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A Righteous BrotherRichard Turpin wants theatre to get politicalThe first Baltic Circle -festival in 2000 discussed the total absence of the political theatre in the Nordic countries. This year's festival surely doesn't have to worry about the same problem: the Swedish Theater Tribunalen says aloud, that it is a politically orientated theatre. - Why wouldn't we be political. Theatre is just like other organs of the society: It reflects politics in the same way as for example journalism or education. - Theatre should have political responsibility for and it should ask the fatal questions of the society, like where is this land going to or what is the relation between the citizens and those who have the political power, says Richard Turpin, the artistic director of the Theatre Tribunalen. According to him the politicization of the theatre is important at the very moment, because the politicians want to show us a very simplified view of the world. - For example George Bush uses all the time religious terms to convince the world that his actions to conquer countries in Asia and in Africa are legal. The international laws or the United Nations have no meaning when Mr. Bush is striving for to be the master of the world. The theatre should question the given positions along with the rest of the society and decide, who's good and who’s bad, says Richard Turpin. On the political map Theatre Tribunalen is found from the left, but it has nothing to do with the one-sided political theatre of the 1970's nor with the left-wing parties of today's Sweden. - The left-wing parties of Sweden are quite weak and descentive. If they win the elections, it usually means, that they have had quite populist thesis. But Richard Turpin is not pessimistic about the new, upcoming leftism. He thinks the youth is going to change the idea of the contemporary left-wing politics. - The demonstrations against ever-growing globalization and people marching for peace are good signs. The bigger the influence of the United States on the whole world is, the more people start to act against it, Richard Turpin believes. From Middle East to a Swedish suburbRichard Turpin himself gets political in many ways in his new play The Axis of the Evilness (Ondskans Axel), which had its premier at Theatre Tribunalen only a month ago: on the 25th of October. The play is a modern love story in the spirit of Romeo and Juliet and it takes place in the Middle East as well in a Swedish suburb, and it moves freely in different times and rooms, just like The Dream Play of August Strindberg. Before writing the play Richard Turpin traveled to Israel–Palestine to meet people, who live under extreme conditions. - The play is about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which seems to be difficult to solve. But at the end, the solutions are quite simple: the Israeli occupation has to end and the Palestinians must be allowed to have their own state, Richard Turpin says. The Swedish part of the play concentrates on the life of the refugees living in a suburb - Think of the problems in a family, in which the children are born in Sweden and the parents elsewhere. The situation in those families gets very problematic when children, who know the language and culture of the new homeland have to act as parents for their own parents. But The Axis of Evilness is not about being a offer — neither in the Middle East or in the Swedish suburb. Richard Turpin wants to raise the hope and the will of the people. And so he does — by being a man, who believes that the just world is still possible. And by reminding the theatre, that it must take part in the construction of it.
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Jan Tiselius in Teater TribunalenŐs AXIS OF EVIL [Photo: Dan Forsberg] |
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