PLATFORM shift+ is a large-scale cooperation project announced by the European Commission under their European Culture Funding Stream Creative Europe. The project’s goal is to meet the new challenges of producing theatre for young people in the digital age, and it involves 11 theatres from 9 countries with VAT Theatre being the only participator from Estonia.
Today’s young people are digital natives who move naturally between real and virtual worlds. Theatre for them must respond to this new reality to sustain and grow existing audiences and build new audiences for the future. By using intelligent theatre language, it is possible to prove to young people that theatre remains a unique medium also in the digital age.
Joining the Platform shift+ project is a natural succession to VAT Theatre’s everyday work. VAT Theare is known and awarded for being the theatre that strongly focuses also on the young audience, and VAT Theatre has been already dealing with the topics pertaining to the challenges of the digital world. Last year, Born online (directed by Margo Teder, created in co-operation with theLook@WorldFoundation and BCS Koolitus) was recognised with the Action of the Year 2013 title by the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications. The theatre project Born online was commended for its effective and innovative solutions for raising the awareness in the field of internet safety.
During the 4 years, PLATFORM shift+ will develop 40 theatre productions that are all based on newly developed plays/concepts correlated to the reality of the digital age. To achieve this, the partners of PLATFORM shift+ plan a major investment in the professionalisation of theatre makers on an international level.
In order for the creative dialogue to spark, the theatre practitioners will directly be connected to the young people throughout 50 different activities. The extensive programme of the project will encourage international exchanges of artists and their production, and provide training in digital technology through practice and international Creative Forums. At the end of the project, 10 Creative Forums all over Europe will offer training programmes and tools for sustainability of progress and ambition.
The 10 partner theatres, all recognised as national leaders in the field of theatre for young people, are:
1. Pilot Theatre Company York | Great Britain www.pilot-theatre.com
2. Teatro O Bando Palmela | Portugal www.obando.pt
3. Teatro Elsinor Milan, Forli, Florence | Italy www.elsinor.net
4. Emergency Exit Arts London | Great Britain www.eea.org.uk
5. Theater Junge Generation Dresden | Germany www.tjg-dresden.de
6. Teatret Vårt Molde | Norway www.teatretvart.no
7. Szinhaz Kolibri Budapest | Hungary www.kolibriszinhaz.hu
8. VAT Teater Tallinn | Estonia www.vatteater.ee
9. Theatre Massalia Marseille | France www.theatremassalia.com
10. South Bohemian Theatre Ceske Budejovice | Czech www.jihoceskedivadlo.cz
The 11th partner, expert in cultural education and monitoring, is the University of Agder (Kristiansand | Norway / www.uia.no).
Web link for EU:
https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/creative-europe/selection-results/cooperation-projects-selection-results-2014_en
In 2009-2013, VAT Theatre took part of a similar theatre network funded by the European Commission, called PLATFORM 11+. As a result of participating in the project, the following productions premiered in VAT Theatre:
Island of Andromeda (play by Indrek Hargla, still running),
Mare Sabolotny’s and Rein Agur’s work The Paperclip Belt (awarded the Salme Reek prize),
various co-creations with Hungarian and Slovakian theatres, etc.
For more detailled info on the project:
https://vatteater.ee/et/projektid/3/platform-11.html
