Episodes
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(recorded & streamed on May 3, 2021)
„Dialogue is really aimed at going into the whole thought process and changing the way the thought process occurs collectively. We haven’t really paid much attention to thought as a process. We have engaged in thoughts, but we have only paid attention to the content, not to the process.“ David Bohm, On Dialogue
In this special episode Brenno invites us to talk about and practice Dialogue in the tradition of David Bohm. We also invoke Martin Buber and his tales of the chassidim. We touch a lot of not strictly theatrical topics, that nevertheless maybe connect to theatre and arts.
Brenno co-founded dialogues.one - "a community and open source method for listening and speaking to each other for drafting future scenarios"
The cover image is of course Bruegel's Tower of Babel - just upside down!
Books:
David Bohm, On Dialogue
Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim
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From now on we will gather in the white room on Mondays at 20:00 (CET). Join us live: https://whiteroom-pod.com/live
We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it in your Podcast App, by recommending it to your friends and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. -
(recorded & streamed on 26 April, 2021)Do you know Antonin Artaud (1896 - 1948)? We neither, and we don't pretend to. With Théophile we try to circle around this very special figure in theatre history - as a visionary for theatre, virtual reality and radio plays; and as a tragic figure, plagued by disease and misfortune. Before that, we also speak again briefly on Jean-Claude Carriére and discover his true humanism. The rest is silence. And books to read:Theophile recommends by Antonin ArtaudThe Theatre and Its DoubleLove lettersVan Gogh: The Man Suicided by Society Marije recommendsAlchemists of the Stage, Mirella Schino--From now on we will gather in the white room on Mondays at 20:00 (CET). Join us live: https://whiteroom-pod.com/liveWe are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.You can support the podcast by subscribing to it, by recommending it to your friends and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference.
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Episodes manquant?
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(recorded and streamed on 19 April, 2021)After one year we meet again with theatre group Futur3 (Cologne, DE), i.e. with the Artistic Directors Stefan Kraft and André Erlen. After introducing the podcast, we're resurrecting the category "Secret Word of Today". We speak about how we are, strategies against the Machine and strategies for Hybrid Forms; we talk Zoom performances.We touch the topic of how to treat each other in work, and the open wounds in the history of independent theatre. In the end we speak about Theatre & Games, which according to André, is his only hope for continuity (cum grano salis). Conclusions: In theatre, it's never what it is.We also have some spiritual aide by Jean-Claude Carriére and Frank Zappa. ---In TWR006 we spoke with André about his professional history and the work of Futur3: https://whiteroom-pod.com/twr006-future-experiments/The title and the cover image of course pay homage to the sublime Jacques Tati!--From now on we will gather in the white room on Mondays at 20:00 (CET). Join us live: https://whiteroom-pod.com/liveWe are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.You can support the podcast by subscribing to it, by recommending it to your friends and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference.
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the white room - conversations on theatre #27
In the 27th episode we speak with Sina and Jascha, founders of the network Cheers for Fears. After Simon spills some water into the wine of the concept "SARS-Cov-2-testing for events" we speak about infectious networks, cold and warm, virtual villages, loneliness, vulnerability and magic, about the risk of encounter; and more.
"Say it aloud / I'm lost and proud / You're welcome here / Cheers for Fears!"
CHEERS FOR FEARS is an initiative launched in 2013 with the aim of intensifying the exchange between young artists in North Rhine-Westphalia and their academies and stimulating artistic collaborations. The founding impulse of the initiative resulted from the desire to exchange work strategies, aesthetics and perspectives across academies and disciplines.
Show notes
CHEERS FOR FEARS - http://www.cheersforfears.de/
Peter H. Diamandis - A false sense of security… - https://www.diamandis.com/blog/false-sense-security (Simon)
Cheryl Giles, radical care - https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/11/cheryl-giles/ (Marije)
Cover photo (c) Sven Neidig, 2016
Books
Donna Haraway - Staying with the Trouble
Morgan Scott Peck - The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace (Marije)
Eugenio Barba - Theatre: Solitude, Craft, Revolt (Marije)
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From now on we will gather in the white room fortnightly on Mondays at 20:00 (CET). Join us live: https://whiteroom-pod.com/live
We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it, by recommending it to your friends and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. -
the white room - conversations on theatre #26
(streamed & recorded on March 22, 2021)
We wanted to limit ourselves to one hour, but got carried away a little bit. Celebrating the anniversary of this podcast, we cannot help but notice the real sad anniversary of the pandemic.
We discover it's hard to recall how we actually did feel one year ago, and to recollect how many big and small things have changed - for good? Will we get to the point, where we return to whatever shall be normal?
Among other things, we look at important Performances without Spectators, especially Pope Francis' "Urbi et Orbi" blessing from March 27, 2020, and – Football / Soccer.
