Description
FOCUS is a recurring event accompanying the KORCZAK TODAY Festival, aimed at promoting knowledge about theater for children and youth from a selected country.
This year’s edition focuses on providing an overview of Swedish theater for young audiences, highlighting the most intriguing trends and developments in Swedish drama. Invited to participate in FOCUS are Swedish playwrights, dramaturges, and theater researchers specializing in theater for children and youth: Dimen Hama Abdulla, Rebecka Brinch, Åsa Lindholm, Anna Lund, Ylva Lorentzon, Hedda Krausz Sjögren, Erik Uddenberg, Stefan Åkesson, and Rebecca Örtman, who will share their experiences working in this field.
FOCUS will take the form of a one-day conference, featuring a panel discussion on the evolution of new drama for children and youth, the experiences stemming from collaboration between playwrights and institutional as well as alternative theaters, and the challenges associated with this work. The panel will also feature the premiere of an anthology of plays for young people, published by the Children’s Art Center in Poznań as part of the New Plays for Children and Youth series. The anthology includes works by Dimen Hama Abdulla, Mattias Andersson, Athena Farrokhzad, Åsa Lindholm, Robin N Spegel, Talajeh Nasiri, and Erik Uddenberg, translated by Dominika Górecka.
The second highlight of FOCUS will be the presentation of research findings from Stockholm University entitled Staging Migration: Rhetoric, Representation, and Reception in Swedish Children’s Theater, as well as a reading of Rebecca Örtman’s play Today Is Today, inspired by the writings of Janusz Korczak.
Additionally, FOCUS will include performances by the Halina and Jan Machulski Acting School, based on contemporary Swedish plays for youth: Blush (inspired by Åsa Lindholm’s Girls Will Make You Blush, directed by Ewa Galica) and Keep Running based on Gå vidare by Kristian Hallberg, directed by Beniamin Koc.
The curator of FOCUS: SWEDEN is Dominika Górecka.
Partners: Nowy Teatr, Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden, Children’s Art Center in Poznań, Praga Cultural Center
FOCUS: SWEDEN is supported by the Swedish Council for Cultural Affairs.
PROGRAM:
October 19, 2024, Pałacyk Konopackiego, Strzelecka 11/13
• 7:00 PM – Performance of Blush, directed by Ewa Galica, a play for youth aged 16+, free tickets available at www.biletyna.pl
October 20, 2024, Pałacyk Konopackiego, Strzelecka 11/13
• 7:00 PM – Performance of Keep Running, directed by Beniamin Koc, a play for youth aged 16+, free tickets available at www.biletyna.pl
October 21, 2024, Nowy Teatr, Madalińskiego 10/16
• 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM: Writing drama for youth. New Swedish dramaturgy. Panel with Dimen Hama Abdulla, Åsa Lindholm, Hedda Krausz Sjögren, Erik Uddenberg, and Stefan Åkesson. Premiere of the anthology Games for the Future: An Anthology of Swedish Plays for Youth (published by the Children’s Art Center in Poznań, volume 53 of the New Plays for Children and Youth series). Moderators: Dominika Górecka and Dorota Kowalkowska. The discussion will be held in Swedish with Polish translation.
• 12:00 PM – 12:15 PM: Coffee break
• 12:15 PM – 2:00 PM: Staging youth drama. Roundtable discussions with invited guests.
• 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Lunch break
• 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM: Staging Migration: Rhetoric, Representation, and Reception in Swedish Children’s Theater. Presentation of research by Anna Lund, Rebecka Brinch, and Ylva Lorentzon from Stockholm University. Presentation in English with Polish translation.
• 4:30 PM – 4:45 PM: Coffee break
• 4:45 PM – 6:00 PM: Conversation with playwright Rebecca Örtman, reading of her play Today Is Today. The discussion will be held in Swedish with Polish translation. The play reading (video) will be in Swedish with Polish subtitles.