A project of The Union of Theatres de l'Europe 
Workshop leaders  Margarita Mladenova, Ivan Dobchev, Assen Avramov 
PERIOD 23 - 24.06.2012 
FROM THE ATELIER DES 200… TO THE ATELIER DES 1000 

National choirs in different European cities. 200 citizens who get on stage during two days, all at the same time, and with great intensity.

Five editions with 200 citizens who make their voices heard and who are being filmed. 
It gains big public attention, the citizens are directly participating, they are connected. Our member theatre of the MC93 Bobigny in France made very good experiences with this format.

We will bring it to at least five cities. Five national choirs of 200 citizens.

At the end of the year will be created a European choir of the 1000 : five film recordings from the five ateliers that were realized on the basis of an identical pattern will be projected at the same time onto 5  screens in a public space (theatre, museum square), inspired by Kim Sooja’s installation "A needle Woman". Common grounds and differences will become visible in an overwhelming kind of way.

Union of Theatres de l’Europe

TO ALL "SFUMATO" SPECTATORS AND FANS

The Union of theatres in Europe / UTE /, where Sfumato Theatre is member, initiated an international project ATELIER 200 with a view fans of theatre magic to go on stage to participate live in the creation of work - led by experienced professionals.

DEAR FRIENDS,
fans of the theatre as a spiritual territory
over the years we've welcomed you into our home SFUMATO,
We have met your eyes filled with light and we are thankful,
that we have you with us,
that we are not alone in our trials of the human soul.
Now we invite you into a real empathy with one of the most exciting drama texts in the world - the Universal Soul monologue from the play "The Seagull" by Chekhov.
It's like inviting you to a watch or a protest march in defense of a great cause. And what a greater cause could be than the Soul who constantly struggles with the Material.
We believe that all of you who do not confess theatre as entertainment and comforts 
but as a Church will respond to our invitation.

The watch will consist of two phases:

DAY ONE - June 23, 2012, Saturday. From 10.00 to 14.30 Hall Sfumato
Introduction to the project and the text.
Working with composer Asen Avramov and directors Margarita Mladenova and Ivan Dobchev.
SECOND DAY  - June 24, Sunday. From 10.00 to 18.00
Transportation by bus to the landfill in Suhodol.
The watch itself in the landfill will be filmed by a team of filmmakers.
Lunch will be provided by the organizers.
Return by bus to Sfumato Theatre after the end of the action.
This action is moneyless - the only thing that we can donate will be a DVD of the small film that will occur as a result. 

Deadline for Application: May 31, 2012
Rada Balareva, tel 0894453669, sfumato@box.net1.bg
Request in writing / by regular or electronic mail / that must contain the name, age, profession and contact details of the applicant.
Entitled to participate are women and men - theatre lovers and students of all ages and professions.
The approved for participation in the workshop must arrive on June 23 at 9.45
in Sfumato Theatre (Sofia, Dimitar Grekov street № 2), with the text - the Universal soul monologue that we apply below – learned by heart.

WELCOME!
Margarita Mladenova
Ivan Dobchev

ATELIER 200 - SFUMATO: THE UNIVERSAL SOUL ON THE DUNG-HILL

                                                                   "Cold, cold, cold.
                                                                    Hollow, empty, deserted.
                                                                    Scary, scary, scary ... "
                                                                     From the monologue from the Universal Soul 
                                                                     of the play "The Seagull" by A. Chekhov 

The landscape of  the large urban dunghill is the very image of our civilization.
Hundreds of acres of devastated, cluttered with junk land. The former Paradise, who has 
re-imaged in Hell. Bums and homeless dogs wandering there. This is their world. It stinks of mortality. Evaporation of leaf litter in the air. Ravens caw.
"... And this poor moon lights her torch in vain."

We want "to settle" in the midst of this wilderness the Universal Soul of the play of Constantine Gavrilich Treplev. Her image will be multiplied in 200 citizens women who 
roam around the landfill and somnolently articulate famous words that She utters
once in a hundred years. Living in post-apocalypse in a mode of some digging in
deadness, in the ashes of life. Search for traces of real life, scars of what ever happened. 
As Stalker at Tarkovsky's Zone, who suddenly starts to speak in verse, as downed: „Вот 
и лето прошло, словно и не бывало...” /So summer has passed as if never happened .../

Women and man will be of different ages - from students to retirees.
The Universal Soul has no age - there are fitted all people - and Alexander
Great, and Caesar, Shakespeare, Napoleon and the last leech. We want to introduce them in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, to initiate them into this confessional text which for us, "Sfumato" people, has the meaning of Revelation.

Ivan Dobchev
Margarita Mladenova