Shake in the City

“Shake-in the City. The art of inclusion”

The aim of this project is to shake the city and its inhabitants with the help of William Shakespeare. We held various activities of educational and artistic character especially in culturally and socially underdeveloped districts and in the suburbs. The Gdańsk-Sopot-Gdynia Tricity (Poland), Hungarian Gyula, and German Neuss were invaded by art and theatre, while citizens were given an opportunity to actively participate in culture and art in its different forms.

We wanted above all to motivate children and teenagers to become not only audience, but also creators of culture. International workshops created by our partners from London Metropolitan University were held in Dolne Miasto. The inhabitants of this Gdańsk district took part in the production of “Perykles” – a community play by Parrabbola – London-based theatre group. This is a performance-perambulation – audience follows the actors in their journey through the Gdańsk district, watching the story of prince Pericles, and trying to understand the life of an outsider.

Presentations of outstanding European Shakespearean performances in Poland, Hungary, and Germany, played an important role in the project. The 14^th Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk (30 July–8 August) included presentations of: As You Like It (Hungary-Ukraine), Henry VIII (German Bea von Malchus Solotheater), Hamlet by renowned Oskaras Korsunovas (Lithuania), Now Entertain… – a monodrama by Andrzej Seweryn, and Macbeth Remix (Sfinks – an artistic group from Sopot), a multimedia play which utilizes video-mapping, dance, animation, live music, visual techniques etc.

A wide range of educational activities, mainly for young people, included theatre and creative workshops (on photography, filmmaking, journalism) conducted by experienced European instructors. School-teachers also took part in the educational program, which comprised courses in Gyula and Neuss, and an international seminar in Gdańsk.

About 100 young people took part in a training program for cultural volunteers. The participants gained valuable experience working at multinational cultural events. Their activities included: organization of theatre performances, workshops, and a community play, translation, promotion, visual documentation.