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Magdalena @25 - Legacy and Challenge Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff August 16th – 21st |
Next week Chapter will play host to a Festival of theatre for and about women. From 8am to midnight there will be a feast of activities: skill sharing workshops, performances, work in progress, discussions and special events. Women are travelling from all over the world to participate. The occasion for this gathering is the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Magdalena Project, an international network of women in theatre that was founded in Wales and held its first festival at Chapter in 1986. A series of workshops and conferences followed the success of that original event and, as the Project developed, so too did its international links. Like a stealthy virus, and without any central organisation, the focus of the Magdalena shifted from Wales with potent manifestations appearing in many different countries including Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, Australia, New Zealand, America, Denmark, Norway and Italy. Many of the women who have created Magdalena events in their own countries have been invited to Wales to celebrate this special birthday. Twenty-five years is simultaneously a significant period of time and the blink of an eye. In conceiving this celebration both these views are being held simultaneously – honouring what has been achieved and the women who have achieved it, whilst asking what meaning the Magdalena has in the 21st century. Hence the festival title: Legacy and Challenge. At the opening ceremony, The Magdalena’s literary arm, Open Page Publications, will launch a book which reflects and records aspects of the Project’s history and its international make-up; in tandem a new website will be revealed and the programme will include daily online events, permitting women who cannot travel to Cardiff to participate. Highlights of the week include The Threat of Silence, directed by Magdalena founder Jill Greenhalgh and featuring Welsh performer, Eddie Ladd; No Door on her Mouth by Australian Dawn Albinger; and a concert of Black Sea Songs performed by French a capella group, Les Dissonantes at Llandaff Cathedral on Friday August 19th at 8.15pm. In addition to fully realised performances, there is an interesting contingent of work in progress – signalling the strong desire to make and share work which is one of the most profound motivations for the Magdalena’s continued existence. Legacy and Challenge will be an exciting and provocative week. Day tickets and tickets for specific performances are still available from Chapter Box Office on 029 2030 4400. For a full chronology and a complete programme see http://www.themagdalenaproject.org/archive/25celebration/index.htm. |
| The Magdalena Project web site: www.themagdalenaproject.org/archive/25celebration/ |
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Thursday, August 11, 2011 |
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