Imagine watching famous, classical European theater plays being performed by artists from different Philippine universities in virtual form.
Why not?
The European Union (EU) Delegation to Manila, along with EU member states’ embassies and cultural institutes jointly launched the first-ever "Teatro Europa," a two-month-long festival of stage performances to promote Europe’s rich culture and heritage.
“I am proud to present our first Teatro Europa which brings alive European playwrights who nurtured and shaped the foundations of European culture,” EU Delegation to the Philippines Chargé d’ Affaires Thomas Wiersing said in his remarks during the virtual conference on Tuesday.
To be staged from August to September 2020, the festival will feature famous pieces from Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Spain. Genres include drama, comedy, and tragedy.
After thorough deliberations by EU member-states representatives on the participation of local educational institutions, the following universities have been chosen to perform the respective European classics: Rizal Technological University - “The Green Room” by Arnošt Goldflam (Czech Republic); MINT College – “Tango” by Sławomir Mrożek (Poland); MAPUA University – “Robbers” Friedrich Schiller (Germany); The University of Makati – “School for Wives” by Molière (France); University of the East – “Servant of Two Masters” by Carlo Goldoni (Italy); “The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest” by Tirso de Molina (Spain); and Arellano University - “Everyman” by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Austria).
“It is inspiring to see how our partner university theater organizations enthusiastically selected from the roster of European plays to interpret and perform online. It is admirable to witness that due to the pandemic they had to become more creative in their performances utilizing online streaming and meeting platforms,” Wiersing said.
Theater Director Dennis Marasigan from MINT University said during the performance, all students are physically distanced, acting through the technology of the internet.
“We were being creative in presenting the performance online… It’s not actually theater but we do wish the performance you will see will communicate the elements of the play,” Marasigan added.
Teatro Europa will be streamed live on Facebook (TeatroEuropaPh) every Friday and Saturday this September.
As part of the festivities, Teatro Europa will also have theatre directors engage in dialogue with audiences from August to September 2020.
Talks are also underway to stage the Teatro Europa performances in other venues like the Fort Santiago after the pandemic.