DramArk
is the Baltic and Nordic theatre co-operation project, that combines and unites the most significant Baltic theatre festivals with the Nordic partners. The start of the project will be 1.8.2005 and it will be concluded till 30.7.2006.

THE ORGANISERS OF THE PROJECT
Q-teatteri, Finland / Baltic Circle festival
[www.Q-teatteri.fi]
Theatre and Cinema Information & Education Centre, Lithuania / New Drama Action festival
[www.theatre.lt]
BIT Teatergarasjen, Norway
[www.bit-teatergarasjen.no]

THE ASSOCIATED PARTNERS AND PRODUCERS
New Theatre Institute, Latvia / Homo Novus festival
[www.theatre.lv]
Rakvere teater, Von Krahli Teater, Estonia / Baltoscandal festival
[www.baltoscandal.ee, www.rakvereteater.ee]
Russian Seasons festival, Finland / the festival collaborator
[kulttuuri.hel.fi]
Kaleidoskop Teatret, Denmark / the Danish theatre expert
[www.kaleidoskop.dk]
KokoTeatteri, Finland / co-producer of ”The Neighbour”
[www.kokoteatteri.fi]
Viirus, Finland / co-producer of ”No Return”
[www.viirus.fi]

THE ACTION

The main meaning of the DramArk project is to support the production units / festivals involved to arrange the organic gatherings between different artists linked to these organisers and partners. After the gatherings the hosting festival is collecting the new ideas as an artistic basis for the future plans.

a) St.Art Master Classes (3). The start. The aim of these Master Class encounters is to encourage the artists to meet and develope new/original ideas (brainstorming method) without any production pressure. 4-5 artists, selected by the organisers themselves will meet during the festivals 2005-2006. The hosting festival will plan the program of the Master Class and arrange the circumstances for the fruitful encounter.
b) The Net Newsletter, DramAgora will be published to carry out the communication and PR of the DramArk project.
c) International co-productions and artist exchange. The project supports the organisers and partners to create new ways to co-produce contemporary drama. ”The Year of the Hare” (with Von Krahli Teater), “Crime and Punishment - The Sad and Beautiful Songs from the Heart of Europe” (with Audronis Liuga Production as the branch of Lithuanian Theatre Information Centre / New Drama Action festival), written and directed by Kristian Smeds, ”The Neighbour” (with KokoTeatteri), ”No Return” (with Viirus).
d) Guest performances. To give the participating festivals and organisations the possibility to host at least one guest performance, produced by one of the organiser / partner during the project. The project will support these specific visits in accordance to the national financial principles.
e) Project assistants will be hired to do both the practical and PR work to carry out the DramArk project in every participating country. Some of the assistants will be working in two countries or will be hired by two countries to take care of bilateral communication as well. One Lithuanian is working in Finland, one Finn in Latvia and one Latvian in Norway. This is an innovative experiment.
f) Observating theatre. The DramArk project is offering for one participating theatre the chance to stay longer on the Baltic Circle festival (Nov. 2005) after the own show and meet other artists as well as watch the performances. The aim of this arrangement is to avoid the familiar situation where, for the financial reasons, the groups have to leave the festival immediately after the own performance, without meeting any other artists.
g) Evaluation Seminars (2). The artistic leaders and producers of the project will gather together to evaluate and develope the project. Seminars will be held in Helsinki (Baltic Circle festival, November 2005), and in Rakvere (Baltoscandal festival, June 2006). The second seminar is also the evaluation seminar and a conclusion of the DramArk project.

ROLES

Each international festival, co-organiser and associated producer has its own artistic themes and targets! All the festivals and organisations are very significant bodies in their countries.

Q-teatteri (Finland) takes care of the agreements and general administration of the DramArk project. Q-teatteri / Baltic Circle festival creates an own web site and Net Newsletter for the project. A Lithuanian project assistant will be hired to work in Finland. Baltic Circle festival (18.-26.11.2005) will also be a coordinator of the ”Annual International Playwright Forum”, and the second ”St.Art Master Class”. Q-teatteri was founded in 1990 by free-lance actors. So far, Q-teatteri has produced thirty-five plays (both contemporary drama and classics), two international theatre festivals (Baltic Circle: 2000, 2003), several radio plays, and has been a co-producer in nine international co-productions. Q-teatteri is a public organisation, and subsidized by the Ministry of Culture, and by the Cultural Board of Helsinki City. A joint project assistant with Latvian Homo Novus festival.

New Drama Action festival (NDA) (Lithuania) is introducing the contemporary European drama and educational theatre projects. NDA and Audronis Liuga Production (as the branch of the Lithuanian Theatre Information Centre) are the patrons of the theatre co-productions (in this case ”Crime and Punishment”). NDA is an annual festival, and the festival of the year 2006 is connected to the DramArk project.

