The Young Directors Project 2011

© http://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/ydp2011/default.html

The Salzburg Festival is usually associated with high-class performances that create a certain elitist touch to the whole event. Since 2002, Jürgen Flimm, the former director for drama, decided to bring a new project into life that offers young international artists the chance to present their work during the summer season at the Salzburg Festival. The so-called Young Directors Project celebrates its 10^th anniversary this year and turned into a permanent feature of the artistic summer scene of the city of Salzburg. Montblanc International sponsors the project and awards the best performance every year.

This year’s program is a further step in our exploration of unconventional, but welcoming and deeply moving theatrical journeys as devised by young artists. Between 11 a.m. until late at night, the doors are open for an expedition through the various homes and worlds of art.  
(http://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/ydp2011_en/about.html)

This summer there are going to be five different performances all over Salzburg presented by the Young Directors Project. In honour of the 10^th anniversary, this year’s performances all focus on young theatre artists who incorporate the audience and do not just offer a performance that can be consumed passively. The motto of these performances is that “the play is not something [the audience] is faced with, but something [the audience] is a part of.” This new way of performing art is particularly interesting for people who want to experience something completely new and are open to explore not just a new art form but also their inner self. Because the performance is very much dependent on the audience participation, every single evening is different from the previous one.

One of this year’s performances is called The Dinner Club – Salzburg Classes presented by the Swedish performance company Poste Restante (http://www.poste-restante.se/) that was founded in 2007. At the moment the performance company consists of three members who do their productions mainly on their own and also take part in the performances themselves. Aim of the Swedish artists is to address members of the audience personally with constructed situations that aim to trigger emotional conflicts. The actors actually do not perform for the audience, but rather lead them through their own very personal activities and help them dealing with their emotions.  

The Dinner Club – Salzburg Classes is taking place in August 2011. The performance can be compared to a practical workshop where the audience has to learn different things in evening classes. The classes include for instance good manners and social etiquette, how to do the rumba and how to dress properly for an evening dinner. After people have successfully completed the courses, they are invited to take part at the dinner party in the end and present what they have learned beforehand. The party, including a three-course dinner and life music, doubles as exam and if the audience fails at something, they have to redo some of their classes.

In The Dinner Club, the Swedish performance group Poste Restante carves into our longing for “a pleasant time”, “good manners”, and the fear of what the price might be. (http://www.salzburgerfestspiele.at/ydp2011_en/TheDinnerClub.html)