The project proposal that Collettivo EFFE sent to the Crossing the Sea was based on the request to meet groups of women artists to study and explore the themes of the next production. The invitation came from the Seoul Institute of the Arts, which made its facilities available for an 11-day residential workshop.
The Collettivo’s objective for the residency was planned on two levels: to share their studio practice with the participants and to begin work on the new production that will debut in January 2024: Wonderland, freely inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.
The welcome at the institute was excellent, and it was possible to obtain the required technical equipment and work in a working environment suited to the needs expressed during the creation phase. The students showed curiosity and interest in the themes that were proposed as the basis for the performance work and great patience in trying to intercept the requests and interpret the indications and feedback.
In particular, the students were required not only to make a great commitment from a physical and performative point of view, but also to perform an individual authorship, a commitment that went beyond mere fatigue and implied personal exposure also in relation to the complex technical apparatus – two video cameras, two projection screens, two projectors, various light sources, a smoke machine – made available to them and which they were called upon to integrate into the creation.
We feel that this residency at the Seoul Institute of the Arts was an important moment in the Collective’s professional life. The problems we faced, combined with the continuous stimuli received from the friction of encountering such a different theatre culture, we are sure, will resonate in our work and continue to nourish it.
