sábado, dezembro 04, 2004

Seminário Internacional de Jovens Críticos de Teatro (III)

Começando hoje a publicação dos breves textos sobre o contexto teatral na Europa e no Mundo, segue o texto apresentado por Mark Brow sobre a situação na Escócia.

THE THEATRE CULTURE IN SCOTLAND

Scottish theatre has gone through a considerable amount of change and development in recent years. There has been international success for a number of Scottish and Scotland-based playwrights and companies. The new National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) has recently begun its work. The country's leading theatres have appointed new artistic directors. The inaugural annual Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland were held in 2003. Such events have contributed to a renewed sense of vibrancy within the theatre culture.

The idea of a National Theatre has long been a source of controversy within the Scottish theatre community. It is, perhaps, as a consequence of the widespread disagreements over where the NTS should be, and, even, whether it should actually be created, that the model finally adopted was of a company without a theatre building, commissioning and producing visiting and touring work from new administrative offices in Glasgow.

The first artistic director of the NTS is Vicky Featherstone, previously artistic director of the internationally acclaimed London-based theatre company, Paines Plough. As director of Paines Plough Ms Featherstone developed a reputation as a champion of challenging new stage writing, and she enjoyed a close working relationship with Scotland's new writing theatre, the Traverse in Edinburgh, as well as with many Scottish playwrights and actors. Her appointment has been warmly received by most practitioners and critics in Scotland.

Young, Scotland-based playwrights such as David Greig, David Harrower, Zinnie Harris and Henry Adam have received considerable attention across the UK and internationally in recent years. Perhaps the most successful new Scottish play has been Gregory Burke's political comedy Gagarin Way (2001), which has been translated into 19 languages, and performed all over the world. Longstanding Scottish poet and playwright Liz Lochhead also received international acclaim for her new version of Euripides's Medea (2000).

Many Scottish theatre companies, both building based (such as the Citizens in Glasgow, Dundee Rep, and the Traverse in Edinburgh) and non-building based (such as Grid Iron and Theatre Babel), enjoy a strong international reputation. There has also been a renewed focus on children's theatre, through the excellent Children's International Theatre Festival in Edinburgh and the development of children's theatre companies such as Catherine Wheels and Wee Stories. Theatre in Scotland also continues to benefit immeasurably from the Edinburgh International and Fringe festivals, which, together, continue to offer the most extensive theatre programme in the world.

Consequently, despite on-going debates about the funding of live drama through the Scottish Arts Council, there is a high degree of confidence within the Scottish theatre community at present.


MARK BROWN é crítico de teatro no jornal escocês Sunday Herald desde Outubro 2003. Colaborou, ainda com os jornais Scotland on Sunday (onde foi crítico de teatro de Janeiro de 2000 a Outubro 2004), The Scotsman, The Herald, The Sunday Times e The Guardian. É colaborador habitual do programa de rádio Arts on Show da BBC Radio Scotland. Em 1999 recebeu o Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society's Allen Wright Award para jovens jornalistas culturais.


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