Links:
Pope Francis, Urbi et Orbi, March 27, 2020: https://youtu.be/P6mMM8uZXkY
Michael Spicer on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TerencePlato -
(recorded and streamed on March 8, 2021)
A very bifurcating conversation with Linda Cunningham, containing: Ambiguity, #InternationalWomensDay, Real Emancipation vs. Emancipation as Brand, Privileges, Greenwashing, Power, the Daughters of Dún Iascaigh, Relation, Theatre, Linguistics, Reality, Rhythm, Suspension, Music.
In the end we discover and reject "Thinginess", and speculate why we don't respect Mystery anymore.
Show notes
Daughters of Dún Iascaigh - https://twitter.com/iascaigh
Pensions pay gap - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56315730
We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it, by recommending it to your friends and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. -
(recorded and streamed on 22 Feb, 2021)
After touching some smaller topics, Simon speaks at length about Jean-Claude Carrière, screenwriter, playwright, narrator, dramaturg for the greatest films of Luis Buñuel and theatre productions of Peter Brook and many others. A remarkable person, a true liar, he died on 8th February, 2021.
Shownotes:
https://ourworldindata.org
Study on Contagion in Concert Hall Dortmund (in German): https://www.br-klassik.de/aktuell/news-kritik/corona-aerosol-studie-dortmund-ansteckung-konzert-theater-100.html
Jean-Claude Carriére: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Claude_Carrière
Carriére and Buñuel: https://youtu.be/Q080ljkfeQA
Peter Brook's The Mahabharata, TV version: https://youtu.be/yhqkRGISQr8
From now on we will gather in the white room fortnightly on Mondays at 20:00 (CET). Join us live: https://whiteroom-pod.com/live
We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. -
(recorded and streamed on 8 Feb, 2021)
containing Coronavirus Update: Resignation, Clubhouse Ladidah.
Speaking about Practice without the Practice. Future Topics: Classic Texts & Artificiality.
"The Village" online project: more information is coming!
Future of Theatre Work towards precarious sustainability.
The cover is "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas" by Caravaggio (~1601). Slightly darker.
From now on we will gather in the white room fortnightly on Mondays at 20:00 (CET). Join us live: https://whiteroom-pod.com/live
We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. -
(recorded and streamed on 25 Jan, 2021)
Our first episode 2021 starts with a scanning of possible topics that interests us.
Contents:
Signal, Digital Naivité, Surveillance Capitalism, Attention.
Where is Theatre Going? Auditive Worlds and Online Performances, Problem of Interaction and Flow. Virtual Hacker congress #rc3 in Germany.
Rhythm. Working language, Metaphors and Scientific Thinking.
From now on we will gather in the white room every fortnight on Mondays at 20:00 (CET). Join us live: https://whiteroom-pod.com/live -
(recorded on Dec 30, 2020)
We sat together for a special end of year episode, which we streamed live on the evening of December 30. We had a lot of technical problems (who didn’t this year!?), but lovely guests, drinks and a lot of fun.
We wanted to do our own preposterous retrospective of 2020. So we let ourselves pass freely from general reflections of the year to more theatre related topics.
You can use the chapter markers to jump to topics that interest you.
We speak about the privilege of choice and how much we’re NOT „in the same boat“ in this crisis, about technology as a tool or collaborator, at length about „performing online“ and the immediacy of theatre.
Thanks to Christian, Linda and Marta for taking part in this somewhat improvised experiment and sharing their input so generously.
With Christian Grüny we recorded our 7th episode: Proto-Knowledge
With Marta Wryk we recorded our 11th episode: The Athletic Voice -
"Agora. The marketplace. This is where we negotiate who we are. Who we want to be." With this claim Marcel Cremer founded the Agora Theater in St Vith in 1980. A German-speaking theater in Belgium. The first question: The involvement of the local population in the Hitler era. Consequently, the first performance with amateur actors is "Die Ermittlung" by Peter Weiss. For 30 years Cremer was the artistic director, author and director of the AGORA Theater and formed it into a professional and renowned ensemble of the independent scene. After he died in 2009, the group managed to continue.
On the occasion of Agora's 40th anniversary we speak with Felix Ensslin, philosopher, dramaturg and director about this special theatre. -
Again we are fortunate to be joined by Christopher Shorr and JP Jordan from Touchstone Theater in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. We sit together in the white room and talk about the upcoming elections, the role of the theatre, surrounding community, hope and fear and a great division.
Confronted with the opportunity, we speak to a REAL Dictator: Generalissimo Carlo Supremo, who coincidentally is also running for President of the United States (POTUS). He seems to be a really nice guy! We converse on his biography, his policies and his political and philosophical beliefs. We also play a little game together.
