Venue : India International Centre, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi
The Delhi Ibsen Festival 2012 Seminar, has an unusual theme- 'Who is the Enemy'? The idea of 'enemy' is open to multiple levels of interpretation encompassing aesthetics, history, socio-political issues and economic scenarios of discourse. Many conventional and established ideologies are reviewed as open-ended questions. There are many ways to fill the parenthesis at the end of this question.
In Ibsen's AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, Dr. Stockman says - "Truths are by no means the wiry Methuselahs some people think them. A normally constituted truth lives-let us say-as a rule, seventeen or eighteen years; at the outside twenty; very seldom more."
What does it mean for us to put the 'truths' we consider as self-evident in the theatre, to be put to the test through an examination of antagonism? The last question also invites reflections on issues that relate to the wider context of theatre as an art form and spectacle. These address the contents of Ibsen's heritage, namely that which has to do with his constant questioning of 'self-evident' social and ideological 'truths'. This is an issue that is combined with the way that Ibsen's plays have transcended the culture and the era in which he wrote. Thus the theatre as an arena for social confrontation also is a theme in the discussions at the seminar.
Ibsen's plays have strong protagonists and opponents. Through his characters, Ibsen creates human conflict in the social, economic, political and artistic realms. positioning them in a theatrical 'reality'. Ibsen's work as such is a rich source of dramatic exploration.
The panel of speakers are eminent personalities in their own fields of expertise, and will bring their individual expressions of the theme, ranging from inter-cultural, aesthetic, and socio-political ideas to academic explorations of Ibsen's texts with unconventional perspectives.
Seminar Schedule:
Day 1
Session 1:
Keynote Address: Ibsen And The Contradictions Of Modernity Prof. Helge Ronning, University of Oslo, Norway.
Commissioned Production: Heisnam Tomba, Director, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. Work process, adaptation. Kalakshetra Manipur, Manipur
Paper presentation: Two enemies of the People: Purity and Truth Rajiv Bhargava, Director, Center for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. Formerly Professor of Political Theory, JNU & Delhi University.
University Festival 2012: N.P. Ashley & Students, Working on AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE - Concept. Asst Prof. St. Stephen's College, New Delhi.
Session 2:
Paper presentation: At the Edge of Practices : Between and Across Art Forms and Cultures. Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Raqs Media Collective. This will be a Skype presentation live from New York.
University Festival 2012: Neel Chaudhari, Director, Burn, (Adaptation of HEDDA GABLER)
Film on AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE from Oslo - by Rimini Protokoll
DAY 2
Session 1:
Paper Presentation: When Liberals Become Enemies: Ibsen In England... Jatinder Verma, Director, Tara Theatre, London.
Commissioned production: Sankar Venkateshwaran, Director, WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN, Theatre Roots & Wings, Kerala
Paper Presentation: Testimony of a Theatre Practitioner from Bangladesh: Out or In, All or Nothing, it's Just as Far. Jamil Ahmed: Professor at the Department of Theatre and Music, University of Dhaka
University Festival 2012: LADY FROM THE SEA, TPS Forum, School of Arts & Aesthetics. JNU
Session 2:
Paper Presentation: LET'S REPRESENT! - A chorus of 100 citizens playing the role of a city on stage - ( About AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE in Oslo by Rimini Protokoll) Ms. Siri Forberg, Dramaturg, An Enemy of the People In Oslo, Norway
University Festival 2012: Shubham Bhatia, Director, Adaptation of JAI JAWAN PARTY, (THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH), Student, Ramjas College, New Delhi
University Festival 2012: Kuldeep Kunal & Students. Bipolars (Adaptation of HEDDA GABLER), Maitreyi College, New Delhi
Mumbai Theatre Guide takes no responsibility for change in schedule.
