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Today, in response to defamatory comments in the Macedonian press from the theatre management last night, the creative team released the following statement to local television and print media:
"We the creative team of Alcmaeon in Corinth were invited by the NTB to realise Colin Teevan's version of Euripides' lost play from his Macedonian trilogy.
We took this as a privilege and have pursued our work with diligence and a great sense of responsibility to honour the Macedonian theatrical heritage. But, since we arrived on July 14th it has become increasingly obvious that the management had neither the funds nor the will to realise the agreed production. In spite of all our attempts at communicating with the management prior to our arrival, we had no advance warning as to the theatre's difficulties regarding finance and management. Thus, we strongly believe that we have been brought here under false pretences.
The management of NTB have been demanding changes in set, concept, venue and technical facilities. These changes have greatly compromised the show as well as everyone involved, not the least the author's rights. Yesterday, we were asked to asses the current state of the production and find a way of producing an alternative show concept in a different venue and cut down to whatever material and technical resources the theatre is currently capable of providing. At the same time, the MD of NTB, made public accusations that are not only incorrect and preposterous but are also defamatory. For example, it is the theatre MD who is solely responsible for the sanctioning of theatre's expenditure.
This current situation clearly shows that NTB is not in fact fulfilling their obligations to the creative team, their actors or the people of Macedonia. We have been forced into an impossible position, threatened and defamed by the very body that has invited us here and are finding it impossible to work. By making the circumstances of the production impossible, we believe, the theatre are de facto cancelling the show and are thus in breach of all our contracts.
The issues of copyright infringement and the abuse of our moral and human rights according to international law are currently being discussed.
Colin Teevan, Gideon Davey, Nikola Kodjabashia, Sasha C. Damjanovski, Ilina Angelovska"
Sadly, the serious problems within the production have continued since my last update, and during this time I have felt it best to not post anything here. The following statement to the press was just issued, and I will update on what happens next soon. I will also fill in the incredible backstory that has led to this point.
"We, the creative team of the show Alcmaeon in Corinth, have been invited by the National Theatre Bitola to realise this show and have arrived in good faith and willing to work, in July this year.
However, in spite of all promises from and agreements with the management of the theatre in the past six months, we have arrived to Macedonia to insufficient funds for the realisation of the accepted scenography, costumes, choreography, music and sound for the show. This situation compromises Colin Teevan's moral rights as author of the text under international copyright law. It also means that we, the creative team, have been contracted under false pretences.
Our attempts to continue working and make compromises for the past four weeks are well documented.
Whilst we have met with huge support and commitment from the actors of the theatre, our concerns and protests to the extremely unprofessional situation and working conditions have been ignored by the management. One small example of this is the letter to the Cultural Minister of 7th August, this year.
Today, we find ourselves forced by the management of the theatre to continue working in extremely unprofessional conditions and deliver a show of hugely compromised quality, or otherwise they will not pay the remainder of our fees and hold us in breach of contract.
In the compromising of the agreed production, the National Theatre Bitola is in breach of international copyright laws and representatives of the author will be left with no choice but to withdraw the rights to the play Alcmaeon in Corinth.
- Colin Teevan, Gideon Davey, Nikola Kodjabashia, Sasha C. Damjanovski, Ilina Angelovska"
Rehearsal resumed this morning. But what a week it has been.
Since my last post, the company's faith has been restored and dashed and then restored again. Money has been somehow found. Essential orders for materials were evaded but are now finally placed. Support for the production has been assured.
When rehearsal started again at 10 am this morning company morale seemed somewhat mended. By the conclusion of the day the theatre officially had new management, and revelry in the theatre bar continues as I write this now.
We have the Ilinden (national holiday) weekend to recoup. In that time I will write a full post to tell the story, as best I can, as to what has transpired.
Some very evocative photos of the Chorus taken during rehearsal by Sasha Damjanovski.
At the beginning of rehearsal this morning Colin announced that rehearsals are now suspended. The promised funds for the production budget mysteriously cannot be accounted for, and this suggests mismanagement that goes well beyond the excuse of the government elect not being able to release funds. As Gideon explains, the set and costumes are not extravagantly expensive – but absolutely nothing can be purchased at the moment as there is no cash on hand. This is preventing the creative team to deliver the show that have contractually agreed upon.
Colin apologised to the cast, saying that he believes that the cast and the show have been deeply compromised by the theatre’s management.
Rehearsal may resume at 3pm tomorrow, if the management can meet this deadline with the minimum budget of funds guaranteed.
