SPOLETO, ITALY: This summer, La MaMa Umbria will celebrate the 26th year of its flagship symposium program in Spoleto, Italy. A symposium for directors and playwrights to learn from some of the world’s most renowned theatremakers, it will convene July 16-Aug. 6, and the retreat will run Aug. 9-19. The sessions will focus on physical theatre, puppetry, spatial design, and finding the danger in creation.
According to co-producer David J. Diamond, this year’s symposium will highlight the ways in which “theatre and the performing arts can have a significant and lasting effect on the way we see ‘the other’ as we confront polarization and conflicts around the globe. The artists leading workshops have dedicated their artistic lives in the pursuit of greater understanding, deeper meaning, and diversity of thought that enriches our selves and serves our communities. For 25 years, the La MaMa Umbria Symposium and Retreat have given artists the tools and community that enrich their artistic practice, allowing them to reach audiences in innovative ways. Inspired artists lead to more effective performances, which lead to a more engaged public.”
Stefanie Batten Bland will teach Physical Theatre Perspectives, a genre-blending workshop that addresses scaling kinesthetic awareness in immersive theatre settings and explores devising and directing skills necessary for moving, acting, sound, and text to defend abstract and linear narration.
Liesl Tommy will lead artists through the Art of Curiosity, with exercises examining new works and reframing classics with a process asking: How deep is the artist going? How dangerous is their work every step of the way? Are we making space for the magic of imagination to lead?
Dan Hurlin will teach Using Puppets to Convey Ideas in Performance, exploring how puppetry is used to serve narratives and dramaturgical requirements of a particular performance, convey ideas, and work in performance with their limitations and strengths. Hurlin’s seminar will explore marionette, Bunraku style, shadow, and other styles.
Wesley Ruzibiza will teach Spatial Design and Narrative, offering a fresh perspective on storytelling by integrating spatial design with narrative development and highlighting the potential of physical space as both a canvas and a catalyst for creative expression and story design that resonate far beyond our personal experience.
Additionally, Simon McBurney and Milo Rau will lead Approaches to Theatre-Making Seminars. Registration for symposium workshops closes on May 15.
Over the past quarter of a century, La MaMa Umbria has hosted hundreds of directors and theatre scholars who come to the symposiums to refresh their skills, experiment with new forms of theatre—both aesthetic and cross-cultural—and most specifically to absorb the many, very different approaches that master directors use to create their work.
For decades, La MaMa Umbria and La MaMa NYC, both founded and guided by the legendary Ellen Stewart, have been recognized for building a home for international artists and the art they make. Inviting artists to come together from all over the world at La MaMa Umbria honors Stewart’s lifelong philosophy of building a unified global community.
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club stands as an iconic beacon of avant-garde creativity and artistic innovation. Founded by Ellen Stewart in 1961, La MaMa has become a legendary institution that nurtures and champions experimental theater and interdisciplinary performance. Its enduring legacy lies in its ability to inspire, provoke thought, and contribute to the evolution of contemporary theatre, making it an invaluable treasure for the artistic community and the world at large.
