So I thought I would stop off here to visit my blog after a break for ten days or so.Its late afternoon on a Saturday and I am about to go off with Maciej and Ayka to a 'party' Wroclaw style - all I know is that we are instructed to bring vodka!
Our discussions happened just before the presentation. I was delighted that ARKA made their commitment to working with Jasmine Street on their next show. As things have moved on and they have become more familiar with our work at Arc, Renata tells me that she is keen to make some work about race. She's seen extracts of Clifford Oliver's play Boy X on youtube and is struck by how far removed it is from things here in Poland. Indeed Maciej and she agree that awareness and understanding of racism in Poland is minimal. And of course there was the exposee last year in a BBC Panorama documentary - Euro 2012 Stadiums of Hate about Polish and Ukranian football fans. Maciej tells me that its bad. People are generally polite but where and when they feel safe the real racism and prejudice rears its head, often hugely shockingly.
My mind is whirring with thoughts as I sit down at the European parliament office. Suddenly and unexpectedly I hear my name and am asked to stand up and speak about the partnership with ARKA. Bit of a challenge as I have three words of Polish to my chagrin! But a helpful translator jumps in and I find myself talking excitedly about the partnership with Jasmine Street and ARKA, and then I say that we plan to make some new theatre work with themes around racism next year. It meets with a stony silence. Then some rather polite clapping. And then I am out of there, wondering quite what I have landed in. Fortunately the MEP Lydia spoke to me afterwards and said how important this issue is for Brussels and its a primary target for renewed political effort. We have her support.
Later I spoke to the playwright - Krzysztof Kopec about the embryonic ideas for a play on the theme of racism in Poland. He started by suggesting we sit down with some neo-nazis and begin to explore the potential for a piece of "verbatim' theatre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbatim_theatre of the documentary style kind created by such directors as Nick Kent at the Tricycle Theatre. I got rather excited.
This has been a very interesting visit. I arrived late on Wednesday and its my fourth visit since my first trip in April (that after a gap of thirty years!). I have seen spring into summer and now into autumn. The wonderful cafes around the city square are no longer bedecked with relaxed people in shorts and teeshirts, now its just the hardcore smokers who sit huddled under the blowy umbrellas. Wroclaw in autumn. You can feel the coolness in the air and there has been a lot of rain. The change of weather is so extraordinary at this time of year, only a couple of weeks ago it was 28 degrees! The mood of people reflects the change too.
Yesterday I had my meeting with Renata Jasinska, Artistic Director of ARKA Teatr. You may remember if you were following the blog in the summer. The purpose of this visit is to check in with Maciej to talk about Jasmine Street developments and to meet Renata about the piece of work she has invited me to direct for ARKA next year.
It was a busy day for the actors and team at ARKA. They were all suited and booted and ready to go to the European Parliament Offices in Wroclaw to receive a European Citizen's Award presented by Lidia Geringer de Oedenberg who represents the Democratic Left Alliance-Labour Union party.
Our discussions happened just before the presentation. I was delighted that ARKA made their commitment to working with Jasmine Street on their next show. As things have moved on and they have become more familiar with our work at Arc, Renata tells me that she is keen to make some work about race. She's seen extracts of Clifford Oliver's play Boy X on youtube and is struck by how far removed it is from things here in Poland. Indeed Maciej and she agree that awareness and understanding of racism in Poland is minimal. And of course there was the exposee last year in a BBC Panorama documentary - Euro 2012 Stadiums of Hate about Polish and Ukranian football fans. Maciej tells me that its bad. People are generally polite but where and when they feel safe the real racism and prejudice rears its head, often hugely shockingly.
I ask Renata about the make-up of her acting ensemble. I know and appreciate the ground breaking work she has done in inclusive theatre with differently abled people, but race? Well exactly how many BAME actors are there in Wroclaw? She agrees sheepishly that there are none. Hardly her fault. The streets of Wroclaw are uniformally white. But then she talks a little about the husband of one of her actors who is of Ethiopian descent. It doesn't take much of a question to discover the level of antagonism and direct racism he has faced, enough to make he and his wife feel compelled to move to a different part of the city.
I look at her with a certain level of incredulity that she wants to begin this long journey to engage with issues of racism. Its one we have been on for over thirty years at Arc and whilst the overt and obvious stuff has been to some degree addressed, its an ongoing battle requiring constant vigilance. The recent vans touring Barking and Dagenham telling illegal immigrants to go home can put back any sensible dialogue for years. And this - Poland. Its a huge issue. I suggest to Renata that the first port of call might be a chat with the actor concerned to get his take on it. Tough call to make a piece for a town that is so homogenous that the issue just simply doesn't occur to people, until it does of course and usually in an ugly way.
My mind is whirring with thoughts as I sit down at the European parliament office. Suddenly and unexpectedly I hear my name and am asked to stand up and speak about the partnership with ARKA. Bit of a challenge as I have three words of Polish to my chagrin! But a helpful translator jumps in and I find myself talking excitedly about the partnership with Jasmine Street and ARKA, and then I say that we plan to make some new theatre work with themes around racism next year. It meets with a stony silence. Then some rather polite clapping. And then I am out of there, wondering quite what I have landed in. Fortunately the MEP Lydia spoke to me afterwards and said how important this issue is for Brussels and its a primary target for renewed political effort. We have her support.
Later that evening I went with Maciej to see a show at Adspectores. The audience were given individual headphones for an extraordinary auditory sound scape. Sadly the primarily textual nature of the experience meant that I had no idea what was being said. I learned later that it was a play about The International Congress of Intellectuals 1948 at which great attempts were made to stop western intellectuals such as Pablo Picasso promoting Einstein's ideas about peace. (ie; the real danger to world peace was the existence of the two super powers, Soviet Union and the USA).
Later I spoke to the playwright - Krzysztof Kopec about the embryonic ideas for a play on the theme of racism in Poland. He started by suggesting we sit down with some neo-nazis and begin to explore the potential for a piece of "verbatim' theatre. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbatim_theatre of the documentary style kind created by such directors as Nick Kent at the Tricycle Theatre. I got rather excited.
I plan to come back home and am really looking forward to talking this through with some colleagues. Its a big one.
Good to be back on here. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts and comments on this. This is a huge time of transition and the more we can talk about these issues across Europe the better.
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