Welcome to 'Projekt G'

One year ago, four colleagues (myself included) from four different continents met and worked with one another at a conference in Berlin. Through those two intensive weeks we became friends and decided to work together on a theatre project. The prospect of getting all four of us together, even in the same room for a rehearsal seemed improbable at best. But through the conveniences of modern technology (Skype!) we were able to stay in touch and began to articulate a concept that we all found relevant, timely and powerful:

Happiness

What is it? How do we get it? How do we keep it? Is it realistic to think that happiness is possible in our time? And when disaster strikes (literal, emotional, professional), how do we get back to normal, much less reclaim our happiness?

These are just some of the many fascinating questions we have come up with and been researching for the last nine months. Over the next few months, we'll be sharing our research and our evolving thoughts on this theme. We invite you to join us, and look forward to extending the conversation across cultural, international, linguistic, and internal borders. Glad to have you along.

The focus of our project is taking shape around the tsunami disaster and subsequent nuclear reactor catastrophe in Fukishima Japan last year. As a way to interface with these very real problems, we (the whole team!) will be traveling to Japan later this year to witness the damaged area first hand and work with individuals affected by the disaster.

Say, would you like to meet the team? I knew you would!



Brian Bell: born in 1982 in Lubbock, Texas (USA). B.A. Theatre Performance, minor in German, University of North Texas 2004, where he directed and adapted Georg Büchner's Woyzeck for his final thesis. Completed a directing internship on a production of Romeo and Juliet (dir: Manuel Schöbel) at the Carrousel Theater an der Parkaue in Berlin in the fall of 2004 and went on to direct an original piece The Warrior and Naomi Wallace's The Retreating World at the Acud Theater in Berlin 2005. In Chicago Brian is the artistic director of Cabaret Vagabond and is an ensemble member at Adventure Stage. Brian is a fellow of the Goethe Institut's Young Theatre Artists in Germany program, where he assisted on a production of Danton's Death (dir: Nuran David Callis) at the Staatstheater Stuttgart last winter, and also participated in the International Forum of the Theatertreffen in Berlin in May 2011.



Natasha Lamoela: born in 1978 in South Africa, raised in Namibia. Studied acting and directing at Pretoria. After her studies she initiated diverse productions and programs to invigorate the performing arts in Namibia, while developing a body of work in TYA, musical theatre and dance-theatre. In 2009 she wrote, directed and performed in “Eva 4Eva”, the first African adaptation of the TYA classic “Linie 1” by Volker Ludwig. In 2010 she opened a chamber theater in Windhoek.



Annelie Matheis: born in 1983 in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. Studied theatre and media- theory, psychology and new German literature until 2008 in Erlangen and Bern. From 2008-2010 Annelie worked as a dramaturg at the state theater in Baden-Baden. Since the opening of the 2011/12 season, she is a dramaturg at the Hessisches Landestheater in Marburg. Since 2005 she has received diverse project-based funding: for the Schillertage at the National Theater of Mannheim as well as for the ‘Next Generation!’ project at the youth theater festival Augenblick Mal. In 2010 she was a member of the jury for the Youth Theater Prize of Baden-Wurrtemberg.


Ehito Terao: born in 1985 in Kanagawa. Studied theatre theory until 2009 at the WASEDA university in Tokyo. In 2005 and 2007, performed with director Tadashi Suzuki using his Suzuki Method (drawing on traditional Japanese Noh and Kabuki forms), playing the title role in Macbeth among other productions. In 2009, founded his own performance troupe with his partner, called 6.5/, under the heading: No Art Without Culture, No Culture Without Life. 6.5/ produces plays using the Suzuki method as well as theoretical theatre research projects. 2010 they brought the productions “The Lady Duel” by H. Euelenberg in Tokyo and “Wait” by O. Dazai in Madrid to fruition. After the natural catastrophe in Fukishima last year, Ehito and his partner opened their apartment to support refugees.

Nao Sakata Born in 1983. Studied classical ballet from the age of 3 and theatrical performance from the age of 12. Studied in Waseda Univercity theater- and filmtheory. She has learned Japanese traditional dance from Sengiku Bando, who is a master of the Bando Familie. From 2006 to 2008 she learned the theatrical method of director Tadashi Suzuki in a private group in Tokyo. 2009 she founded performance-group “6.5/w” with her partner and ever since she has produced all the company's performances. In 2010 her production “wait” was invited to the Madrid Japan festival. In 2012 she directed a Co-production “graduation←allergy” with high-school students.

 . . . . that's us! The team members of "Projekt G", the "G" stands for Glück, 'happiness' in German. We are looking forward to sharing more with you very soon on our search for Glück around the world.

BBell