BIT Teatergarasjen (BIT) (Norway) is the artistic window of the Norwegian contemporary theatre for the other partners. It is hosting one Baltic guest performance in Bergen, Norway during the spring, 2006, as a part of the DramArk project. The BIT know-how of the international co-productions and artists’ residencies will be distributed in DramArk seminars. BIT produces, co-produces and presents international and Norwegian contemporary art - mainly theatre and dance, with specific emphasize on projects that stimulate international co-productions between different fields of art.; including residencies and work-shops.

DramArk project is supported by European Union’s Culture 2000 programme.

DramArk   
est un projet de coopération balte et nordique dans le domaine du théâtre qui réunit et combine les festivals de théâtre les plus importants dans les pays nordiques et baltes. Le projet commencera le 1er août 2005 et terminera le 31 juillet 2006.

COORDINATEURS
Q-teatteri, Finlande / festival Baltic Circle
Centre d’information et d’éducation sur le théâtre et le cinéma, Lituanie / festival New Drama Action
BIT Teatergarasjen, Norvège

PARTENAIRES ASSOCIÉS
New Theatre Institute, Lettonie / festival Homo Novus
Rakvere Teater, Von Krahli Teater, Estonie / festival Baltoscandal
Festival Russian Seasons, Finlande
Kaleidoskop Teatret, Danemark
KokoTeatteri, Finlande
Viirus, Finlande

ACTIVITÉS  

Le but principal du projet DramArk est de soutenir les unités de production et les festivals chargés de réunir les artistes travaillant auprès des coordinateurs et des partenaires associés.
Ateliers d’éducation continue (« St.Art Master classes», 3). Le but de ces ateliers est d’encourager les artistes à se rencontrer et à créer des idées originales (méthode remue-méninges) sans pression de produire. Entre 4 et 5 artistes seront sélectionnés par les organisateurs pour se rencontrer lors des festivals de la saison 2005-2006.
Projets de coproduction internationale. Le projet soutiendra les participants dans la création de nouvelles voies de coproduction pour le théâtre contemporain: Le lièvre de Vatanen (avec Von Krahli Teater), Le crime et la punition (avec New Drama Action), Le voisin (avec KokoTeatteri), No Return (avec Viirus).
Spectacles invités. Il s’agit de donner aux festivals participants la possibilité d’inviter au moins un spectacle produit par un autre participant du projet. Le projet subventionnera ces visites conformément aux principes financiers nationaux.
Observer le théâtre. Le projet DramArk donne la possibilité de prolonger sa visite après son propre spectacle. Le but de ce prolongement est d’éviter la situation trop familière où, pour des raisons financières, les compagnies doivent partir immédiatement après leur prestation sans pouvoir connaître d’autres artistes.
Une lettre d’information sur l’internet et des sites web nationaux seront publiés pour assurer une communication efficace et s’occuper des relations publiques du projet DramArk.
Des coordinateurs de projet, chargés de mener à bien aussi bien le côté pratique que les relations publiques du projet DramArk, seront engagés dans chaque pays participant. Certains coordinateurs chargés de communication bilatérale travailleront dans deux pays ou seront engagés par deux pays.
Séminaires d’évaluation (2). Les dirigeants artistiques du projet se réuniront pour évaluer et perfectionner le projet.

Le Q-teatteri s’occupe des contrats et de l’administration générale du projet DramArk. Le festival Baltic Circle  coordonnera aussi le Forum international annuel des auteurs dramatiques. Le Q-teatteri a été fondé en 1990. Neuf coproductions internationales et deux festivals de théâtre internationaux (2000, 2003) ont été produits jusqu’aujourd’hui. Le Q-teatteri est une organisation publique subventionnée par le Ministère de la culture et le Service culturel de la ville de Helsinki.
Le festival New Drama Action (NDA) se spécialise dans le théâtre européen contemporain et dans des projets d’education relatifs au théâtre. Le NDA est un festival annuel; le festival de l’année 2006 est lié au projet DramArk. L’organisation responsable du projet DramArk est le Centre d’information et d’éducation sur le théâtre et le cinéma. Son objectif est d’initier et de réaliser des projets internationaux.
Le BIT Teatergarasjen (BIT) offre aux autres théâtres participants un panorama artistique du théâtre norvégien contemporain. Le savoir-faire que possède le BIT sur les coproductions internationales et sur les séjours des artistes résidents sera partagé lors des séminaires DramArk. Le BIT produit et coproduit l’art contemporain norvégien et international, y compris les artistes résidents et les ateliers.