary archive and its foreign stocks provide concrete examples of productions for children and young people all over the world.