And we are inevitably confronted with questions:
Who is Carlo Supremo? How did he get so far? What are his plans? And how can we get rid of him!?
The musical fragments are from "Dictators 4 Dummies" https://www.dictators4dummies.com, written and directed by Christopher Shorr and produced by Touchstone Theater.
See Touchstone's livestream of the last "Tyrants of Tomorrow Telethon" here: https://youtu.be/m-oyPO24LaY
TOUCHSTONE THEATRE (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA) was founded in 1981 as a street theatre troupe and slowly grew to be a professional not-for-profit theatre dedicated to the creation of original work. At its center is a resident ensemble of theatre artists rooted in the local community of Bethlehem, the Greater Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania and the international community of Ensemble Theatres.
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We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it, by recommending it to your friends and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. -
Harald Redmer, born in 1954, lives in Münster as a freelance actor, director, producer and dramaturg. He was co-founder of the renowned Theater im Pumpenhaus Münster and has been a member of the Bonn "fringe ensemble" since 2001.
In August 2013 Harald switched "to the other side of the table", becoming the manager of the Landesbüro Freie Darstellende Künste (Regional Association for Independent Performing Arts) North-Rhine Westphalia in Dortmund, Germany – which he developed and expanded in seven laborious years together with his team to being one of the biggest regional associations of independent performing artists in Germany, with lots of different activities from lobbying for theatre to managing government funds for performing arts.
With Harald we speak about the strange need of being a so-called "independent artist", what could have to do with the disease of "projects", how funding works and what should be changed, how changes happen through voicing interests (a.k.a. lobbying), how to transition from project funding to something like "practice-based funding", about corona-driven funding revolutions, why and how artists should get involved in politics and much more.
Title photo is by João R. Hermeto – hermeto.nl -
Simon has had the great pleasure to accompany this year's edition of the FAVORITEN Festival, one of the oldest festivals for independent performing arts, which is organised every two years since 1985.
Now this podcast is becoming a peripandemic podcast, meaning „about“, „around“, „surrounding“ the pandemic; as we have to deal with the pandemic, which is not going away, we have to deal with this podcast which is also staying, by reinventing it and trying out new things. So this is the first episode of the white room "on the road" - and it was fun!
In the podcast Simon talks to
• Antje Velsinger, choreographer and performer based in Cologne and Hamburg, about her performance „dreams in a cloudy space“ and the meeting of young and old bodies
• Ulrike Seybold, manager of the regional association for independent performing arts in North Rhine Westphalia, about her work
• Maria Vogt from the performance group KGI about their opera „And now everyone! An Opera“ and working with "non-professional" performers
• Olivia Ebert, one of the Artistic Directors of the Festival together with Fanti Baum, about the festival in general and the topic "WORK"
• Saskia Rudat, performer and director, and her team about their performance „Defining identity“ and all the questions that Simon had.
You can use the chapter markers to skip to what interests you.
We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it, by recommending it to your friends and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. See the website for more information. -
(recorded on Sep 6, 2020)
"And now summer has left
as if it never came at all.
It’s warm still where the sun falls.
But it’s not enough. (...)" - Arseny Tarkovsky
Towards the end of the summer period we sat in the sun and talked about what‘s on our mind.
In a talkative mood we produced a long conversation. You can use the chapter function to skip to a topic that interests you.
First we reflect on how summer has been for us, borrowing the term "peripandemic" from Christiane Hütter, who talks about "peripandemic theatre" (the article is in german).
This is followed by a lenghty inquiry on a topic that Simon brought in for the occasion: Giving birth. Without claiming to lay foundations for any kind of theory, we discover some surprising parallels between how a human being and how a performance is born.
We end on some thoughts on how to relate to (theatre) traditions, which die with the people who embodied them.
Show notes:
Parliament of Practices - website soon to be found under www.parliament-of-practices.space
Cross Pollination - network for dialogue in-between practices: http://www.crosspollination.space
Chapters:
00:00:00 Meeting in the Blue Moon of September
00:05:09 Peripandemic Projects: • Parliament of Practices
00:12:17 • Embracing the Unknown
00:18:27 • #1001fires
00:25:24 • Small Summer Festivals...
00:37:17 • ...Pecuniary Affairs and Cultural Policy
00:51:27 • Street Theatre Festival
01:01:36 Towards a Peripandemic Podcast
01:03:47 Giving Birth (to a Performance)
01:41:32 Relation to Tradition: (Re)Inventing the Wheel
01:48:22 Looking forward
We are happy to receive any (constructive) feedback and criticism, corrections, comments, questions and notes: whiteroom (at) whiteroom-pod.com. You can also comment below. We will try to reflect on this input in the podcast.
