Directors Lab Mediterranean 3rd edition.
July 2021
Teatre Lliure – Barcelona, Spain
PRESS RELEASE
January 11th
For immediate release
DLM e-mail: info@directorslabmed.org
Directors Lab Mediterranean is pleased to announce the launch of the application call for its third edition, scheduled to take place at the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona, Spain this July 2021. “Amidst a global public health crisis that has had a significant impact on the theatre and the performing arts sectors worldwide, we feel it’s necessary to keep moving forward with our work and to continue building bridges and creating physical and virtual spaces for artists to connect, reflect, and create” said Sahar Assaf, Artistic
Director of DLM. In a similar vein, Juan Carlos Martel Bayod, Artistic Director of Teatre Lliure and DLM Steering Committee member, said “During times like these DLM is an exceptional opportunity to overcome borders and distances: connecting thought, conversation and art from around the world. Teatre Lliure is excited to provide the space for this to happen in 2021!”.
“Stageless Theatre” is the theme that DLM is exploring this year. During this last year, Covid-19 took away our regular audiences but it gave us access to audiences across the globe, audiences of different cultures, languages, backgrounds, identities, etc. Amidst all uncertainties, one fact remained true, theatre continued to happen in different shapes and forms. Steering Committee member Lisa Nava said, “Needless to say Covid-19 imposed great challenges on theatre-making and theatre-makers everywhere, but we want to explore what this new world condition gave to theatre. Can theatre exist
outside the audience-performer physical encounter? What will a post-Covid-19 theatre look like? are some of the questions we’re exploring in this year’s edition.” Steering Committee member Anna Kapousizi in her turn said, ”Knowing nothing about what the future holds for us, I know that I want to imagine it full of people working and networking and continuing to find ways to make theatre. DLM is our common ground to do that.”
DLM follows the model of the Directors Lab at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City, and it aims to provide emerging and mid-career stage directors from all over the world with the opportunity to build peer connections and create artistic networks while exploring Mediterranean theater traditions and current practices. It was endorsed by Anne Cattaneo, the founder of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and was initially launched at the American University of Beirut in July 2019 hosted by the AUB Theater Initiative and the Department of Fine Arts and Art History. Last year, the Lab was planned to hold its second edition at Teatre Lliure in Barcelona but given the pandemic situation it was moved online.
Mohammad Banihani, Artistic Director of Jasad and DLM Steering Committee member said,“In 2020, with the COVID-19 restrictions, we decided to organize a digital session to give the participants a chance to meet and Jasad for Performing Arts / Training and Research was chosen as a host organization. Since the creation of the DLM, Jasad has been committed to support the lab in multiple ways, and it was crucial to maintain this channel of communication and cooperation open during these uncertain times. Undoubtedly, this has been an extraordinary experience, bringing us together from all over the world to reflect and continue to practice our artistic work. We met as professionals but left as friends, thanks to this continuous exchange, beyond borders.” The mini-digital Lab of 2020 brought together 28 directors from 18 different countries— namely Greece, U.S, Panama, Australia, Bahrain, Jordan, India, Kuwait, Sweden, Germany, Ecuador, Romania, Palestine, Tunisia, Italy, Peru, South Korea and France.
The rich online program included sessions by award-winning guest artists Euripides Laskaridis from Greece and Zeina Daccashe from Lebanon.
DLM 2021, like the other sister Labs of the LCT Directors Lab in Los Angeles, (Directors Lab West), Chicago (Directors Lab Chicago), Toronto (Directors Lab North), and Melbourne (Directors Lab Melbourne), will offer a series of workshops, shared sessions, rehearsals and discussions with major guest artists from around the Mediterranean. The third edition will run for 10 days this July 2021 at the prestigious Teatre Lliure in Barcelona. Emerging and mid-career stage directors from all over the world are invited to apply to join the Lab. The Lab is provided free of charge to all accepted applicants. To access the application form and for other information please visit the Lab’s website: http://directorslabmed.org/application/
DLM Executive Steering Committee consists of Mohammad Banihani from Jordan, Anna Kapousizi from Greece, Lisa Nava from Italy, Sahar Assaf from Lebanon, and Juan Carlos Martel Bayod from Spain.
DLM Team
