WorldWideLab: A Directors Festival

In Residence:
October 23, 2011 - October 27, 2011
Discipline:
Research
Country:
International Collective

WorldWideLab is a truly international collective, with members who are creating dynamic, diverse and engaging work in every corner of the globe. First coming together as members of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab in the Summer of 2010, we desired to continue collaborating with each other in a way that would draw on the best elements of our Lab experience. While the role of Director can often be insular, we were inspired by the opportunity to share our techniques, our ideas, our stories – all of which are deeply rooted in the places we come from and the experiences we’ve had. Our geographic and cultural diversity serves as our inspiration for WorldWideLab: A Directors Festival. The work we present will be possible through an openness to learn from, and share with, our collaborators. Through theatre, borders can become inconsequential. Our mission is to share stories from far and near with audiences all around the world.

 

This residency will reunite directors from at least seven countries for a collaborative retreat. The goal is to generate greater focus and structure for an intended International Directors Lab Festival – a one to two week presentation of director-driven work to occur concurrently in various cities worldwide sometime during the calendar year 2012. The week-long residency will include planning and discussion, workshopping, and artistic experimentation. The group aims to expand on some themes and ideas for the festival that have already been discussed within our group. These include the requirement that each director attempt a project that is a challenge outside his or her own comfort zone, or “foreign” (literally or figuratively).

Additionally, each production would incorporate an element of international or cross-cultural collaboration. That is, some element of each director’s production (a script, an actor, a design element, a movement style) would come from a culture or geographic source other than their own. Using these parameters, the directors will also use the residency to workshop their own production ideas in whatever way they see fit – conducting research, writing or editing, collaborating with actors, or brainstorming with designers. They will have both the core group of directors as well as a few visiting artists available to facilitate progress and the free flow of ideas.

 

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