Drop

An Indo-German theatre laboratory

DROP is an Indo-German theatre lab, which aims to develop a theatre production based on intercultural and aesthetic communication, in several phases. The idea for DROP came about during Theater Triebwerk’s three India tours, which were all supported by the Goethe-Institute. During improvisation sessions with Indian dancers and musicians, a correspondence of form was found in musical narrative theatre. In this project, the German form of musical narrative theatre, for which Theater Triebwerk is known, comes into dialogue with the gestual repertoire of classical Indian dance and music. Together with the dramaturg Sophia Stepf and Theaterwerkstatt Pilkentafel, an internationl experienced theatre group whom Triebwerk has been collaborating with, Phase 1 took place in Pune in january 2010. Partners in India are the Goethe-Institut Pune and the Education Foundation FLAME, where a theatre programme is just about to be started.

In these workshops we explored the primary and culturally different forms of expression on stage.The idea of the minute-long tasks was, that since time is limited, the gaze can concentrate on the essential. That is how a comparison of styles and working methods is enabled and immediately concretised. The tasks posed fundamental questions about theatre and music: How do I make a sound? How do I stand? How do I fill the space? How do I portray fear, joy or pain? What is concrete and what is abstract? How coded are the signs and do the others understand these signs or do they see things totally differently? What are the interesting misunderstandings? What are the boring ones? These various short workshops were aimed at finding a trio of dancers, musicians, actors, with whom the dialogue can be intensified and eventually lead to a production of a play.

A project by

Uwe Schade: Cello, Actor (Theater Triebwerk)
Heino Sellhorn: Double Base, Actor (Theater Triebwerk)
Torsten Schütte: Actor (Theaterwerkstatt Pilkentafel)
Elisabeth Bohde: Director (Theaterwerkstatt Pilkentafel)
Sophia Stepf: Dramaturg (Culture for Competence)
Prasad Vanarase: Coordination & Artistic Consultant (FLAME)

supported by Goethe-Institut Pune/India and FLAME – Foundation for Liberal and Management Education

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