Walking through the Stage Door of the National Theatre of Macedonia, Bitola there are lots of these "no gun" stickers:
At first I was slightly alarmed… just how dangerous is it to make theatre in Macedonia? However rather than being a clue that the seemingly friendly cast are secretly gun-toting maniacs, instead it turns out to be a leftover from a national anti-gun campaign of many years ago. Now I read the stickers as a little poetic reminder that perhaps creating art should always have an element of danger, though checking unnecessary weaponry at the door can’t be a bad idea.
To the left of this Stage Door are the administration offices, to the right is a small cinema kitted out with a piano on a stage. Our rehearsal room is down a couple of levels, and from here the labyrinth really begins. It feels like everyday I discover a new props room or costume storage space, even a whole stage I didn’t know about - all foreign fantasy lands whispering stories of past productions to me. Slightly bizarrely, I am also now living upstairs in a converted dressing room, repelete with stage relay tannoy in one corner. Colin jokes that living there makes me the theatre cat. I like this idea: padding about the corridors with whiskers aquiver, a quiet and curious witness to backstage goings-on.
The theatre is housed in the Centre for Culture complex which was built in the 1980s after the town decided to demolish the old theatre building (where I am told Sarah Bernhardt once played). Outside the theatre currently hang posters for BitFest 08, Bitola’s annual cultural festival, which ‘Alcmaeon in Corinth’ is part of. There are also posters from recent productions, and their titles suggest to me a preference for some pretty serious theatre: ‘Drums in the Night’ (Brecht), ‘The Vagina Monologues’ (Ensler) and ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ (Shakespeare). So, no light’n’fluffy ‘High School Musical’ here in Bitola. I guess the long-standing government support of the theatre company means the programming choices can be more courageous and less commercially pressured than a relatively-sized theatre in Britain. What’s interesting is that there’s also an ingrained cultural expectation that theatre should naturally be bold and internationally-minded.
The company structure of an ensemble of actors in constant full employment makes a stark contrast to the experience of most British actors. I’ll report in more detail when I have a chance to interview the actors, but it’s an extraordinary experience to watch actors who have worked their whole careers in the one company. For some there’s an established rhythm to the way that they’re used to working, though this has been disrupted to some extent by this rehearsal process. On one level this is reflected in the schedule of the working day. So far rehearsal days here have followed the traditional Continental repertory pattern. This accounts for performing a show in the evening, splitting the day into a morning session of 10am-2pm, returning for 7-10pm for rehearsal or a performance. Another reason for this schedule is apparently the intense summer heat outside, although it doesn’t really affect us in the rehearsal room as it’s quite cool there. For those used to “British rehearsal times” (10am-6pm with an hour lunch break) this takes some adjusting.
As it turns out that as none of the company members are currently performing in the evenings, some say the split day is less convenient for them anyway. By Saturday of the second week Colin proposes the remaining two weeks in the rehearsal room observe “the British way”, sensitively putting this idea to a show of hands for or against to decide. Whilst it’s clearly not unanimously agreed to, there’s an interesting flicker of resistance to the process of voting, and it is said that those who’ve objected will compromise anyway. I wonder if this hints at the history of how decisions are made within the company, or perhaps to on a different scale to the experience of democracy here. (Maybe I am reading too much into it? I can’t be sure.)
On the voting theme, it transpires that the recent national elections have a considerable impact upon the construction of the set. As I understand it, the government elect doesn’t have the power to sign cheques, therefore the theatre can’t access their budget from the Ministry of Culture. This means the materials to make the set can’t be paid for, and against the countdown to opening night this is a real concern. Even the delay in the working with the scenography causes problems: how can the action be blocked in rehearsal properly without the set? Heck, will we even ever get the set? What about the rest of the production budget? Needless to say, this causes the creative team real headaches.
That said, you’d never know in the rehearsal room that such stresses were occurring outside. It’s been week of hard work rewarded with many important discoveries. Keri and the chorus have developed movements that range from some slinky music-video choreography for the bordello scenes, to twitchy and ant-like for the prologue (trust me here - the ants are important). Building on the first week, the presence of Hera (the presiding goddess of this play, played by Kristina Hristova Nikolova) is now integrated into many of the scenes as a silent but very active character. Petar Gorko’s characterisation of aging rockstar Alcmaeon is drawing inspiration from the swagger of Lou Reed, and the publicity images for the show will reflect this. At a very rough run-through on Saturday there’s the chance to stand back and see what has been achieved over this past two weeks. The emerging playing styles borrow from or reference seemingly random pages of the catalogue of theatre history, but it’s careful and truthful work. Somehow it all makes sense. As for understanding the ants – well, you’ll have to wait till my next blog entry.
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