PRESS RELEASE Dec 2014

ARIADNE: female theatremakers in (post/)conflict zones

led by Susannah Tresilian and Georgie Weedon

…Ariadne gave the thread that led out of the maze

ARIADNE JOINS WITH ABBEY THEATRE FOR INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
22-24 JANUARY 2015

ARIADNE is thrilled to announce a collaboration with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, co-curating an international symposium on ‘Theatre of War’. Second in a trilogy of annual international symposiums in Ireland, 'Theatre of War' looks at aspects of creativity whilst fused in a framework of crisis and conflict, past and present. 

We are very pleased to say that all six of ARIADNE's initial profiled theatremakers from Rwanda, Burundi, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Colombia and Palestine, will join us in Dublin for the symposium, to present their work and take part in panel discussions.  Hope Azeda, Iman Aoun, Patricia Ariza, Frederique LeComte, Dijana Milosevic and Ruwanthie de Chickera will join a stellar line-up of theatre artists from Ireland and around the world, all together to dig deep into the world of theatre and art created in times of war.  Co-director of ARIADNE, Susannah Tresilian will present a talk on the relationship between women, war and the arts.

http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats_on/event/the-theatre-of-war-symposium/

ARIADNE: a global network of women who make theatre in conflict zones

“Women across the world are making theatre either because of the wars they

have lived through, or in spite of those wars.  We find out their stories.”

Theatre director and BBC radio producer Susannah Tresilian joined together with filmmaker Georgie Weedon of Gingerwink Films, and In Place of War, to launch ARIADNE in early 2014. Barrister and theatre critic Camilla ter Haar joined the team in April 2014.

Around the world, some hidden in remote corners, some creating high-profile waves – around the world there are women who have chosen theatre (or theatre has chosen them) as their medium with which to engage with the environment they live in, in a post or current conflict zone.  Who are these women?  What theatre are they making?

Tresilian and Weedon are working in collaboration with In Place of War to create an online digital resource - films, interviews, blogs and photos - profiling many of these amazing women.  Supported by the Arts Council England, they plan to develop it to include female theatremakers in Colombia, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Palestine and Serbia, and then on.   Future plans include a festival bringing together these extraordinary women and their work in one place, and to create a network between them. 

For more information follow:

www.projectariadne.com
http://www.inplaceofwar.net/ariadne
or on Twitter at @ProjectAriadne
Interviews available on request.

BIOGRAPHIES

SUSANNAH TRESILIAN is a theatre director and radio producer.  She has directed at theatres in the UK, Italy, Cyprus, Norway, France and Croatia. As Associate Director of Nottingham European Arts and Theatre Festival 2011 and 2014 she worked with artists from Kosovo, Serbia, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Bulgaria.  She is a theatre director, a freelance producer on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour, and recently produced a documentary for BBC Radio 4 on feminist theatre called Theatre of the Abused. http://www.susannahtresilian.com

GEORGIE WEEDON is a filmmaker and author. She was the third member of the launch team of Al Jazeera English, where she developed the daily documentary show, Witness. She has made films in various countries including Somalia, Palestine and Kosovo and previously co-authored the book, Offscreen: Four Young Artists in the Middle East. She currently runs Gingerwink Films. http://www.gingerwinkfilms.com.

CAMILLA TER HAAR is a London based barrister with a practice in international and domestic commercial and public law. Camilla is a theatre critic and contributing editor at Absolutely Magazines (Zest Media) as well as the London Chair of the SAIS Women’s Alumni Network.

IN PLACE OF WAR is developing a new living archive and social media space.  It is a project based within the University of Manchester that researches creativity in sites of armed conflict and has, over the past 7 years, developed extensive international networks of artists and creatives making theatre, street art, music, spoken word and more in response to war. http://www.inplaceofwar.net

Contact
Susannah Tresilian
stresilian@gmail.com
UK Mobile: +44 (0)7786 637 981