The festival is a collaboration between Dramaten, Thalia Theater in Hamburg and the European theater network mitos 21, which includes Dramaten.
Several large theaters from countries such as Hungary, Russia, France and Germany participate in the festival.
- The drama took the initiative for this festival.
When everything has stopped, it felt extra important to try to maintain these international relations, says Mattias Andersson, theater director at Dramaten.
The theaters each contribute a contribution that is streamed digitally and displayed in the original language with English text.
The sets were recorded before the corona pandemic but are not older than five years.
Due to copyright reasons, many classics are shown.
Dostoevsky and Brecht
For example, the Berliner Ensemble contributes with Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Dostoevsky's Idiot is shown under both Russian and Swedish auspices.
- It feels like a really fun way to get the performing arts out, even if it is filming of an art form that is made for a live audience, says Mattias Andersson.
How does it feel not to be live?
- At first it felt like I hated it, but now I can see how it develops the technology and what spread the sets can get digitally.
It would have been difficult to get to this festival live, says Mattias Andersson.
Something is lost
But he still thinks that something is lost when the theater goes digital.
- The theatre's attractiveness is the collective experience.
It is unique now that we receive both fiction and news individually via our screens.
I believe that all live art will have a renaissance after the pandemic.