Theatre without Theatres
20th century theatre makers have often sought to reform the spaces where theatre takes place, in some cases abandoning purpose-built theatres altogether. Instead, they have made work for a specific, found location, adapted to the purpose.
The term site-specific refers to a type of theatrical production or artistic work specifically designed for a particular location. A found space is an existing space adapted to be used as a theatre, though the work presented there may not be made specially for the space. Vacant industrial buildings are often converted into theatre spaces after they are no longer required for their original purpose.
During the development of the coal and steel industry, the German Ruhr region became the largest conurbation in Europe. However, the coal crisis in 1958 heralded the end of this era. With the decline of the coal industry, the region had to reorient itself economically. Previously neglected, art and culture as well as an awareness of nature and quality of life took on new significance. Many event spaces and exhibition halls were founded after the end of the coal and steel industry, and the terrain, buildings and history of the industrial era themselves became the subject of culture.
The International Building Exhibition Emscher Park (IBA) project between 1990 and 1999 developed new uses for former industrial wastelands, and played a major role in this change. Buildings and places of the industrial era were converted into monuments or venues for art, for example the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex (‘Zeche Zollverein’ in German) in Essen.
The Ruhrtriennale music and arts festival in the Ruhr region happens every three years, with its own theme and under different artistic directors. The Ruhrtriennale locations are industrial heritage sites of the Ruhr area, transformed into venues for music, theatre, literature and dance. The main venue of the festival is the Jahrhunderthalle, a former power station from the early 20th century in Bochum. Other locations include the Zeche Zollverein coal mine in Essen, the Landschaftspark in Duisburg-Nord, and the Maschinenhalle Zweckel in Gladbeck. The festival’s central feature is interdisciplinary ‘creations’ or productions that unite contemporary developments in fine art, pop, jazz, and concert music. Artists who have appeared include Ariane Mnouchkine, Peter Brook, Robert Lepage, Bill Viola, and Patrice Chéreau.
The idea is to perform in totally unconventional places, to generate innovative results that provoke new sensations. In these productions there is a strong interrelation between the piece and the space, in such a way that if the piece moves from the specific place where it has been mounted, it loses a substantial part of its meaning. The place not only acts as the scenic environment in which the action takes place but is also the subject that triggers the action itself. The place is the origin of the dramaturgy, and research into the place and its history constitutes a large part of the work. The spaces used are usually those that have a particular historical charge or a certain atmosphere: a hangar, a disused factory, a specific neighbourhood of a city, a house or an apartment.
Site-specific performances can be classified according to the different types of space they use, and the types of relationship between performers and spectators. Performances in theatres, public buildings and private homes are characterised by the occupation of different parts of the building, so that the spatial arrangement of the audience and the performers creates new forms of relationship and new modes of perception of the theatrical event. In the city, disused buildings or apartments and private rooms are also used. Performances in public spaces have been used to create scenographies in which the viewer has the possibility of experiencing a familiar space in a new way. Places such as train stations or the metro network have been widely used. Performances in natural spaces use the environment of nature to provide either a background to a more conventional stage, such as with the floating stage of the Bregenzer Festspiele on the Bodensee lake, or as an immersive environment for the performance in parks, forests, and similar nature locations.
In general, site-specific theatre is more interactive and immersive than conventional theatre. The spectator is taken from their usual place in the stalls to an unfamiliar environment. The events that take place in these places are usually of an ephemeral nature and are linked to the moment of their execution and the environment in which they take place. It is a fruitful scenographic practice that continues to grow and evolve, often favoured by artists who wish to escape what they see as a stale theatre culture, to find new ways of communicating ideas and new kinds of experiences for their audiences, and indeed to find new audiences – those that might never set foot in a traditional theatre.