During the On the Edge Artistic Gathering in Birmingham, which took place in July 2016, ASSITEJ Belgium gave two young Belgian professionals the opportunity to assist to the gathering: Jennifer El Gammal and Margot De Ley, both working in theatre for young audiences. Jennifer (http://www.jenniferelgammal.org) is a professional actress, musician and writer who has been working with Théâtre Maât for years. Margot writes and directs plays for children since 2013 and founded her own company, Brulschaap (www.brulschaap.com). Below, the impressions of Margot.
On the Edge 2016 – by Margot De Ley
« As a young theatre maker, I had the chance to be sent out as a golden delegate at On the Edge Festival 2016 in Birmingham.
The adventure started the 2nd of July at the opening ceremony, where delegates, coming from all over the world, were gathered. It was at that point I realized my journey (four trains from Antwerp to Birmingham) wasn’t even half the journey of delegates coming from Singapore, New Zeeland, Korea,…
On top of the scheduled performances, we were invited to numerous symposiums, lectures, workshops, gatherings,…and so on. I attended a lecture concerning European funding (the main message of the speakers seemed to be: “It’s a hell of a job to apply but it’s worth the effort!”), there was a very amusing workshop, given by a woman of the Royal Shakspeare Company, where I was taught how to make young people familiar with Hamlet. And at the Artistic Encounters, I exchanged thoughts with the other delegates about different subject, such as interdisciplinarity in TYA.
Besides all that, there were various performances. Every day we had the opportunity to see two or three performances at six different venues located all around the city, so willing or not, we did a lot of sight-seeing on the go! Not only companies from the UK and Ireland showed their work, but South Korea, Burkina Faso, Austria, and last but not least Belgium were represented at the festival as well.
I didn’t miss any of the performances and afterwards – having a somewhat critical mind – I automatically gave them a mental review. Leaving the theatre hall, I always wondered if the show appealed to me or not and if so/if not, why?
A few conclusions came to mind :
Seeing all the performances and discussing them afterwards with other delegates, I noticed once again that my frame of reference is not universal at all, as some opinions differed from each other like night and day. An objective perspective does not exist!
A few performances I didn’t like at all. The Korean show ‘Brush’, the Austrian show ‘Reinraumraüs’ and the Irish show ‘Katie’s Birthday Party’ were created around (gender)clichés and didn’t, in my opinion, challenge a young audience to use their imagination. They clearly underestimated young children by portraying everything very concretely. This kind of story-telling was in total contrast with ‘The Hamilton Complex’, a performance that basically left everything up to audience’s imagination, even balancing on the edge of provocation. But at the least ‘The Hamilton Complex’ left nobody indifferent and truly deserved the award for most outstanding show at On the Edge Festival! Made in Belgium!
Nevertheless, this week was a blast. Getting to know so many great people, having nice conversations, exchanging different perspectives, taught me that the world is big and small at the same time. Small in a sense that I could so easily have a good chat with a drama teacher from Calcutta as with a dancer from New-Zeeland. Big is our world when you realize there are as many opinions as there are people. »