The project involves artistic research, archiving and theatrical transcription of a wide range of stories that have taken place or are taking place in the region of Central Europe during the 20th and 21st centuries, with a special focus on the stories associated with the region of South Bohemia – not only the well-known or historically significant ones, but also the personal, the hidden, the forgotten, the fictional or the completely banal.
The focus of the artistic research and subsequent creative work is framed by broader questions dealing with the significance of story for the individual, social and historical orientation of the individual and society. Equally relevant to the project are questions related to the themes of narrative as a socio-historical construct and the exploration of the principles of the subsequent emergence, acceptance and meaning of individual, social or political narrative.
As we see today and every day, the way narrative is told, the setting of the story in different contexts as well as the selection, emphasis or suppression of myriad layers of subtexts determines whether narrative becomes a tool for communication, learning, sharing, bonding, hope or, on the contrary, for inducing fear, bending history, manipulation, negatively influencing people and gaining unchecked power.
Between 2025 and 2028, four site-specific and immersive theatre projects will be created based on research and story collection, using mainly physical and visual theatre. The projects will be created in non-traditional and originally non-theatrical locations in the South Bohemia region. Site-specific projects will be created under the guidance of the creative team of Continuo Theatre in collaboration with dozens of experienced and emerging theatre artists, theatre school students, musicians and visual artists. A number of Czech and international partner institutions are also involved in the project.
In addition to the main site-specific outputs, the project intends to implement a number of accompanying activities, such as workshops with specific groups of inhabitants and communities in the region, meetings with experts, pedagogical activities, archiving, etc.
Among other things, the project aims to fill gaps in the current narrative of the region by collecting a wide range of stories, including those that are not part of the generally accepted narrative. Stories from the margins, stories that have been marginalised, stories that have been forgotten, stories that are often not given a hearing. Stories about ecological issues, landscapes, minorities, human rights, gender equality or political responsibility.
We believe that without stories we are lost in time, just as we are lost in space without landmarks. Our lives are shaped and defined by thousands of stories – small and large, our own and others‘. We are stories.
