INTERNATIONAL THEATRE
EXCHANGE PROGRAM
As an international arts organisation, VertebrART also focuses on international theatre exchange and promotion, providing a broader international platform for outstanding contemporary theatre productions and promoting multicultural exchange. This enriches the local theatre scene. We embrace the spirit of diversity and professionalism to provide a quality two-way platform for theatre productions and audiences from around the world.
New Three Sisters
By Hiroshi Koike Bridge Project (Japan）
HKBPʼs New Three Sisters describes modern women who live today. Applying all genres of bodily expressions such as dance, acting, and singing, Hiroshi Koike simply but boldly illustrates the ways the three sisters live in society. HKBP presents Chekhovʼs masterpiece as an exhilarating tragicomedy from a new and innovative perspective.
The three sisters depict women’s lives in Japan in the new millennium. The women are at a turning point in the present age, caught in rapid development in technology, economic and political shifts, and global environmental change. How can a woman live as a “new human”? The three sisters question their lives and needs. Their inner dialogue is shown through intense physicality and explosive energy.
The performance has many humorous moments. The three female performers’ nonstop vigorous expressions will blow the audience’s mind and question the word Chekhovian. Hiroshi Koike added a fresh dimension to the original play by Anton Chekhov and revived it as a modern tragicomedy. This work was also showcased in Russia and ended in enthusiastic acceptance as “The Three Sisters, which nobody has ever seen.”
Date: 11-12th May 2019
Venue: Duanjun Theatre, Shanghai Theatre Academy
Participated in 2019 Shanghai Modern Drama Valley Festival
The Seagull
By Latvian National Theatre (Latvia)
The Seagull is one of Chekhov's most famous plays, well known across the world and with a rich theatre history in Latvia as well. It has been produced many times by great theatre directors with each of them leaving a mark on the play and expressing not only the ideas and feelings of their time but their own personal relationship with art and theatre. Elmārs Seņkovs as director is known for working with great, classical materials and finding in them a modern and unique point of view. He himself writes about this performance:
"This story is more tragic than tragic. It's not by accident that Checkov wrote this play as a comedy. It is because of how the play's characters in chasing their dreams and happiness reveal to us their very human weaknesses that make us smile. We can see so much of ourselves in the characters of this play.
It's a story of a young man's ambitions and his relationship with his mother. His mother has sent him to the province where he spends his youth yearning for new forms in art and his love for Nina. Treplev prepares a play to show his talent and to put himself above his mother's boyfriend the acclaimed writer Trigorin. Treplev desires his mother's attention and praise. But his mother takes offence at his play and brings her son's creativity to a halt. All the play characters are tied together by this event and each of them has to deal with their relationship with past and present. I'm most touched by Treplev's story who at the end it has lost everything - his mother, his love with Nina and his faith in himself."
Date: 11-12th May 2019
Venue: Shanghai Theatre Academy
Participated in 2019 Shanghai Modern Drama Valley Festival
Antigone
By Latvian National Theatre (Latvia)
Jean Anouilh's play Antigone is based on Greek mythology and the ancient play of the same name written by Sophocles. It is an exploration of human character and clash of beliefs that has withstood the test of time, tapping into all of our hearts and minds - speaking to the audience with time gone wisdom and truth that moves us to this day. Displaying the power of conviction and principle that can change the course of history. The director of the performance Elmārs Seņkovs writes:
"It's a story about Antigone's faith in her traditions. Antigone's brother became a traitor to her people. Her only desire - for her brother to be given a proper burial. King Creon cannot allow this, because he serves the law. And it is because of the law that he has power and there is prosperity in his country. Antigone decides to stand against this law and to deny the King, knowing that this act is a rebellion against the whole system. And we as spectators suddenly can't tell who is the hero and the villain of this story. the boundary separating the two becomes so frail in this story that it disappears altogether. It is the battle between one's heart and the man-made law's that propel this story to become a tragedy. This performance to me is a monument for our inner human faith and beliefs."
Date: 7th-8th May 2019
Venue: Shanghai Theatre Academy
Participated in 2019 Shanghai Modern Drama Valley Festival
Get Happy
By Told by an Idiot (UK)
Enter a world of artfully controlled chaos. There’s a mysterious bag that drops from a height. Shoes have magical powers. And the strangest egg sandwich is made in front of your eyes.
The play may not have a complete story, nor is it like the way children's theatre commonly tells stories. It is more like a random combination of small fragments, like a child's unbridled imagination. And each fragment has a theme that inspires the audience to open up a world of imagination together.
Physical comedy, live music, acrobatics, silly dancing and audience interaction all feature in this 'madcap little gem' (Time Out) - a show for kids and adults of all ages. Told by an Idiot has looked to the work of Charlie Chaplin, Dr Seuss and Pina Bausch to fashion an unexpected variety performance, bursting with quirky playfulness and off-the-wall humour.
The original production of Get Happy was commissioned by the Barbican London.
Date: 26-29th Oct 2017
Venue: Comedy Theatre Beijing
Participated in 2017 Beijing Comedy Festival
