Boomerang

Start: 2014

Partner:          Elsinor Soc. Coop. Sociale (Italy)

Cooperativa de Produção Artística Teatro Animação O Bando, CRL (Portugal)

Pilot Theatre Ltd (UK)

DynamO Théâtre (Canada)

Presentation House Theatre (Canada)

Australian Theatre for Young People (Australia)

Action: Creative Europe        Culture (2007-2013)                Cooperation with Third Countries

Summary:

For Boomerang, 3 theatres from Europe (IT, PT, GB), 2 from Canada and one from Australia, have joined together to work globally on the theme Poverty and Migration.

The traditional emigration countries Australia and Canada are, with their European roots, the most suitable partners to study the cultural results of past and present migration.

Over the last century Europe itself has become a desirable destination for economic refugees from all over the world. But in view of the current economic crisis, the continent is now confronted with a new migration flow: gloomy prospects for the future in Southern Europe are forcing many young people to unwanted mobility: Searching for work, they leave their native countries and head off to the richer ones in middle and north Europe.

Emigration and Immigration: this movement of people draws their lines between the continents and countries, between past and present. Personal stories hang on these lines like pearls, stories about poverty and hardship, but also about hope and solidarity.

Boomerang’s goal is to discover such stories and to put them on stage. Through this, theatres from 3 continents become seismographic research institutions for the flow of migrants. Authentic life stories will be placed under the burning glass and examined artistically.

Artists in 6 cities worldwide conduct interviews with young people for whom “Poverty and Migration“ is presently relevant. In contemporary documentary theatre a form has been chosen, which fits the theme and the autobiographical stories perfectly.

7 intercontinental co-productions combining documentary theatre form with the aesthetical variety of the involved theatres grow out of the interview material. All performances are embedded in extensive Art Education programmes.

The emotional effect of the documented real life stories ensures that the performances move the audiences, also those ones with restricted access to culture, in a long lasting way.