The Summer Theater Intensive aims to foster creative engagement between students and a wide variety of multidisciplinary artists working in theater and performance in Berlin. This rigorous four-week program explores techniques in the devising and creating of original theater works, and immerses students in the city’s theater and performance culture through regular outings to performances, museums, galleries, and other cultural venues; visits to artistic and historical landmarks; and meetings with artists.
Cultural Program
The Summer Theater Intensive also provides a cultural and intellectual context for the work being done in the studio, in the process making the city of Berlin a subject and creative force for the program and not simply its location.
Cultural Program
The cultural program takes three forms:
Performances Students make frequent (several times a week) visits to Berlin’s rich performance offerings. These range from the large city theaters (Volksbühne, Schaubühne, Deutsches Theater) to the alternative spaces of the “Freie Szene,” or Free Scene (HAU, Sophiensaele, Dock 11). In some cases students will have the opportunity to meet with the artists after the performance to discuss their work and creative process.
Talks Practitioners and theorists lecture on topics relating to the arts and performance in Germany.
Berlin Once a week the students explore some aspect of Berlin’s artistic and historical identity—for example, an architectural walking tour of Berlin led by BCB art historian Aya Soika. In some cases these explorations will provide the genesis for pieces the students are creating.
Coursework
Students study a variety of “methods” of creation with Berlin-based artists and, under their guidance, create original theater works. Students also explore the historical and contemporary richness of Berlin’s theatrical culture with faculty from Bard College Berlin.
Course Themes
The work in the studio is organized around a series of distinct themes:
1. Space 2. Text and Composition 3. Body and Movement/Choreography 4. Sound and Image
The program provides 20 hours a week of instruction, master classes/workshops, and lectures. In addition, there are guided rehearsals, showings, and feedback time each week. The students attend theater and other performances three to five times weekly, as well as other cultural offerings such as visits to museums and galleries and architectural and historical walking tours of the city.
Past Performance Videos
The 2018 live performances can be viewed on Youtube: