dnxiv05 - Divadelná Nitra

Transcription

DNXIV05
EVALUATION OF PROJECT REALISATION, REPORT
INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL DIVADELNÁ NITRA 05
23 > 28 September 2005
January 2006, Association Divadelná Nitra
Developed: Darina Kárová
With the use of evaluations of Board for Foreign Theatre members, staff members
evaluations, and ADN materials
Editing: Lujza Bakošová
DNXIV05 > Evaluation of Project Realisation | Report, International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra 2005,
Association Divadelná Nitra, January 2006
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CONTENTS
chapter 1. > basic data ‌ summary ................................................................................... 3
chapter 2. > SWOT analysis ........................................................................................... 3
chapter 3. > idea, intent, conception ............................................................................... 5
chapter 4. > programme .................................................................................................. 7
4. 1. > main programme ................................................................................................... 7
4. 2. > OFF programme .................................................................................................... 9
4. 3. > DOSKY 2005 ......................................................................................................... 10
4. 4. > working programme ............................................................................................... 11
4. 4. 1. > European Festival Research Project ................................................................. 11
4. 4. 2. > discussion Cultural Landscape and Festivals .................................................... 11
4. 4. 3. > training – Direction: Spectator............................................................................ 11
4. 4. 4. > European Workshop of Translation.................................................................... 11
4. 4. 5. > seminar – Culture 2000...................................................................................... 12
4. 5. > accompanying programme .................................................................................... 12
chapter 5. > communication | program mediation – visual design | prints | promotion .... 12
5. 1. > visual design .......................................................................................................... 12
5. 2. > prints ...................................................................................................................... 13
5. 3. > promotion ............................................................................................................... 14
5. 4. > distribution and documenation ............................................................................... 14
chapter 6. > media promotion ........................................................................................ 14
6. 1. > media partners ....................................................................................................... 14
6. 2. > media feedback ...................................................................................................... 15
6. 3. > press centre ............................................................................................................ 17
6. 4. > web page ................................................................................................................ 17
6. 5. > festival daily ............................................................................................................ 17
chapter 7. > registration | attendance | tickets ............................................................. 17
7. 1. > offer and attendance – main programme ................................................................17
7. 2. > registration and ticket booking system ................................................................... 19
7. 3. > accompanying programme events ......................................................................... 19
7. 4. > overall attendance – Divadelná Nitra 2005 ............................................................ 20
chapter 8. > guests .......................................................................................................... 21
8. 1. > foreign and slovak guests ....................................................................................... 21
8. 2. > V.I.P. ....................................................................................................................... 21
chapter 9. > services ....................................................................................................... 22
9. 1. > accommodation ...................................................................................................... 22
9. 2. > transportation .......................................................................................................... 22
9. 3. > communication – meeting point .............................................................................. 23
9. 4. > festival club ............................................................................................................. 23
chapter 10. > organising | preparing | executing........................................................... 23
10. 1. > main organisers and co-organisers....................................................................... 23
10. 2. > advisory boards..................................................................................................... 24
10. 3. > staff and collaborators........................................................................................... 24
chapter 11. > work with the youth................................................................................... 24
11. 1. > cooperation with colleges...................................................................................... 24
11. 2. > volunteers ............................................................................................................. 25
11. 3. > authors and spectators.......................................................................................... 25
chapter 12. > technical equipment ................................................................................ 26
chapter 13. > economics | finances | resources............................................................ 26
13. 1. > ways of meeting the costs .................................................................................... 26
13. 2. > subjects taking part in meeting the costs............................................................... 27
13. 3. > new and established sources of financial support ................................................ 27
13. 4. > sponsorship .......................................................................................................... 28
13. 5. > budget – plan and reality ...................................................................................... 29
13. 6. > in kind intakes and other data................................................................................ 29
> conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 30
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chapter 1. > basic data – summary
The 14th edition of the International festival Divadelná Nitra took place 23 – 28 September
2005 in Nitra, with subsidiary performances in Bratislava and Trnava. The Minister of Culture
of the Slovak Republic, František Tóth, and the Mayor of the Town of Nitra, Ferdinand Vítek,
took the auspices over the Festival.
Within the main programme, 13 productions from 10 countries have been presented. 20
performances at 8 venues have been staged. 450 artists have performed. Within the OFF
programme, the working and complementary programme, 110 events have been
accomplished at 20 venues with 250 people actively involved.
63 particular guests and participants attended the Festival from abroad (theatre critics,
publicists, directors of international festivals from 21 countries of Europe and Americas) and
66 steady participants and guests from Slovakia (critics, theatre professionals, students of
artistic and cultural fields). 34 journalists accredited. The festival was using 16 lodging
locations to accommodate the participants and guests of the festival. 21 persons from
diplomatic missions in SR and Slovak public authorities accepted invitations to particular
performing and social events. A total of 16 927 people visited the 130 festival events.
In the preparation and realisation of the Festival were involved 21 staff members, 38
professionals, 6 organising institutions, 29 co-organising institutions and companies, 23
donating institutions and funds, 30 sponsoring companies, 21 media partners, and 69
student volunteers.
Divadelná Nitra 2005 brought new a programme line – a series of readings and analyses of
contemporary drama (OFF programme). In 2005, Belgium and Serbia appeared at the
Festival for the first time with two companies from the respective countries.
For the first time in its history, Divadelná Nitra became a part of a project supported by
Culture 2000, a European Committee programme, and realised by the international F.I.T.
network. Another “first-times” of the 2005 edition include a pre-release of a performance from
abroad, training guided by a foreign lecturer, and simultaneous interpreting of all
performances to English language.
New kinds of supporting programme were established – White Night of galleries and
museums, ZZ Project – Behind the Theatre Curtain. For the first time the electronic
registration of participants was introduced, as well as the shuttle transport between Nitra and
Bratislava. For the first time the Town of Nitra took the guarantee over the Theatre Fair
organisation. For the first time the Association Divadelná Nitra assigned a quota for theatrical
institutions in the category festival guest of honour.
During the Festival, there was an integrated meeting point available; there were live field
pick-up broadcasts, daily updates of the bilingual web page, students’ festival daily, and
there was also the idea of broader communication with the foreign press agencies and
professional periodicals being put into effect.
chapter 2. > SWOT analysis
▲ strengths
• Clear and consequent dramaturgic conception of the main programme
• Interesting and high-quality performances in the main programme
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Developing elements in new programme outlines and components (OFF programme,
training)
Developing elements in new performing locations, new services, and new marketing,
information and communication methods (interpreting performances to English
language, shuttle transport between Nitra and Bratislava, electronic registration of
participants, cooperation with schools)
Young people as the target group of the Festival
High number of particular foreign guests
Good attendance of the main programme, OFF programme, and the accompanying
programme
Good, professional organisation of the Festival
Full technical support for technically demanding performances
Sufficiency of information materials, transportation means, and other services,
including supporting events, for the Festival guests
Engagement of intellectuals outside theatre in various forums and discussions
Quantitatively and qualitatively distinct promotion in the media
Presentation of the Festival in the town with high-quality offer of accompanying
events including exterior events, and propagation means with big board
advertisements
Expanding Festival recognition abroad
Broader and more systematic cooperation with foreign partners, i.e. institutes of
culture and diplomatic missions, and their interest in Divadelná Nitra and in visiting
the offered theatrical performances
Stable collaborating teams for foreign countries, and advisory boards (board of
consultants, dramaturgy boards)
Professional, skilled, caring, and well coordinated staff enriched with some new
members
Good staff collaborators with various artistic and technical professions
Sufficient number of volunteers
New financial sources
Divadelná Nitra as a part of theatre festival network under the F.I.T. project (Culture
2000)
Divadelná Nitra as a host of European Festival Research Project working team
▼ weaknesses
• Accommodation – quality, capacity, and coordination (the situation with colliding
Autosalon Nitra, change of conditions from hotel management, unreliable
reservations and lists, cancelling reservations made a year before in the last weeks or
days before the Festival – problems of external character concerning the guests and
theatrical companies, as well as the staff concentration and the good reputation of
Divadelná Nitra.
• Visual design – preparation and execution (lengthy process of artist selection,
unreliable and unprofessional working behaviour of the artist, rearranged and missed
deadlines, change of terms, impact on technical quality of the prints – issues with
internal, intra-staff impact, as well as several misprints of some public materials)
• Service to V.I.P. (insufficient readiness in time, imperfect coordination of activities and
organising personnel, flaws in attendance and in communication with guests –
problems with mostly internal impact)
• Low attendance of professional Festival guests and participants at the working events
(discussion Cultural Landscape and Festivals, final discussion about DN 05 Festival,
discussions after performances – professional problem)
• Festník, the Festival daily – modus operandi and outputs (overall periodical intention
and orientation, too many people in the editorial office, problem with managers)
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Lack of general sponsor and lower financial resources granted by sponsors (impact
on the budget – balanced by other sources)
W opportunities
• 15th edition of the International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra – evaluation of the
past season, planning for the particular edition and its special anniversary events (15
years anniversary book, anniversary exhibition of photographs, posters, and pictures,
publishing Festival’s archives on CD/DVD, etc.)
• 15 years of volunteering for Divadelná Nitra (lookup of names, publishing an
almanac, workshops)
• New electoral term in Association Divadelná Nitra – re-evaluation of goals
• New projects of Association Divadelná Nitra outside the Festival – defining and
stabilisation (e.g. education of the youth and professionals, etc.)
• Following up the OFF, workshops, Work In Progress
• Work with the youth (UKF and other schools in Nitra), engagement of VŠMU (outline
of programmes, volunteering, marketing)
• New forms of PR
• Passportisation of lodging locations, new conception of cooperation with hotels
• Discovering new performing locations and locations for working events
• Improving the interpreting of theatrical shows to English language
• Radical redesign of the Association and/or Festival visual design, producing new
Festival communication strategy
• Earlier promotion of the Festival in media, possibly even a year-round conception
• More consistent work with media from abroad
• Interconnecting the organs of ADN
• New fundraising strategy
• Competition of new festivals (mostly in Slovakia, but also abroad)
• More intensive involvement in foreign events (festivals, first nights, etc.)
• Co-producing theatrical productions
X threats
• Attitude change of the public authority towards the Festival after the elections
(regional in 2005, national in 2006)
• Lack of interest in culture from the businesses
• Unsteady and low-quality services in Nitra (unreliable hotel managers, ignoring
coordination of organisers of other events in Nitra, etc.)
• Growing difference between the status and ambitions of Divadelná Nitra, and Slovak
locale (quality and ambitions of Slovak theatrical production, interest of Slovak
theatres in international context and foreign productions)
• Good staff members leaving for financially more rewarding careers
• Insufficient number of print media culture columns and audiovisual media culture
programmes, lack of adequate professional reflection in Slovak dailies and weeklies
• Insufficient public service media coverage of events and significant personalities
presented at Divadelná Nitra
chapter 3. > idea, intent, conception
International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra dutifully carried out all its intentions
published in the 2005 project (quoting the “International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra
05” project by February 2005):
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International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra 2005 intents to:
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Use quality and innovation at designing the programme, to introduce theatre
production that is pioneer, provocative, and new in content, theatrical adaptation, or
authorial personality
Appeal to people of different tastes and faith through socially relevant and up-to-date
theatre – with European productions that offer outstanding direction and acting, and
which are considered interesting in national and/or international context because they
render modern trends, topics, or means of expression
Mediate the taste of life of today’s people, to present general human matters, to touch
on sensitive political or social issues
Go beyond the borders of art genres and types, to attend not only to theatre but also
to film, literature, music, poetry, visual arts; not only to foreign and Slovak art but also
to regional culture; not only to adults but also to children
Strengthen the presentation of Slovak theatre, to extend the Festival’s programme to
other Slovak towns
Offer an area for experimenting and searching for new artistic expression
Improve the system of appealing to young people and the cooperation with schools,
to execute the programme of informal education to volunteering
Look for new communication means with the public, to get closer to the most
important target groups and to mediate them the values that the festival will bring
Improve organisational methods, to do a highly professional job
and hopes to:
• Offer programme and artistic conception that can be sufficiently bearing in Slovak
milieu and interesting in European context
• Raise interest of wide public and media in culture and fine art
• Create real festival atmosphere, which would join organisational endeavour and the
reason of participants’ stay into one feeling of fellowship and increase the ability to
accept the offered values
International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra, considering its standpoint, programme
working events, and educational activities, seeks to become an important cultural
platform that is polemical to commercial art and audiovisual subculture.
Motto of this year’s edition of the International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra 2005 was
“approach the truth”. The motto, described in detail in the introduction of programme
brochure or catalogue, was made up as a result of our effort to find best words to describe
the intentions of the festival’s programme. The basic attributes of productions in the main
programme were following:
• All productions were based on contemporary texts, there was no classic play in the
programme
• Most of the productions came from authorial theatres (authors of the texts were
basically the same people as the performers)
• The most distinctive feature of the productions was authenticity (the scripts were
based on news headlines, newspaper articles, interviews, speeches of publicly active
persons, and other authentic documents; pieces of knowledge from politics,
sociology, or ecology; experiences from their own cultural and geographic surveys, or
the most recent theories from scientific studies)
• Authors of the productions were mostly young (the average age of the directors was
35)
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In scope of geographical mapping of theatre cultures at Divadelná Nitra and the
steady programme line ENTERR (European New Territories), new countries and
authors were introduced
Chosen productions were in most of the cases the top-class examples of current
theatrical productions in their respective countries
Some productions raised interest in managers of other festivals, visiting Nitra – as an
outcome, the companies may be invited to other international forums of theatre
The Open Festival Forum (OFF) was held in similar direction of social-political
theatre, but with even more emphasis on the political and the social. OFF is a new
programme outline of the festival, which was the first to introduce staged readings as
a significant tendency of European theatre.
The film screenings, a stable pendant to theatre programme, corresponded with the
theatrical performances in selection of countries, topics, and unconventional forms of
adaptation
The Festival was asking questions through authorial confession – the audience was
lead to think about the state of their own country, about the heritage of past, about the
influence of a personality, about the sense of life, about beauty, about the purity of
nature but also the purity of morals
While the main programme was intentionally provocative and unconventional, the
accompanying programme offered many events more popular with the wide public
chapter 4 > programme
4. 1. > main programme
Main programme comprised of several parts: productions of foreign theatres (9 of 9
countries), Slovak productions (4 productions from two theatres in Bratislava, two outside
Bratislava), and supporting events – mostly discussions after performances, and discussion
titled Breakfast with… that handled topics raised by the Festival’s programme and the
presented shows.
All text-based scenic productions were, as always, simultaneously interpreted to Slovak
language and transmitted either by earphones or by subtitle device. The 14th edition brought
interpretations to English language for the first time. Due to technical and financial
circumstances, not all presented productions were being translated, though.
The dramaturgy board for foreign theatre has chosen productions from Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland (presentation of the V 4 countries production), then Serbia, France, Great
Britain, Germany, and Norway. In order to enhance the line of presenting experimental
production of socio-political theatre, the Festival presented a pre-release performance of Jan
Ritsema’s Belgian company. The representation of eastern and western theatrical cultures
was unusually even (1:1); a fact that was warmly welcome by the professionals.
Another well-esteemed feature of the main programme was a homogeneous dramaturgic
conception that displayed mostly in the Festival’s orientation to theatre of political and social
issue, which is quite rare in the production of post-socialistic European countries. This
conception made the program preparation, communication, and promotion strategy much
easier. It also defined the borders of discussions and made it less difficult for the audience to
receive intercultural differences and the formally different productions, since it provided a
unifying point of reception. It has also strengthened the societal function of theatre. The
message of the programme (especially through the programme motto) was well defined, it
made the sale of the event easier, it mediated values and morals, and it raised the interest of
media. The organisers have thus undoubtedly offered a programme non-commercial,
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unconventional, intellectually and formally demanding, but still attractive with its
contemporariness and courage.
Well-targeted invitations of relevant people to specific parts of programme (Breakfast with…
and OFF programme discussions) induced activity of Slovak intellectual community from
other than theatre areas.
The production BLACKland of Hungarian Krétakör Theatre, directed by Árpád Schilling,
raised positively the greatest interest of visitors and media, as well as reviews of the
Festival’s conceptual and artistic aims. After the exclusively introvert confession of intimately
personal issues of man in Chekhov’s Seagull in 2004, this year the company introduced a
sarcastic attitude to public affairs. In the shape of a musical cabaret with up-to-date subject
matter and brilliant form, it has intensively appealed to the Divadelná Nitra’s audience.
Good acclaim reaped also the movement and dance creation Big in Bombay. Constanza
Macras, a female choreographer with Argentinean origin, is the author of the concept and
realisation of this work. The production belongs in Germany to the new wave of engaged
theatre. The performance’s societal power, imagination, and original and provocative form
appealed mostly to the young.
The young people’s warm acclaim of the magical Norwegian Concert for Greenland came as
a surprise. The Verdensteatret ensemble performed in Nitra – Janíkovce airport hangar,
which turned out to be a perfect solution of the organisers. The combination of the bizarre
moving object’s visual charm with Far North’s sounds and pictures brought another
dimension to the social and political orientation of the Festival’s programme, as well as
anybody’s everyday life. It was Nitra, where the company raised the interest of foreign
managers and later got invitations to other festivals.
Difference, otherness, alternative – that was the most valuable outcome of this year’s
Festival. Difference in various shapes was a daily programme for the Festival visitors.
The same hangar hosted a pre-release of a Belgian project KNOWH20W. The production is
performed by Vzw Avec Jan Jib Co, which is a group of performers under Jan Ritsema’s
leadership. The attempt for a minimalist grasp of a serious ecological issue combined with
personal confessions of the 3 project actors did not meet audience’s acclaim; on the contrary
– it was said to be formally exhibitionistic and empty.
The British experiment Powerpoint by Aisle16 was received much better. Young audience
spontaneously responded to a parody of modern communication, and welcome the creativity
in subject adaptation and brilliant work with words.
One of the qualitatively best productions in the programme was Renata Kalenská, Lidové
noviny by HaDivadlo, Brno and directed by Jan Antonín Pitínský. However, the lukewarm
welcome with the audience was probably the fault of a very demanding subject matter,
Czech milieu (less familiar to Slovaks after the split of Czechoslovakia), and insufficient work
of SND with the audience. The design of subsidiary performing locations was realised in
planned extent, i.e. staging the Czech performance in Trnava (J. Palárik Theatre) and
Bratislava (P. O. Hviezdoslav Theatre). These presentations were very special because they
were possibly the last authentic discussions of real Renata Kalenská with a guest, added to
the performances as their part. In Nitra, Kalenská was interviewing Rudolf Slánský (former
Ambassador of Czech Republic in Slovakia), in Trnava it was Ján Langoš (Chairman of
Nation's Memory Institute), and in Bratislava Milan Lasica (actor, playwright, director of L+S
Studio).
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Made in Poland, the debut of Przemysław Wojcieszek, a young Polish director, was quite an
interesting production, but was not very well received by the critics. Deliberately
contemporary topic of spiritual emptiness and aggressiveness of a young person in a big city
displayed director’s filmmaking praxis – for the better and the worse – the dramatic story
suggested action detective stories and the unconventional work with performing space gave
feeling of authenticity.
An interesting production, faithful to the DN’s programme conception, was the first Serbian
presentations at the Festival – Ostermaier’s play Trading (Erreger), performed by the
Belgrade Drama Theatre. This play also introduced the young and talented Serbian director
Anja Suša.
The closing production of the Festival was Boys and Chicks, a performance by Pál Frenák’s
famous Hungarian-French company. Humour and irony in depicting the male and female
principles, movement virtuosity, and visual creativity appealed to many Nitrian spectators,
used to French theatre’s originality and outstanding quality of movement.
One of the most popular Slovak productions was Tiso by Aréna Theatre and directed by
Rastislav Ballek. Domestic audience welcome the occasion to view this cult work, foreign
guests had the opportunity to learn (with the help of supporting info materials) about how
Slovaks deal with this taboo historical subject matter and see the coming tendency of
purgative political theatre.
Another Slovak presentations were productions The Ignoramus and the Madman of Slovak
National Theatre, directed by Jan Antonín Pitínský, Michal Vajdička’s The Beauty Queen of
Leenane from State Theatre Košice, and norway.today, directed by Vladislava Fekete, from
the production of home, Nitrian Andrej Bagar Theatre.
Tiso and The Ignoramus and the Madman got the most nominations for the season’s award
DOSKY 2005.
The main programme, as to the foreign productions, was homogeneous, thematically solid
and compact, legible, and consistent. The only problem was in misbalance between
orientation and quality of Slovak and foreign participants.
We consider as definitely positive the discovery of new performing locations (hangar, Matica
slovenská House), various forms of mediating information about the programme to the
visitors (synopses, interpreting, web page), and, among all, the idea and realisation of the
Breakfast with…, which were not only morning discussions about the productions, but sought
to grasp the issues more precisely and from various viewpoints of the participants (director,
author, publicist, historian).
4. 2. > OFF programme
OFF – Open Festival Forum, the brand new programme line, introduced to Divadelná Nitra
public reading of new play scripts. The chosen texts were in the line of social and political
theatre. As it seems, the most groundbreaking esthetical trends are utilised in the field of
societal and political theatre, just like in contemporary social and political visual arts. Slovak
theatre professionals and spectators resigned to political topics after 1989. OFF programme
2005, with foreign inspirations, outlined how to keep these tools of social self-reflection even
in Slovakia.
This was a self-contained turnkey project with its own creative team, management,
performing area, extra promotion, and participant recruitment in schools. Four contemporary
plays were translated for this occasion. Every text was processed by different, specially
addressed director – one was Slovak, three from abroad (Marold Langer-Philippsen – DE,
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Tiit Ojaso – EE, Agnieszka Olsten – PL, Eduard Kudláč – SK). These were largely young
directors that collaborated abroad with Slovak actors for the first time.
Every public reading finished with a lecture and discussion with a professional relevant to the
particular theme (Ladislav Hohoš, Peter Tížik, Roman Havlíček, Iveta Radičová).
OFF programme was intended mainly for college and high school students. Attendance was
not too bad – the average was 60 students per day. The admission was free and the visitors
could have promotion materials, leaflets, and play scripts. A very big success had the lecture
and discussion with Roman Havlíček from OZ Deti zeme (civic association Children of the
Earth), which lasted almost 3 hours due to immense interest of the audience and the number
of questions they had. The lecture of Iveta Radičová had comparable attention.
It is worth mentioning that OFF 2005 concluded after the Festival in performances that were
based on two public readings and their further presentation (I Bought a Spade at IKEA to Dig
My Own Grave – Žilina, Prague, and Studio 12, Poverty New – Studio 12 with R. Havlíček’s
lecture).
Another conclusion of the OFF programme was that new international
collaborations with foreign directors were established and there is a Polish-German-Slovak
theatre project on the way.
OFF has brought new issues, interesting for the audience as well as for academics, taking
part in education of prospectively new theatrical spectators. For the theatre professionals,
OFF proved to be a good space for experiment and innovation.
OFF programme was another factor that helped the legibility of the Festival and its intentions.
It appealed to the young generation, students, possible visitors to the future Festival editions.
OFF programme, with communicative form, presentation of contemporary theatre trends,
especially interesting issues, and popular science course (lectures and discussions with
academics), not only extended the Festival’s offer, but first of all, brought the Festival closer
to the young people, which is one of the most important missions of the Festival.
4. 3. > DOSKY 2005
The DOSKY were awarded for the 10th time and at this occasion was published a booklet
that captures the history and summarises the awards given in the past years.
THE 2004/2005 SEASON’S AWARD FOR THE BEST PRODUCTION: Production Tiso,
script: Rastislav Ballek, directed by: Rastislav Ballek, Aréna Theatre, Bratislava
THE 2004/2005 SEASON’S AWARD FOR THE BEST DIRECTION: Jan Antonín Pitínský for
direction of Thomas Bernhard’s play The Ignoramus and the Madman, Slovak National
Theatre – Drama Ensemble, Bratislava
THE 2004/2005 SEASON’S AWARD FOR THE BEST FEMALE ACTOR: Ingrid Timková for
Queen of the Night in the production of Thomas Bernhard’s play Ignoramus and the
Madman, Slovak National Theatre – Drama Ensemble, Bratislava
THE 2004/2005 SEASON’S AWARD FOR THE BEST MALE ACTOR: Marián Labuda for
Tiso in Rastislav Ballek’s Tiso, Aréna Theatre, Bratislava
THE 2004/2005 SEASON’S AWARD FOR THE BEST STAGE DESIGN: Tomáš Rusín for
the stage design in the production of Thomas Bernhard’s play The Ignoramus and the
Madman, Slovak National Theatre – Drama Ensemble, Bratislava
DNXIV05 > Evaluation of Project Realisation | Report, International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra 2005, 10
THE 2004/2005 SEASON’S AWARD FOR THE BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Zuzana
Štefunková for the costume design in the production of Thomas Bernhard’s play The
Ignoramus and the Madman, Slovak National Theatre – Drama Ensemble, Bratislava
THE 2004/2005 SEASON’S AWARD FOR THE BEST SCENIC MUSIC: Peter Groll for
scenic music in Rastislav Ballek’s Tiso, Aréna Theatre, Bratislava
THE DISCOVERY OF THE SEASON 2004/2005: The creative team lead by Rastislav Ballek
and Martin Kubran for the production Tiso, Aréna Theatre, Bratislava
4. 4. > working programme
The working programme contained 5 events of various types. From the perspective of
Divadelná Nitra in European contexts, there were two most important working events –
European Festival Research Project team meeting, and the discussion Cultural Landscape
and Festivals as a part of Festivals in Transition project.
4. 4. 1. > European Festival Research Project
The event consisted of hosting a group of academics, who are working on a survey of
European festivals. Divadelná Nitra has provided the team with adequate conditions for two
days’ working meeting and offered a number of documents on history and conception of
Divadelná Nitra.
4. 4. 2. > discussion Cultural Landscape and Festivals (F.I.T. – Festivals in Transition)
Festivals in Transitions (F.I.T.) is a project of eight European festivals, funded by European
Commission’s grant programme Culture 2000 in time period July 2005 – June 2006. Nitra
was one of the first places in the world to host this project. A part of the conceptual and
organisational share of Divadelná Nitra on the event was the presentation of theatrical
productions from Germany and Poland, cooperation on OFF programme (mainly hosting
directors from Poland, Germany, and Estonia), and discussion Cultural Landscape and
Festivals.
Similarly oriented discussions, held at all festivals joined in the project, represent the unifying
element of the network cooperation. They all have the same host (Rose Fenton from Great
Britain), and they provide immediate output in form of records, given to the partners for
inspiration. The whole project is mapped on the project’s web page www.theatre-fit.org.
4. 4. 3. > training – Direction: Spectator
An exceptional interest raised Divadelná Nitra’s novelty – the training titled Direction:
Spectator intended for directors and managers of marketing and sales departments of Slovak
theatres. The project was the outcome of Association Divadelná Nitra’s effort to strengthen
their educational line of activities and to continue in the line of informal education started
several years ago. Interesting topic, good trainer from Great Britain (Joanna Hargreaves),
thorough studying materials, British Council support, and good organisational background –
these were the features that contributed to ultimate satisfaction of the participants, as well as
their desire to get involved in similar projects in the future.
4. 4. 4. > European Workshop of Translation
The Theatre Institute in Bratislava is since 2005 a partner of the multilateral project European
Workshop of Translation. In the project, there are partners from Greece, Romania, Portugal,
and Spain. The centre of the project is the National Theatre in Orléans, France. This
perennial project is supported by programme Culture 2000 of the European Commission for
education and culture. Individual partner organisations supply the translation and publishing
of plays of contemporary playwrights from other project partner organisations. Presentation
of the project at Divadelná Nitra 2005 done by Jacques Le Ny (France) and Fernando
Gómez Grande (Spain) informed Roman language translators, students, and theatre
scholars with the idea and conception of the project. As a part of the presentation,
multilingual stage readings of plays by French playwrights Valér Novarina and Olivier Py took
place.
4. 4. 5. > Seminar – Culture 2000
The seminar about the European Commission’s programme Culture 2000 was intended
mainly for potential applicants, culture operators, who either were preparing international
projects in culture, or were planning to. The seminar consisted of presentation of the
programme, presentation of a particular project that had received the Culture 2000’s grant
(International Culture Festival of Deaf, Association Effeta, Nitra), and individual consultations
with the participants.
4. 5. > accompanying programme
One of the greatest assets of the accompanying Festival programme was the White Night
event, because the Festival was able to engage Nitra Museum, Nitra Gallery, SAD Nitra, and
cooperating civic associations in activities outside their respective year-round schedules. The
public was exceptionally interested in this event, and the SAD Nitra sponsored shuttle
transport between the downtown and suburbs was immensely helpful.
Another great success with the audience reaped the events Behind the Theatre Curtain, and
Live Chess – a chess match with live figures in historical costumes, consisting of two teams
of acting professionals from two royal towns, Banská Štiavnica and Nitra. Some events were
repeated thanks to great success with the audience.
The number, variety of kinds, and quality of events of the accompanying programme
produced, as usually, serious questions of concordance with the idea and conception of the
main programme. On the other hand, the accompanying programme fulfils the original
conception of any festival – to offer the local audience a celebration of art, hence the multiartistic character of the programme. Therefore, the accompanying programme is an
important tool of regional marketing strategies. Many citizens of Nitra recognize Divadelná
Nitra only through the accompanying programme. The accompanying programme is
therefore an instrument of permeating the town, making atmosphere, and infecting the
townsfolk with a festive mood. It is also a live street lure to enter the theatre buildings.
Finally, the accompanying programme becomes the initiator of new activities, contributes to
development of regional culture life, activates schools, i.e. children and the youth, and fosters
their relationship to culture and art.
chapter 5. > communication | program mediation – visual design | prints | promotion
The Festival has communicated a clear message via the following communication channels
and tools:
- Prints and their extensive distribution
- Website and emails
- Direct marketing (our database of Slovak and foreign contacts)
- Advertisement campaign in mass media (TV commercials, radio commercials,
advertisements)
- Interviews and ad articles in a number of Slovak mass media
5. 1. > visual design
The graphical design of DN 05 was interesting and inventive, and undoubtedly has
contributed to good and legible conceptual profiling of the Festival. The design was based on
intentionally minimalist graphical layout with one dominant colour.
5. 2. > prints
In 2005 the composition of published materials changed only slightly. The total number of
printed materials changed according to current needs and economical considerations. We
lowered the number of posters and catalogues, and increased the number of Boomerang
free cards, as they are widely distributed in Western Slovakia and have proven well in the
past. The official notifications were not printed at all, they were replaced by a preliminary
programme flyer (April/May 2005).
As to the Xeroxed materials, they were utilised in larger scale, as a tool of individual
promotion of various event groups, and as working documents for working events
participants. A part of the information service in English language was also synopses of
performances that were not interpreted to English. Better operability was reached by
separating the print of Festník language versions (EN, SK). We were using the services of
our lasting Xeroxing partner who offers us 10 – 15% discounts. A novelty was an offer of two
co-organisers (UKF and Regional Educational Centre) for free Xeroxing with 1,500 pages
limit. We used approximately 1,000 pages.
DN 05 materials printed + digital
type
number (year 2005)
notifications
digital
headed notepaper
digital
Boomerang free cards
20,000
city lights
100
art poster
750
programme poster
750
booklet with programme
12,000
tickets
5,500
bulletin/catalogue
1,500
TOTAL
40,060 items
number (year 2004)
5,000
digital
-100
900
900
12,000
5,500
2,000
26,400 items
DN 05 materials Xeroxed
material
number of
pages per 1 print format
prints
/ pages total
information guide
130
10 / 1,300
A4
information guide in EN
70
20/ 1,400
A4
Festník (festival daily)
6 days × 300
8 / 14,400
A4
Festník EN
2 days × 150
4 / 1,200
A4
training manual
40
65 /2,600
A4
Breakfest with… programme – flyer
200
1 / 200
A4
200
A4
OFF programme flyer
1 / 350
150
A3
OFF programme schedule
100
4 / 400
A4
films – flyer
200
1 / 200
A4
theatrical fair – flyer
250 / 50
1 / 300
A4 / A3
radio plays – flyer
150
1 / 150
A4
poetry – flyer
100
1 / 100
A4
White Night – flyer
50 / 200 / 50
1 / 300 A3 / A4 / A5
Behind the Theatre Curtain – flyer
100
1 / 100
A4
DN 2005 project
3
30 / 90
A4
DN 2004 report
3
22 / 66
A4
TOTAL
4,146 items
23,156 pages
5. 3. > promotion
In 2005 we succeeded to define the message very clearly, it was absolutely communicating,
very easily legible, and the promotion was more active and energetic. Still, documentation by
public service media on larger scale was absent.
Some of our promotion tools: The TV spot DN 2005 had an interesting idea and production.
Very useful was the promotional video edit made of video records of the productions selected
for the main programme. It was projected at press conferences, in shop showcases, etc. The
collaboration with students Department of Fine Arts at UKF was also very helpful, since they
arranged all the promotion materials and areas, where DN 05 took place.
Very useful was an earlier deadline for the programme of Theatre Fair, and, consecutively,
publishing it in the booklet. The Fair had thus better promotion and people were informed
about its programme in advance. Good attendance is due to nice weather as well as Fair
flyers and stands with programme of the Fair.
5. 4. > distribution and documentation
The Festival materials were distributed electronically, by post, and personally. Target
destinations were institutions and partners in Nitra and Bratislava (personally), Slovakia (via
post), and foreign countries (5,000 addresses – depending on the address book). For
distribution to foreign countries were used other methods too – personally at festivals and
business trips abroad, diplomatic post to Slovak diplomatic missions via Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, etc.
ADN documented DN 05 by these means: photographs of productions, documentary photos,
video recording edits, audio recordings of discussions and conferences, audio and video
recordings of working events, monitoring of print and electronic media, chronicle of
signatures of companies and guests, texts and video recordings of productions and their
filing in the publicly accessible archives of Theatre Institute and Association Divadelná Nitra.
chapter 6. > media promotion
6. 1. > media partners
In 2005 the number of media partners has dropped (9 main and 11 media partners)
compared to 2004 (1 general, 8 main, and 14 media partners).
We lost monthly LIVE!, Rádio Expres (condition of exclusivity), Rádio MAX (conflict with Nradio), Rádio LUMEN (they wanted ad payments even in case of media partnership), MIAU,
GOLD MAN, Markíza text (ineffective advertising), and magazine VLNA (random publishing,
existential problems).
The new media partner, daily SME (instead of daily Pravda), turned out to be the best media
choice. With 16 print and 5 online news, including two after-festival reviews, it was one of the
most active partners. One of the main media partners belonged weekly .týždeň which
provided a generous free advertisement space with articles on DN before and after the
Festival. Good media partners were also Spravodaj Nitra (considerate and flexible
cooperation), Rádio NAJ (Trnavian radio with target group of potential audience for DN
performance in Trnava), and Internet portal kultura.sk (flexibility and reliability in publishing
news and announcing contests).
From viewpoint of communication we appreciate better cooperation with N-rádio and
Nitrianske noviny, and more broadcasting time on Slovak Television.
media promotion campaign
type
media
Spravodaj Nitra
PARDON
FOCUS
.týždeň
ADVERTISEMENT
SME
MOSTY
Divadlo
v medzičase
ADVERTISEMENT
TOTAL
COMMERCIALS
TV ZOBOR
TA3
STV
TV A
TV A – rozhovor
N-radio
Rádio NAJ
Rádio Dúha
Rádio HIT FM
COMMERCIALS
TOTAL
number
duration
7
6
2
4
5
1
1
12 Aug – 30 Sept
19 Aug – 30 Sept
1 Sept, 1 Oct
5 Sept – 29 Sept
12 Sept – 21 Sept
13 Sept
20 Sept
26
60
13
20
112
21
60
30
30
30
9 – 28 Sept
9 – 23 Sept
8 – 25 Sept
12 – 25 Sept
19 – 25 Sept
12 – 25 Sept
12 – 26 Sept
15 – 26 Sept
15 – 25 Sept
376
BANNERS
www.tasr.sk
www.sme.sk
www.kultura.sk
www.zoznam.sk
www.divadlo.sk
12 – 28 Sept
12 – 25 Sept
9 – 28 Sept
15 – 28 Sept
9 – 28 Sept
CONTESTS
www.kultura.sk
www.zoznam.sk
www.zoznam.sk
N-radio
14 – 21 Sept
12 – 16 Sept
19 – 23 Sept
19 – 28 Sept
6. 2. > media feedback
The Festival reaped good and educated media feedback. Media space was therefore used
more to promote the actual programme, its structure, Festival news, and particular
productions.
34 journalists accredited to DN 2005 (with the exclusion of writing theatre professionals, i.e.
theatre critics and scholars).
Media feedback
SLOVAKIA
media type media name
SME
Pravda
.týždeň
Nitrianske noviny
ÚJ SZÓ
Hospodárske noviny
SLOVO
Domino fórum
Literárny týždenník
Slovak spectator
Slovak
Večerník
print media Život
Korzár
MOSTY
TV Oko
Mochovecké
elektrárne
Občas nečas
Poľnohospodár
24 HOD.
BIG NEWS
TOTAL
N-radio
SRo – Devín
SRo
Rádio Dúha
Rádio B1
Slovak
Rádio NAJ
radios
Rádio TWIST
Rádio LUMEN
Rádio Expres
Rádio HIT FM
TOTAL
STV
TV ZOBOR
Slovak
TA3
TV’s
TV A
TOTAL
kinoserver.sk
kultura.sme.sk
atlas.sk
Slovak
kultura.sk
webs
zoznam.sk
divadlo.sk
film.sk
TOTAL
number
18
8
5
5
5
4
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
65
11
7
6
5
3
3
3
1
1
1
CZECH REPUBLIC
media type media name
České noviny
Czech
MF Dnes
print media Reflex
TOTAL
ČRo – Rádio
Czech TV + PRAHA
radio
ČT (Divadlo žije)
TOTAL
mix.cz
divadlo.cz
ihned.cz
Czech
moje noviny.cz
webs
scena.cz
tyden.cz
TOTAL
numbe
r
1
1
1
3
1
1
2
4
1
1
1
1
1
9
OTHER FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Media feedback from other foreign countries
is a separate chapter. Compared to the
previous editions of the Festivals, the number
of foreign guests and journalists means
lower feedback volume. Their filing is
concurrent, since the term of publishing is
somewhat extensive (October 05 – January
06).
41
8
7
1
1
17
7
4
3
3
2
2
1
20
6. 3. > press centre
The Press Centre, equipped with computers with internet access and a printer, was used
mainly by journalists from dailies and press agencies, but it was also an information centre
with schedules, relevant information, and photos.
The Festival events and performances were monitored daily, and photographic
documentation was immediately made available in the Press Centre and on panels around
the Presentation desk. Monitoring of print and other media was made daily, and any
feedback was published on the web page. The ordered recording for the documentary on DN
05 has been realised as well.
6. 4. > web page
In 2005 has the website www.nitrafest.sk been built with a new technology that enables to
upload data (news, performance reviews, media feedback) without the help of a webmaster –
the page is now more interactive from within.
Uploading news and emailing newsletters to users in the database should have provided
shift in the site’s interactivity towards the visitors. Technically the site was well prepared for
this purpose; however, the staff was not able to effectively execute this idea. Another novelty
was the discussion forum, but the visitors did not feel like writing (10 entries).
In November 2004 till the end of October 2005 was the overall visits rate around 40,000 hits.
The visit rate culminates in the time before the Festival, with the highest hit rate during the
month when the Festival takes place (September 2005 = 7,367 hits). As an indirect proof of
public interest in our web page was a temporary shutdown induced by a hacker attack, just
on the very first day of the Festival.
Access statistics according to country: Slovakia 50%; Czech Republic 15%; Hungary,
Germany, and USA 5% each; Poland 4%; Austria 3%; Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, and
Denmark 1% each; the rest (9%) is unknown.
After submitting “nitra” or “nitrafest” keyword, the Festival’s page will display at the topmost
positions in all internet search engines. Overall, the Festival’s web page is the only stable
means of communication with professional and wide public for the foreign countries, and one
of a few for Slovakia.
6. 5. > festival daily
One of our print outputs was the festival daily Festník. After reestablishment in 2004 it works
on the basis of a volunteer student editorial team lead by a professional theatre critic.
However, there was a problem in too numerous and motley editorial staff (students of various
colleges), as well as in the daily’s orientation on reviewing genre. Yet, the original goal, i.e. to
give students of Theatre Theory and Aesthetics (not exclusively them, though) opportunity to
improve skills for their future professions, was met.
chapter 7. > registration | attendance | tickets
7. 1. > offer and attendance – main programme
Divadelná Nitra 2005 has presented 13 productions in the main programme, 4 of them
Slovak. There have been played 20 performances, 18 of them in Nitra.
In Nitra, 6 venues offered a seating capacity of 4,944 seats, out of which 4,558 were sold or
given. That means 92.19% attendance. Remaining unsold, or sold, but not occupied seats
were immediately after beginning of a performance offered to the volunteers for free, which is
one of the main reasons why they work for the Festival. The volunteers, being young people,
are the Festival’s basic target group as well. The stated attendance figures take these
circumstances into account.
In J. Palárik Theatre in Trnava 250 tickets were put up for sale and 180 sold (72%
attendance), in P. O. Hviezdoslav Theatre in Bratislava were 467 seats offered and 215
taken (46%). The low attendance of subsidiary performances was partly due to intellectually
challenging character of the presented productions, partly due to possibly weak promotion on
the side of organisers (for further information see chapter 4.1. > main programme).
As in 2004, the seating capacities of performing locations were in numbered seat auditoriums
divided to three pricing categories (full price ticket category – normal, ticket category for
journalists and theatre professionals – profi, and ticket category for students and pensioners
– maxi discount). In unnumbered seat auditoriums were the maxi discount and profi
categories joined together, with respect to the students (50% from the normal price). The
maxi discount was the ultimate low price for the tickets; the system of last moment extra
discounts of the previous years was dropped this year.
Ticket sale in particular categories, and attendance to performances in Nitra – DN05:
number of tickets sold
total
sold
production
BLACKland
The Ignoramus and
the Madman, 15:00
Tiso
The Ignoramus and
the Madman, 21:00
KNOWH2OW
norway.today
Renata Kalenská
Powerpoint, 25 Sept
Trading, 15:30
Big in Bombay
Trading, 22:30
Powerpoint, 26 Sept
The Beauty Queen of
Leenane
Made in Poland 27
Sept
Concert for
Greenland, 27 Sept
Boys and Chicks
Made in Poland 28
Sept
Concert for
Greenland, 28 Sept
TOTAL:
norm
al
sold +
given
profi
maxi
discount
37
460
84
107
53
280
55
153
577
58
number of
tickets given
auditor- attend
ium
ance
capacity
%
guests
volunt
eers
228
187
45
462
99.6
70
178
96
6
300
93.3
32
180
365
194
18
577
100
179
7
54
119
31
29
300
59.7
20
12
45
6
9
55
4
17
248
117
300
150
130
504
85
150
118
35
37
63
45
38
17
65
–
–
84
–
–
201
–
–
138
47
166
69
54
294
21
82
109
70
123
69
72
170
28
42
1
–
11
12
4
40
36
26
248
117
300
150
147
577
147
150
100
100
100
100
88.4
87.4
57.8
100
25
300
35
131
191
89
20
300
100
10
148
51
–
61
76
11
148
100
16
148
83
–
99
36
13
148
100
49
536
26
284
359
127
50
577
93
14
98
42
–
56
22
20
148
66.2
17
148
67
84
56
8
148
100
600
4558
900
2611
1597
350
1111
4 944 92.19
As the table declares, in 2005 was the greatest demand for tickets among students, since the
largest figures for sold tickets are in the maxi discount category. In the normal category was
the highest number of tickets sold for the performance Tiso.
Divadelná Nitra also makes mass offers for schools, organisations, and various partners.
This way, through group ticket sale, were sold tickets for Big in Bombay and Boys and
Chicks to schools (mostly high-schools), and The Beauty Queen of Leenane to pensioners,
regular visitors of Andrej Bagar Theatre. Except for two companies, organisations were
mainly not interested, which only confirms the trend of dropping interest in organised ticket
purchases.
Out of 18 performances staged in Nitra, 10 of them have reached 100% attendance. The
least spectator interest (around 60%) was in the second The Ignoramus and the Madman
(nightly performance), second Trading (nightly performance), and second Made in Poland.
The total ticket sales income was 30% higher than in 2004.
7. 2. > registration and ticket booking system
In 2005 the ticket sale has experienced a great change in ticket booking system. A new
system of electronic registration on our web page was implemented (special application
developed by ADN employee) that enabled not only an operative communication of visitors
interested in stay at the Festival with the Festival’s organisers, but also a revolution in
booking processing. The system has become the most progressive innovation in staff’s work,
as well as an image novelty towards the public.
248 participants and guests used this new system of registration. After the closure
preferential booking, the system was open to wide public. 139 customers used this option
book 712 tickets. The internet system has reached noticeably higher operability
communication with public. Much less people than in previous years were interested
“risky” ticket purchase before the beginning of a performance.
of
to
in
in
7. 3. > accompanying programme events
In 2005, tickets were sold only to two theatrical performances and to films played in Film
Club. Teatro Tatro sold tickets to the performance Prorok Ilja (Ilja the Prophet) on their own.
The pricing was from 10,- SKK for organised spectator groups from schools to 100,- SKK for
visitors without any discounts. All other events (not only during the Theatre Fair) were
admission free.
The attendance to accompanying programme events was in 2005 better than in previous
years, which is due to promotion (separate flyers) and lovely weather. New kinds of events –
White Night and “ZZ” Project (Behind the Theatre Curtain) – have raised good attention of
the visitors. Attendance to films was slightly lower than in 2004, despite good promotion
(2005 – average of 41 spectators per film, 2004 – average of 45 spectators per film). (Just for
comparison – average attendance to commercial cinemas in Slovakia is 28 spectators per
film projection, which is a 40% drop compared to 2004, and 25 spectators per film projection
at film clubs.)
7. 4. > overall attendance – Divadelná Nitra 2005
overall number of
attendance
events
event type / name
BLACKland
460
1
The Ignoramus and the Madman
459
2
Tiso
577
1
KNOWH2OW
248
1
norway.today
117
1
Renata Kalenská, Lidové noviny
728
3
Powerpoint
300
2
Trading (Erreger)
215
2
Big in Bombay
504
1
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
300
1
Made in Poland
246
2
Concert for Greenland
296
2
Fiúk / Boys – Csajok / Chicks
536
1
I Bought a Spade at IKEA to Dig My Own Grave
80
1
Pipelines, a Construction
43
1
Poverty New
78
1
Sabenation (Go Home and Follow the News...)
40
1
Film Screenings
314
7
DOSKY – ceremonial presenting the 2004/2005 theatre season’s
awards
250
1
Concert on behalf of opening Divadelná Nitra 2005 and presenting
DOSKY
300
1
Theatre DOSKY – Ten Years of Slovak Theatre Awards – briefing
and opening
50
1
410
12
Discussion about the International Theatre
Festival Divadelná Nitra 2005
50
1
Survey of European festivals
22
2
Training – Direction: Spectator
54
2
F.I.T., Cultural Landscape and Festivals
23
1
European Workshop of Translation
15
1
CULTURE 2000 – How to Get a EU Grant?
25
1
Concerts (various styles and genres)
2,080
19
Events for children (workshops, theatres, films,
radio listening, contests, games, happening)
3,864
30
Theatre happenings
470
4
Poetry
405
4
50
1
Accompanying theatre performances
1,110
7
Street spectacles
1,000
3
Visual arts events
1,241
8
16,927
130
MAIN
PROGRAMME
OFF
PROGRAMME
Discussions with productions authors
WORKING
EVENTS
ACCOMPANYING
PROGRAMME
Radio play listening
TOTAL ATTENDANCE TO ALL EVENTS
attendance summary – Divadelná Nitra 2005:
Main Programme
OFF Programme
Working Events
Accompanying
Programme
TOTAL
4,953
241
599
11,134
16,927
chapter 8. > guests
Visitors to DN 05 were separated to several groups: participants (Slovak visitors – payers)
and guests (Slovak and foreign – all inclusive). The third group of visitors are spectators, who
buy tickets directly to individual performances, or come to accompanying events.
8. 1. > foreign and slovak guests
One of the characteristics of Divadelná Nitra is (unlike many other international festivals)
inviting a quite large number of foreign guests. Some of them pay for the stay costs (13
payers, that is approximately 20% of all foreign guests).
In 2005, 63 foreign guests from 21 countries visited Divadelná Nitra, the count of Slovak
participants and guests was 72 + 34 accredited journalists.
In 2005 the guests were divided into groups by the subject of their interest and activity –
participants of the F.I.T. project, training, European Festival Research Project, OFF
programme, Breakfast with…, and guests in general (with members of ADN bodies among
them).
The Festival provided the following services to the guests: booking (or payment for) lodging;
booking (or free/discount) tickets to selected performances; transport to Nitra (from
Bratislava or Vienna) and back to other means of transportation to further destinations;
invitation to DOSKY and cocktail, invitation to dinner with foreign guests, wine tasting, Nitra
field trip; Festival information and promotion materials, photos and other materials, small
presents for foreign guests; translations of some performances and interpreting all
discussions to English; etc.
8. 2. > V.I.P.
V.I.P. invitations, i.e. invitations of protocol guests, are a regular form of PR, as well as a
means of expressing thanks for cooperation. Partners of ADN thus get an opportunity to
present themselves and to learn about the values of the event, and they are a good way to
promote the Festival in media. V.I.P. get the tickets for free.
Groups of invited:
• SR representatives (government, parliament)
• Representatives of foreign countries (ministries and embassies of not necessarily
involved countries)
• Representatives of the town and region, ADN partners (organisers, sponsors, media,
schools)
• Representatives of professional community
The cooperation with foreign institutes, embassies, and ministries of culture was very positive
for Divadelná Nitra 2005. The Association is a respected partner; most of these institutions
favour it and are willing to support its activities – organisationally, morally, diplomatically, and
financially. As a proof, in 2005, the foreign embassies and institutions were deeply interested
in attending performances (of not only their countries); the Festival was honoured to invite 5
ambassadors and 12 representatives of foreign institutes.
chapter 9. > services
9. 1. > accommodation
In 2005, the Festival has accommodated approximately 399 people, who asked for lodging
services: individuals (Festival guests and payers), ensembles (9 foreign, 2 Slovak), and
participants of accompanying events (Theatre Fair cast, accompanying programme cast,
lecturers, and participants of working events) – 148 individuals, 216 members of ensembles,
and 35 participants of accompanying events.
The Festival has used the services of 16 lodging locations; 10 hotels and 6 other lodging
facilities – student and military lodgings.
There has been a considerable problem with the collision of terms of Divadelná Nitra and
Autosalon. Autosalon date was moved to the end of September, and hotels and guesthouses
were trying to rebook capacities booked by ADN to Autosalon clients.
ADN had to change the lodging distribution of guests and ensembles not only before but also
during the Festival. Some ensembles even had to be separated to two or three parts and
accommodated at several lodging locations. Some guests had to move several times, even
during one day, as was the case of journalists, foreign guests, and Fair performers – that
meant also people that paid for their lodging right away.
ADN had to send Slovak guests and participants home right after the last day of the Festival,
since there were no lodging capacities for the last night available. Basically, all hotels
rebooked the last two nights (27 – 28 and 28 – 29 Sept 2005) for Autosalon.
ADN has experienced non-professional behaviour from all hotels and lodging facilities that
had confirmed the reservations before July and later disrespected the confirmation. One of
the reasons was the price difference – the Festival has a discount arrangement, while
participants of Agrokomplex exhibitions get pricing higher than usual (so-called exhibition
price). Besides that, unlike ADN, they pay in advance and/or in cash.
9. 2. > transportation
In 2005, we added new forms of transportation and number of drives. It is several years that
ADN cannot rely just on main organisers that provide economical solutions and has to order
transportation at other providers for higher prices.
In 2005, ADN was ordering transportation services for persons and cargo at several partner
providers.
DAB – 3 drivers, private car, bus, minibus, lorry
4,818 km
Other organisations and staff members (10 subjects) 9,309 km
TOTAL
14,127 km
In the 7 days DN 05 was held, 79 drives outside Nitra have been made, which is more than
11 drives a day. The transportation organisation system was combining several persons
from/to one destination. The mentioned count does not include drives within Nitra, and
transportation of ensembles and guests to Nitra - Janíkovce and to Matica slovenská
(performing locations).
A novelty was shuttle transport of festival guests between Bratislava and Nitra to selected
performances. The shuttle transport and transportation of ensembles was provided as a
sponsorship by partner´s bus company Karosa (1,160 km). Another novelty in transportation
services was the night connections to the supporting programme event White Night, which
was a sponsorship from SAD Nitra. Transportation demands rose also due to establishing
two new performing locations (5 performances) and the need of steady transportation for the
visitors as well as ensembles rehearsing there.
9. 3. > communication – meeting point
The problem of Festival meeting point was finally, though not completely solved in 2005. We
have set up a new area, well utilised for informing visitors, working meetings, and meetings
with authors. The positives of the point were in delivering complex visitor service at one spot,
and in establishing a new space for discussions and other working events. The promotion
was well accomplished; the posters emphasized all benefits that the meeting point was
offering. The Festival also provided free internet on 4 computers within the meeting point;
this service was used quite a lot.
Attendance during scheduled working meetings was about 50 persons.
9. 4. > festival club
For evening and night meetings was established a festival club with admission only to
persons with DN 05 identification cards. Old Theatre in Nitra, one of the main organisers,
provided the premises of Tatra for these purposes, where OFF programme events took place
during daytime.
The premises proved to be suitable and the intention good; however, there was not enough
space for larger companies and the catering was insufficient in both quality and quantity.
chapter 10. > organising | preparing | executing
10. 1. > main organisers and co-organisers
In 2005, the composition and number of main organisers has not experienced any changes;
at their head is Association Divadelná Nitra in position of a legal subject that provides not
only the organisation of the Festival, but also other, year-round activities.
A novelty, and a qualitatively contributing point in cooperation with the main organisers, was
the involvement of Nitra town in organising the Theatre Fair, as well as including the financial
subsidy for the Festival directly to the town budget. The cooperation with Theatre Institute
was extended with some new forms of collaboration that enriched the Festival’s programme,
raised the academic basis of Festival’s year-round preparation, and simplified its
organisation. Andrej Bagar Theatre and Old Theatre were fully involved in Festival
preparations and execution, providing premises and personnel; moreover, cooperation with
Andrej Bagar Theatre is year-round.
We have slightly changed the system of work with co-organisers – only the institutions that
have submitted activity proposals were considered co-organising. There has been a great
cooperation with Nitra Gallery and Nitra Museum, not to mention the Regional Educational
Centre, Tralaškola, ZUŠ J. Rosinského and CVČ Domino, AKCENT Gallery (small), SPU
and UKF, and other steady and new co-organisers. We also appreciate the cooperation with
NISYS and association Lemus.
10. 2. > advisory boards
As in previous years, in 2005 continued the system of collaboration with several advisory
boards – the Board for Foreign Theatre, Board for Selection from Slovak Theatre, and Board
of Foreign Consultants.
The Board for Foreign Theatre had begun with 5 members, later have two members quit due
to their working loads. The Board has worked more effectively than in 2004 – they attended
to more meetings, festivals, and individual performances, and they have reviewed more
video records (201 video and DVD records of productions from 34 countries).
Not all of the selected productions could be presented at DN 05, since many top companies
have closed programmes for years ahead. For the first time has the Board risked to choose
for the programme a production that would have a pre-release at Divadelná Nitra. The
reasons to do so were ensemble leader’s good reputation and production’s ideological
outline, submitted in advance, that corresponded to the main theme of the festival.
The Board of Consultants (35 consultants from 22 countries) is an important means of
mapping the situation in theatre cultures, determining the most important today’s trends and
works, and developing contacts.
The Board for Selection from Slovak Theatre operated in altered composition (one member
left, two other joined in). Compared to 2004, the work was more systematic and more
performances were visited. There is still a problem in coordination with the Board for Foreign
Theatre, more precisely in the areas of content and compatibility of Slovak part with the
foreign part of the programme. Regarding the relationships to the domestic scene, it was
rather risky to select fewer domestic productions for the programme. This decision was
motivated by overall season’s offer of productions and by quite low number of productions
that would not suffer from comparison with the international context.
10. 3. > staff and collaborators
As it seems, the 14th edition of the Festival was more professional and accomplished.
The staff, perceived from the viewpoint of people relationships, unity of conception,
professionalism, independency in task and problem solving, can be considered a true
phenomenon. The ability to complement and inspire each other helps this a lot. Extremely
important is, that the staff members initiatively bring innovative, sometimes even
revolutionary ideas that enhance and improve the common deal. The trust offered is a
commitment that strengthens responsibility. Appropriate division of tasks and their voluntary
acceptance enhances the self-consciousness and clear relationships of the staff members.
An extremely important factor is the positive energy that flows from staff’s mutual
communication and passion for one’s own work, and that multiplies productivity.
The staff consists of 5 people working year-round, 2 people for 8 months, 14 people for 1-3
months.
chapter 11. > work with the youth
11. 1. > cooperation with colleges
During 2005, ADN has established official cooperation with 7 departments of Constantine the
Philosopher University and 2 departments of The Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. The
cooperation with schools was realised in form of student practice in the Association by the
end of summer semester (April, May 2005) as well as during the Festival. Individual staff
members coordinated this work according to their profession (e.g. the press secretary took
care of the journalism department practice). The practice was awarded by credits. 42
students attended the practice; 34 from Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra, and 8
from The Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, Bratislava.
11. 2. > volunteers
Another form of cooperation was the work of volunteers at the Festival Divadelná Nitra.
Record-breaking 122 students enlisted, 80 people attended the seminars, and 69 volunteers
came to the actual festival work. All in all, the number of volunteers was sufficient to cover
the working tasks. Another 13 students worked in the newsroom of the festival daily.
Advertising in regional media strengthened the general awareness and interest of students.
The volunteers took part in realisation of various kinds of activities: attending to domestic and
foreign theatres (at transportation of ensembles, building stages, managing schedules of
companies, interpreting), attending to specific groups of guests, attending to V.I.P., preparing
subtitles for performances, helping out at organising various events and parts of the
programme, duty at the Presentation desk (registration of guests and participants), work at
the Press Centre or Festival secretary; coordination of transportation to distant venues,
transportation and carrying of heavy objects, Xeroxing materials, catering for volunteers.
ADN has provided training in communication, creativity, and crisis situations solving in form
of seminars for all volunteers. They were informed about the basics of assertive behaviour,
safety regulations, staff work, admission to performances, and catering. Association has
signed volunteering contract with every volunteer, and for their charitable work, ADN
provided for their drinking and eating needs, in some cases even lodging, and free admission
to performances of the main programme, according to the number of seats taken.
Without the help of volunteers, it would be impossible not only to keep the Festival in desired
quality level, but also to furnish elementary organisational work.
11. 3. > authors and spectators
The primary target group of the Festival were young people. Conception and general
message of the programme, promotion system, possibility to communicate via internet, and
number of discounts on performances definitely reached young people, which was proven in
attendance, feedback for performances, as well as overall atmosphere of the Festival. The
cooperation with universities in Nitra, conservatories, and colleges in Slovakia, but also with
The Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, EURO 26, and ISIC has brought satisfactory
outcome.
ADN actuates the creative potential of young people in local communities, involves them in
producing accompanying programme events. Some groups have even obtained grants for
their projects (Ravena, ProZa ART, Eating point – Fashion point), which reduced ADN’s
costs, otherwise paid for realisation of these events. As in previous years, in 2005 the
cooperation with the Department of Fine Arts and Education at UKF, Nitra, both the students
and the lecturers, was very good.
The roles of authors and spectators had also the pupils of high and elementary art schools.
ADN partners in 2005 were teachers and students of 7 kindergartens, 7 elementary schools,
and 4 high schools.
Advertising in schools was enhanced with new methods (letters to schools, flyers, personal
contacts with teachers), which had a positive impact on the attendance. Some schools came
to organised events unexpectedly, without any contact with Festival managers (they have
found our events in Festival’s promotion materials), and even though some performances
were repeated, we couldn’t satisfy all of them. In perspective, we should develop cooperation
with pre-school facilities as well.
chapter 12. > technical equipment
Thanks to the technical novelties installed, the need for computer access of all staff members
is higher. During DN 2005 had ADN a record-breaking number of computers at command –
23 desktops and 7 notebooks. The computer needs were met by purchase of new PCs
earlier that year (a part of a foreign grant), borrowing from sponsors, and some staff
members were using their own computers.
As far as material claims are concerned, the only problem was with borrowing tables and
chairs from Agrokomplex, which was the fault of Autosalon taking place in the same time as
Divadelná Nitra. Eventually, our co-organisers helped us out.
chapter 13. > economics | finances | resources
13. 1. > ways of meeting the costs
To meet the costs of the International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra we basically use
these three options:
a) Direct financial support (donors, sponsors – money transfer to ADN bank account)
b) Indirect financial support (money invested to particular events by partners, usually
foreign)
c) In kind support (items for free or with a discount: expendable material, consumables,
services, personal assistance, lending technical equipment, rentals)
Entries filed in items a) and b) are calculated in total income and are reflected in costs (item
b) is quantified in SKK after collecting relevant information from the partners).
Entries in item c) are filed in summaries/charts separately. The amount of these entries in
SKK is determined on the basis of available price lists or a qualified estimation.
a nepriameFinancial
finančné príjmy
DN 2005
DirectPriame
and Indirect
Income
of Dn 2005
2%
1%
SK public sources – 67%
SK verejné zdroje - 67 %
3%
1%
Foreign sources total – 26%
zahraničie spolu - 26 %
SK funds – 1%
26%
SK fondy - 1 %
SK sponsors – 1%
SK sponzori - 1 %
67%
SK 2 percent – 2%
SK 2 percentá - 2 %
Own sources – 3%
vlastné príjmy - 3 %
13. 2. > subjects taking part in meeting the costs
In meeting the financial, personal, and operational demands of the International Theatre
Festival Divadelná Nitra 2005 the following were taking part: 6 institutions as main
organisers, 29 institutions and companies as co-organisers, 23 institutions and funds as
donors, 30 companies as sponsors, 21 subjects as media partners, and 69 student
volunteers.
Within fundraising activities we addressed several dozens of other subjects (funds in SR and
abroad, sponsors) but we did not succeed in obtaining support.
Direct or indirect financial support refers to the group of donors and sponsors. However, in
the sponsor group are also calculated the non-financial partners, who provided in kind
support. Other groups (main organisers, co-organisers, media partners, and volunteers)
provide non-financial support only.
13. 3. > new and established sources of financial support
As for meeting the costs, in 2005 we obtained more money than the year before, since we
have found new financial sources. That is, first of all, the grant of Slovak Ministry of
Finances, and then the finances coming from participation in F.I.T. project, supported by
European Commission’s grant system Culture 2000. Accompanying events and
presentations of regional activities obtained grants from regional funds and foundations that
deal with communal activities.
In the donor group are, as usual, foreign culture institutes, embassies, and ministries of
culture. Their composition basically corresponds to the composition of theatres in the main
programme, eventually to other working events during the Festival with foreign participation.
This year has ADN introduced productions from Belgium and Serbia for the first time, and it
obtained support from The Government of Flanders and Serbian Ministry of Culture.
As usual, Czech Republic, Hungary, British Council, and French Institute support
appearance of their ensembles at DN. British Council has supported the training this year;
France and Hungary significantly dropped the amount of their support (worse financial
situation in culture for both countries, lack of support from AFAA and support only from the
French Institute, financial restrictions of Hungarian government due to end of their electoral
term).
A novelty in Polish Ministry of Culture is a systemic change and establishing a travelling
grant in calendar year for ensembles invited to foreign countries. Good experience with
Norwegian sources was after a time confirmed this year as well. The Royal Netherlands
Embassy supported the performance of mixed Belgian company. Another very positive
element with great impact on the Festival’s programming and standard is the favour and
involvement of Goethe Institute, the German public source, which honours us already for the
second year.
The financially biggest supporters were Norway (two sources), France, and Germany. The
support from Hungary came from two sources as well.
Very negative effect has the unclear competences and unresolved conflicts of Ministry of
Culture of the Russian Federation and Russian Federal Agency for Culture and
Cinematography. One of the main reasons why there was no Russian company at
Divadelná Nitra 2005 was the lack of support from Russian authorities, despite the fact that
they are obliged to support companies invited to festivals by the Slovak – Russian culture
agreement.
Very pleasant is the comparatively generous support from the Slovak Ministry of Culture,
which for the second year helps to build the Festival’s reputation of a reliable and relatively
solvent European event. We also appreciate the higher (compared to 2004) income from the
International Visegrad Fund, larger support from the Town of Nitra (allocated directly from the
town’s budget, which is more reliable), and better ticket sales revenue.
For the organisers of accompanying events is very motivating that many of them have
attained resources from funds (either similar to or different from those addressed) for their
Festival-specific projects.
One of the comparatively new resources (established in 2004) is the grant system of Nitra
self-governing region with the maximum of 50,000 SKK for one project in year 2005. We
succeeded to get a grant for presentation of regional activities, though not the maximum
value.
From all the incomes in 2005, the biggest part came from Slovak public resources (67%).
The most important was support from Slovak Ministry of Culture (67% of total ADN intakes;
for comparison: in 2002 it was 49%, 2003 – 57%, and in 2004 63.7%). Other intakes from
public resources come from the Town of Nitra, Ministry of Finances, and other funds. Despite
the mentioned fact, Divadelná Nitra is one of the few Slovak non-governmental non-profit
cultural activities that are able to get such a high percentage of intakes from resources
different than the national budget of Slovak Republic. Other Slovak resources are
foundations and funds. From the 2% tax liability of natural persons and legal entities in 2005
has ADN attained 2.3% of total intakes (see the chart).
An important resource is foreign countries. Direct and indirect financial intakes from abroad
amounted in 2005 to 26% of total intakes. This sum consists of direct finances (those
passing through the ADN’s bank account), as well as the partners’ contribution to covering
costs. The largest sum of direct finances was attained from funds (V4 and Culture 2000). For
detailed information please see the ADN audit for 2005 (coming March 2006).
13. 4. > sponsorship
Compared to 2004, we experienced a quite negative fact – a drop of interest of businesses in
the Festival, displayed in lower number of partners, as well as overall capacity of financial
sponsorship resources.
The reason for this is the change in thinking of the business sphere due to the 2% tax
allowance. We believe that the companies started to award their sponsorship via the 2% tax
allowance, which demands more effort from us to alter the means of communication with
businesses, to change the ADN’s form and timing of campaigns. As a proof of mentioned fact
is, that the intakes from 2% tax allowance experienced almost a 100% increase on one hand
and considerable drop in the volume of direct sponsorship finances and contracts for
advertising with us. However, it is impossible to find out how many resources switched from
direct support of the Festival to the 2% system, as well as the ratio of supporting individuals
and businesses.
Other factor in the mentioned decline is a frequent change of policy in many companies,
often due to personal changes. Besides - Divadelná Nitra is for companies disadvantageous
in several ways: festivals as such are less attractive (they cannot advertise on a year-round
basis), moreover, Divadelná Nitra is a Festival with intellectually demanding programme (that
with the exception of Slovak actors is not visited by celebrities, sought after by Slovak
media), and the Festival takes place outside Bratislava (companies have to transport their
clients and employees to Nitra, which is uncomfortable).
13. 5. > budget – plan and reality
The budget has been planned basically in 2004. Some of the items were underrated (e.g. for
the stage equipment rentals for performing venues with insufficient technical equipment and
for furnishing the new performing venues).
In particular entries of the budget we succeeded in meeting the planned costs. The original
plan of expenses and intakes was thus largely real.
Incomes in 2005 met the costs in 2005, which means that the budget was, regarding the
economy, balanced.
13. 6. > in kind intakes and other data
ADN cooperates with many partners who provide the Festival with in kind (i.e. non-financial)
support. These partners are businesses (production and services), media, co-organisers
(personal, material, and organisational support), and volunteers.
Every year we are able to attain comparatively large intakes of materials or technical
equipment (lending computer equipment, transportation vehicles, consumer industry
merchandise, food and drinks for receptions, and for staff and volunteers, office supplies,
expendable supplies, and toys and sweets for children contests), support in form of less
expensive services or discounts from regular prices (printing materials, advertising space,
Xeroxing, lodging, shuttle transportation between Bratislava and Nitra provided by Karosa,
etc.). These intakes are getting better – for example, in 2005 we had free rent of cocktail and
concert venue (in former PKO), and were lent more computers. Within the business sphere
ADN has thus attained in 2005 material, merchandise, services, and discount merchandise in
kind support amounting to 1,187,000.00 SKK.
Cooperation with media largely belongs to in kind support as well, since paid advertising
services present only a minimum of the whole media promotion campaign value. In 2005
ADN paid for advertising in media 281,216.00 SKK and the in kind support value was
1,749,584.00 SKK (in 2004 it was 2,195,331.00 SKK). ADN did not enter this calculation of in
kind support in the budget’s incomes and expenses.
Similarly, the in kind item of volunteer work value is not entered to the budget. However,
some foreign funds require some records of it – the estimate for 2004 at 50.00 SKK per hour
and 70 volunteers was approximately 280,000.00 SKK, in 2005 and roughly the same
number of volunteers is the value approximately identical.
An important source of income is the ticket sale revenues. They are a direct financial
resource (helps to fund activities and expenses that cannot be paid by purpose-bound
support) and are also an important indicator of the public interest, which motivates the ADN
staff. Ticket sale revenues were in 2005 noticeably higher (30%) than in 2004, which was
mainly due to total number of performances, i.e. 19 (the 20th performance ticket revenues
from J. Palárik Theatre in Trnava went to the co-organiser as working expenses
compensation).
The ticket sale revenues depend on the overall number of seats offered, final number of
tickets given and sold with discount for various visitor groups (students, journalists, theatre
professionals, disabled persons, pensioners), and is largely influenced by ever decreasing
purchasing power of Nitra citizens, with impact on the ticket pricing and interest of the
audience in particular performances. In 2005 we had a new source of intake – participant
fees for working meetings, in this case the training for managers of Slovak theatres.
However, compared to Festival costs that increase every year, the percentage of intakes
decreases. In 2005 we managed to stop this decrease. Own intakes (revenues and other)
compared to other total incomes amounted to 3.2% (4% in 2003, 2.28% in 2004).
From Festival’s expense items, a lot of them are spent within the region (that is Nitra,
eventually Western Slovakia, excluding Bratislava). They comprise of costs for
accommodation, all purchases, partly services, venue and place rentals, allowances for
participants, and costs for advertisement composition, then the costs for human resources,
salaries to the inner or outer circle of the Festival collaborators, i.e. those from Nitra and its
vicinity. The Association Divadelná Nitra contributes this way to activation of human
resources and region incomes.
> conclusion
This year’s Festival Divadelná Nitra 2005 was generally a well-accomplished event. We met
the intentions and notions declared by the central conception, and we realised many ideas
and observations that arose as reactions to Divadelná Nitra 2004. We also succeeded in
improving on the shortcomings of previous editions, and in clear defining and communicating
this year’s conception of the Festival.
Above all, we managed to meet the central idea more consequently, to create a coherent
programme where all productions (at least all foreign productions) went in the same line of
political and social theatre. We succeeded, with minor exceptions, to create a survey of highquality and aesthetically attractive productions of this type of theatre in Europe; to show
Slovak spectators the variety of forms and to show them that theatre can deal with topics that
are missing in our theatres, and can do it very communicatively. We also managed to clearly
separate individual parts of the programme and make the accompanying programme more
legible by its categorical orientation on regional activities.
As to the organisation, we provided several improvements, and the Festivals was generally
assessed as professionally prepared event, which conveys interesting impulses that increase
the quality of life and spread the atmosphere of kindness and cultural refinement.

dnxiv05 - Divadelná Nitra

Transcription

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