Workshop Identity: A Story about Europe

"It is the specific details that are closer to universal truths", said Mathilde Lopez (Artistic Director of August 012) during the round table discussion following friday’s performance of Politics Explained to My Grandchildren: A Bildungsroman About Europe.  This idea of using minute aspects of personal stories to build larger ____ is integral to the W.I.S.E Project’s success. The aim of which is to create micro-histories of a community that will lead to a greater understanding of Europe as a whole.   

Connecting communities in Wales, Italy, Germany and Poland, W.I.S.E has explored the relationship between language, identity, and memory through storytelling workshops with groups of people over the age of 65.  These stories were compiled, translated and reworked by three playwrights into a twelve-chapter novel.

The three Welsh chapters that were performed for us flowed beautifully even with a mixture of dramatic forms, dancing between an intimate monologue and a grotesque talk show scene. There is poetry and sincerity in the work that I found extremely pleasurable to watch. The thread of politics weaves its way through the narrative as a protagonist in and of itself, the concept evolving throughout the chapters. 

As rich as the performance was, it would not have felt complete without the round table afterward. This was a chance for the audience, workshop participants, actors, and project creators to come together and informally discuss W.I.S.E and it's outcomes. Having grown up in Canada, I had felt that some of the performance wasn't as easy to access, as a lot of it is based on reminiscence.  The round table helped me to put things such as the Welsh miners strike, which I had knowledge of but no personal connection to, into a different context.

Amongst complex German theories and dense academic discussion there is a simple heart behind this project – a need for stories to be passed down to younger generations, and how these stories can shape our current view of Europe. I look forward to tracking the progress of the W.I.S.E project as it continues, and hope that it is able to secure the funding needed to grow. 

 

 

 

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