Iraqi Bodies are continuing their work on literary figures that have had as much impact in the East as in the West. Following their work on Albert Camus (Caligula) and Dante (De Vulgari Eloquentia & La Divina Commedia) they embark on the re-adaptation of Franz Kafka’s short story The Huntsman. We meet the Unknown, The Stranger, that has travelled across seas in search of a fantastical destination. On the shore of his arrival a dialogue on a broken telephone line is intercepted with a person who turns out to be very similar to his younger self. Afraid of admitting the unfathomable he slowly starts to realize that the journey he has made since centuries has occurred at the bottom of the ocean where his corpse still lay.
On his travels he meets a reporter discussing the current migrant crisis, he discovers that his cousin survived, and he hears tales of an icy kingdom in the North. Iraqibodies will make a stage performance based on Franz Kafka's short story "The Huntsman" for an audience from 15 years and above. It will comprise elements of physical theatre, dance, acrobatics and text in Swedish, English and Arabic. It will be performed in Sweden, Greece and Russia at theatre venues and n alternative places such as outside and in museum halls to give chance for an audience who might not be accustomed to going to the theatre. Its main partner will be Angereds Teater where research will take place with young adults.
Research and development of the project will also take place in Greece and Russia to incorporate a meeting between West and East to reconnect with the issues of death and war and how it affects young and old peoples lives. Iraqi Bodies kommer att rikta sig till en bredare, och yngre, publik med detta verk. Verket välkomnar åskådare från 15 år uppåt och formatet är under diskussion med AngeredsTeater om hur på bästa sätt engagera en tonårspublik som promenerar den fina linan mellan barndom och vuxendom. Fantasi kommer att vara ledordet för att kunna representera dem oftast skymda ämnena om död, flykt och hopp. Med scenkonsten som medium riktar sig denna föreställningen till högstadieklasser uppåt, men även till hela familjen där unga vuxna och deras föräldrar förhoppningsvis lämnar teatern fulla med frågetecken och en liten skymt av poesi.
To speak of this project in a broader sense (not only a performance) we want to highlight seven (7) points which speak about the importance of this subject! Those points are 1) why should this project be implemented in West Sweden, 2) what about this project is innovative, 3)who is this project trying to reach out to, 4) show the importance of multiplicity in representations on and off stage, 5) how to implement a broad radius of the micro society in West Sweden, 6) the transmission of the project with partners and finally the technicality of finance.
REGIONAL POTENTIAL
The seed for this project was revealed to us by young people in and around the city center of Gothenburg. They were a group of friends with different ethnical backgrounds who all enjoyed a day in the sun. The topic arose on the Arabic language and its beauty but the Swedish youths who wanted to learn Arabic did not know where they would be able to do that. We realized that there is a great gap that can be filled by literature, but also performing arts, in connecting youths across cultures.
Franz Kafka is a classic author part of any curriculum in any high school across the globe. How can we use this author of alienation to bring us closer to each other? This is the search of this project and in doing so we can approach each other more easily whether if you are living in Gothenburg, Trollhättan, Vara or Borås. Or whether your family comes from Syria, Somalia, Ethiopia, Bosnia or Germany we should be able to connect and speak about heart felt things without language being a hinder.
INNOVATION
The Huntsman is a twist on language seen through dance and theatre. It will use the strangeness of its author writing in a foreign language to connect it to the various languages we all meet in the course of just one day in Västragötaland alone.
100 years ago one would not have had such a cultural influence from such varied places of the world – today it is granted, yet we still do not know how to deal with it! Taking the prominence of Kafka’s short story we will create a fantastical character who speaks both of death and life, joy and sorrow, East and West through a perspective of the curious youth.
THE AUDIENCE
This is Iraqi Bodies’ first performance for a younger audience. Not until now have we felt the urgency to create thought-provoking performances for youth. Last summer’s crisis was a crisis for Europe but also personally for us. We felt afraid for all the young people coming with high hopes of a better life which very well might turn out horrendous.
Life is not always brighter somewhere else and this many young boys have had to experience fleeing from the East to the West. This leads us to another point of concern which is that the demographic of youths who came to Northern Europe were mostly young boys. We ask ourselves – where are the young girls? Were they left behind to be raped, killed or simply just abandoned? These questions need to be raised in an indirect way and we wish to do so through the performance The Huntsman. The Huntsman as a figure is someone always on the move, looking for better options, but in the end he finds himself disillusioned with what he thought he wanted and what actually happened.
MULTIPLICITY
Iraqi Bodies is its essence a very international platform for various activities.
In The Huntsman we will be working with highly sought after performers from Greece who have all had a long-standing career themselves in Greece and abroad. For the region it is important that groups like ours exists since we bring new influences into the Swedish arts scene. In this project we will for example be giving classes open to youths to try out the various techniques we will employ in the performance such as dance, music, aerial silk and hoop and tightrope!
SHOUT OUT!
Då projektet riktar sig till en målgrupp från 15 år uppåt kommer vi att arbeta med erfarna producenter på just detta plan. Lovisa Pihl vid AngeredsTeater kommer att stötta i hur vi som bäst kan nå en bredare publik. Detta gäller inte endast unga åskådare utan även deras familjer, både i innerstan och förorterna.
Iraqi Bodies har ett brett nationellt och internationellt nätverk som tillsammans med det diverse teatrarna vi kommer att arbeta med bidrar till en djup bank av potentiell publik. Vår önskan med detta projekt är att familjer med en bred bakgrund (sociologisk, kulturell och ekonomisk) ska få möjlighet att uppleva scenkonst av högsta kvalitet men som också berör livets trauman och drömmar.
TRANSMISSION
Collaborations and co-productions are extremely important for us since we do not have access to our own studio or stage. Hence we are relying on the regional support to aid us. We are proud to announce that our collaboration with Angereds Teater will continue and is currently being discussed on how to in the most efficient way reach out to a large audience within and beyond the big cities.
Scenkonst Gerlesborg is another partner we are proud to be connected to which will bring this piece to venues beyond what we are used to. Finally we of course always have international partners, this time in Greece and Russia who will support the work both in process but also in presenting the piece. This means that Greece and Russia will come to West Sweden and West Sweden will also be represented in Greece and Russia. A lovely opportunity to spread the exciting things that are being made in this region!
FINANCE
This project has applied for funds from all levels; state, region, municipality to individual partners (AngeredsTeater, Scenkonst Gerlesborg etc.).