SHOWOFF

The springboard for discussion in the "Green Thursdays" series and for this episode was the Theatre and Environmental Protection survey, a piece of research carried out in spring 2020 as part of Theatre Night in the Czech Republic, in which the majority of respondents stated that they actively try to minimise the environmental impact of their activities, albeit in a somewhat haphazard way. We spoke with guests from the Czech Republic, Poland and France about current ecological trends in theatre management or production and cultural mobility, as well as how the topic of sustainability resonates in communication with the public, in artistic programs and the pandemic-induced slowdown, which we are coming to terms with on a daily basis, more or less organically. We progressed from concrete examples, attitudes and measures, through emphasis on their sustainable management and systematic evaluation, to reflecting on artistic and personal practices and the lot of the performing arts in the context of the European Green Deal and the new – pandemic and post-pandemic – normality.

The starting point for this episode of the ShowOff podcast was a discussion of the same name with Nela H. Kornetová, a Czech theatre artist based in Norway, Greek researcher and critic Savas Patsalides and Martynas Petrikas, a Lithuanian expert on contemporary Central European theatre. The main topic of discussion was to search for and formulate the fundamental meaning of theatre and the reasons for its existence in the digital twenty-first century. The resulting podcast is a summary of the most fundamental moments of the conversation. Why go to the theatre when we carry a gateway to an infinite number of entertainments in our pockets? Can theatre exist in a compressed format, or is it fundamentally resistant to compression? How do younger generations, online from birth, relate to offline meetings that occur at one time and in one place. What is the meaning of "live" today. Are there reasons to fear for the future of live encounters, or is it us who should be afraid of them? This episode offers few answers and raises many questions. Join us for a this episode on the future of theatre through the eyes of theorists and practitioners, brought to you by Jiří Šimek, actor, theatre maker and founder of Ufftenživot company (www.ufftenzivot.cz).

As part of a webinar focused on the role of theatres and theatre academies in the public space, we tried to speak not only about the current situation in selected theatre academies in Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, but to think together about important aspects of institutional politics in a European context, and also in terms of the interconnectedness of these academies. We identified the following common themes as key: deep care for the quality of relationships and institutions; the assumption of personal responsibility; the creation of alliances and networks; new possibilities for leadership and the use of initiatives from all levels of the institution; reducing the difference between proclamations and performativity; transparency and the willingness to take action in public. A discussion on theatre as a cultural institution, with Alice Koubová, lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Philosophy at the Czech Academy of Sciences.

The introductory episode, titled “A Third Theatrical Reform?” addresses the integration of theatre and digitality, particularly in relation to the concept of presence. The discussion begins with the fact that digital tools are gradually becoming a part of theatrical language. This reality has been accelerated by the ongoing pandemic and the related government restrictions. What positive role can technology play in the development of theatre? How to blur the boundary between the virtual world and reality? The philosopher, writer and journalist Anna Luňáková reflects on the emerging future of theatre in relation to a changing society.

Audioessays about performing arts in the (post)covid era. Premier of first full episode 11.2.2020.