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Every country has its own story to tell about oil.

Underneath our feet or above the ground, oil and natural gas are the life blood of our economy and lifestyle, circulating all over Europe, pulsing through the veins of pipelines. Oil as a fossil resource comes from the depth of time, is the elixir of our present age, and threatens our future. There is a growing wish to end the 100 year old oil rush but how can we sustain our lifestyle that is based on the excessive use of energy? The answer has yet to be found.

When author Magdalena Schrefel approached Schauspielhaus Graz with an idea for a play based on the book “How to Blow Up A Pipeline” by Andreas Malm, Schauspielhaus Graz and ETC joined together to reach out to ETC Member Theatres, across Europe, requesting that they find and commission local authors to write a dramatic text answering the question; Which kind of drama does fossil energy provoke in your country?

With the support of ETC, the five participating ETC Member theatres have selected the following authors: 

Magdelena Schrefel - Schauspielhaus Graz (Austria)

Ian De Toffoli - Théâtres de la Ville (Luxembourg)

Simone Spiteri - Teatru Malta (Malta)

Alex Lorette - Théâtre de Liège (Belgium)

Elsa Demo - National Theatre of Albania (Albania)

Read more about the authors here

The authors meet regularly online and were brought together at the International Drama|tik|er|innen|fest|ival and ETC Week of European Drama in June 2021 in Graz to discuss their ideas.

Power, corruption, money, activism - every author had their own individual experiences of oil in their country.

The final dramatic texts are currently being written and will be presented in different formats at the participating theatres in the 21/22 season.

Through this project, a network of communication circulates words instead of oil, drawing energy from cultural exchange rather than from fossil fuel. ‘Pipelines’ showcases how European collaboration and political engagement can foster visibility for burning issues, highlights local themes on global issues and shows that common problems can be solved when working together.

Participating theatres and audiences are also invited to reflect their own relationship to oil, their need for energy and encouraged to experiment artistically or organisationally with energy neutrality.

Learn more and watch our 'Call For Project Partners' Video!

Questions

For any question about the 'Pipelines' project, contact Hélène Gauthier (hgauthier@europeantheatre.eu) at ETC.

Artistic Collaborations

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