Address: Teatri Kombëtar | Event Map | Venue Accessibility

What can we expect from theatre in times of social and political crisis? Does it need to assume a role beyond its traditional one, such as a sensitiser, healer and propagator? Does it begin to be perceived as a space for solidarity and commemoration, as well as an institution of ‘spiritual resistance’? And if so, are these ‘additions’ something that diminishes the artistic purpose of theatre or strengthens it? 

Simply put - does theatre strive to survive and is its survival in times of war and crisis an act of resistance and resilience?

What expectations do the audience have towards its own theatre, an audience that in their daily lives is confronted with the horror of crisis and war as well as social and political turmoil? And what does the audience expect from their comfort zone – the one that observes the events from a distance?

With the invasion of Russia into Ukraine and the Russian waging war, the theatre world has shifted its focus towards Ukrainian productions, as a symbol of solidarity and support for the victims. It is driven by an almost selfish desire to be on the right side of history. But is theatre merely a space to reproduce the images of war, suffering and terror that people are experiencing in the war zones - a war ‘far away, somewhere in Ukraine’? Perhaps it should go beyond that, to tell us about Ukrainian society, about people’s lives before the conflict, to provide a broader picture of a normalcy that existed and has now been disrupted.

Finally, can and should theatre in a more sincere and profound manner awaken our sense of empathy for others? Not only when this is projected and guided by the media and politics, but when this kind of solidarity and empathy attempts to break through and is ignored by politics and the media – as is the case of the current situation with refugees from the Middle East and Africa.

How can theatre become a detector of human suffering, even when that suffering is not in the spotlight and the interest of politics and the media?

Speakers

Katya Kisten, Ukraine

Aktina Stathaki, BETWEEN THE SEAS - Festival of Mediterranean Performing Arts, Greece 

Roy Horovitz, Bar-ilan University,Israel

Emma Jordan, PRIME CUT PRODUCTIONS, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom 

Moderator

Verity Healey, Journalist, writer and photographer, United Kingdom