You can support the podcast by subscribing to it and by becoming a producer, if you like. A small regular contribution already makes a big difference. -
GONZALO ALARCÓN (Brussels, BE) started as a Circus performer on the streets of Chile. He then discovered the Art of the Clown, which continues to be his focus. His latest performance Chiringuito Paradise tells the story of the grand opening of a bar which ends in complete catastrophe.
We sit together with Gonzalo for the third time and finally get to listen to some clips. We start with a short one and discover the Rhythm of John Cleese's performance in "Fawlty Towers". We try to figure out how to learn, shape and discover the "professional intuition" that enables you to play with Rhythm. We listen to the cleverly constructed "failing tunes" by John Edwards, a pseudonym of pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor Paul Weston and laugh a lot. Finally we listen to the charming Victor Borge, who seduces the audience with pun after pun. -
GONZALO ALARCÓN (Brussels, BE) started as a Circus performer on the streets of Chile. He then discovered the Art of the Clown, which continues to be his focus. His latest performance Chiringuito Paradise tells the story of the grand opening of a bar which ends in complete catastrophe.
This is the second part of a series of conversations spiraling around comedy. As these episodes will be quite long, you can use the chapters to jump to what interests you.
We are back in the room with Gonzalo talking about comedy. After some preliminary talk about the question "KEATON or CHAPLIN!?" we take our time to discuss the classic masters and why we need to look at their work and what we can learn from them; then we dive into the “anatomy” of the joke, the punchline, how to create a problem and finding a surprising solution to it, how to increase the "potential energy" of the joke, comparing it to music and especially concentrating again on rhythm. We find a lot of nice analogies to the laws of nature and are proud of having discovered the "Physics of Comedy"! -
TOUCHSTONE THEATRE (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA) was founded in 1981 as a street theatre troupe and slowly grew to be a professional not-for-profit theatre dedicated to the creation of original work. At its center is a resident ensemble of theatre artists rooted in the local community of Bethlehem, the Greater Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania and the international community of Ensemble Theatres.
With Christopher and JP we speak shortly about their story, about how we met each other, about Touchstone Theatre and then enter a long "money talk". We speak about funding strategies and public support for the Arts, the situation and history in the USA and in Germany and the Netherlands; we speak about Theatre Networks and helping each other.
We touch the current situation in the USA and how Touchstone is reacting. We ask ourselves more generally how to act in times of chaos - and find that it's our duty to create beauty.
In the beginning and in the end we listen to some sweet Accordion music by our friend Jonas de Rave (Gent, BE). -
We are back, just the two of us, and we are in the mood. In this evening conversation we try to make some sense of what is going on at the moment.
As we experience the possibility of opening our venues again, we need to speak about dealing with the risks - which Berlin virologist Christian Drosten called “dancing with the tiger”.
Marije speaks about the project “1000 Fires Burning” - a cooperative message from artists and culture makers from all over the world. On July 25 this summer, you can take part and present a “fire” and share it with the hashtag #1000FiresBurning. A fire can be a performance, a song, an installation, a poem, a dance...
We argue that if the big festivals are cancelled and lost, we should have a summer of many small events, interventions, invitations that offer places and situations to meet safely. Small campfires to grill marshmallows, listen to stories and get an understanding of each others lives.
In the end we turn to the events in USA following the assassination of George Floyd by Police, Simon recommends listening to the latest, raging Episode of the Tomorrow Podcast and to what Trevor Noah had to say about it.
The foto shows a mural in Minneapolis, a collaborative project by artists Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Niko Alexander, and Pablo Hernandez, that centers George Floyd within a sunflower. He’s surrounded by the names of others killed by police, in addition to protestors. The 20-by-6.5-foot project is located near the Cup Foods where Floyd died. -
MARTA WRYK (Cologne, DE) is a Mezzosoprano Opera singer. She debuted in 2011 at the Virginia Opera (USA) before establishing herself in Cologne. Her manifold experience extends from performing in established opera theatres to more experimental and fringe productions.
We speak about her musical and artistic roots in Polish singing traditions , about beginning to sing, about the extremely efficient use of voice by babies and why most persons lose that ability.
We speak at length about voice and the work with voice - which is basically learning to shape and change an extremely complex physical process with your imagination and your intentions.
We dive into a discussion of the Opera World and touch the question of why apparently there is no Independent Opera movement and despite all the revolutions of Theatre and Dance that shaped the 20th century and still intrigue and question us today - somehow Opera stayed very much in in the 19th century and enjoys its colorful pompousness with a very genuine culture around it. (This is absolutely not meant as depreciation!)
In the end there is a reflection on what great performance could be - and we listen to Marta generously singing a Quartet alone - Così fan tutte in home office... - Montre plus
