Interview with Franco Ungaro, general director of Theatre Koreja, Lecce, Italy and vice-president of interACT

How long does your theatre exist?
We started in 1985, in Aradeo, a small village in the province of Lecce.

Who is founder of  your theatre? Can you tell me something more about the foundation of the theatre and the building where  you’re performing in?
Koreja was born on iniciative of four young people from Aradeo (Salvatore Tramacere, Franco Ferramosca, Stefano Bove and Francesca Carallo) who, in that time, started to approach the theatre; at first, they considered it as an good experience for socialization, and then they turned it into a real job. I started working occasionally with Koreja in 1986 and then, permanently, in 1988. Silvia Ricciardelli, an actress and a pedagogue, after having worked for 10 years at Eugenio Barba’s Odin Teatret, decided to give her own contribution towards the birth of Koreja. We have worked in Aradeo till 1994, in a place which was not a real theatre, but a wonderful abandoned farm, in the outskirts of the village: it is here that the process of the initiation to theatre started, through a long and intense training guided by Silvia Ricciardelli, Iben Nagel Rasmussen and Cesar Brie; for 13 years we have organized a beautiful theatre festival.
Then, because of problems with the owner we had to leave the farm and we started to look for a new space to work. We found an abandoned brick factory in the city of Lecce, that we reconstructed without any help of the public adiministration, and this is place where Cantieri Teatrali Koreja is in  today. 

What are the basic creative and aesthetic postulate of Koreja Theatre?
Contemporary theatre and actor theatre are the basic clues about what we do. We consider as contemporary theatre speaking about the present even when classic texts (Shakespeare or Pinter) are staged; the theatre that speaks through the instruments and the methods of a theatre language is constantly expanding not only the dramaturgic, but also the expressive vocabulary. In the last 10 years our research has mainly developed towards musical theatre: we like actors working in close connection with musicians and singers; together on stage they are able to invent new gestures and new meanings to convey to the new generations.

What does your repertoire include?
The current repertoire includes shows for adults - like Il Calapranzi (the Dumb waiter) by Pinter, La Passione delle Troiane, after Euripedes, the brand new production Doctor Frankenstein, that we will performe it on the 5th November in Lecce - as well as shows for a younger audience, like Giardini di Plastica (that we have been repeating for 14 years unceasingly), Paladini di Francia, awarded of many national prizes, and Mangiadisk after Hansel and Gretel by Grimm brothers. 

Can you tell us more about the work of your theatre on the social and training program?
In these years we have realized special projects within the field of the “social theatre”, with beautiful experiences of theatre workshops realized in the prisons of Lecce, both with minors and socially dangerous prisoners; we often work with young people from the suburbs, with deviant problems. The best project is undoubtedly the one we have been realizing for four years in Smederevo in Serbia: we make a group of young rom people and a group of young actors from the Pathos Company to work together; we have produced together the show Opera Rom (from John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera) that has recently been perfomed at the Biennal of Young Artists from Europe and The Mediterranean, held in Skopje. 
Theatre as an educational instrument for young people is a chance that we have been giving continuously through training courses and workshops that we organize both in schools and in our theatre. 

What are the festivals where Koreja Theatre gave a guest performance?
The most important international festivals in which Koreja has participated are: Sant’arcangelo di Romagna, Polverigi and Castel dei Mondi in Italy; whereas, Mot Festival in Skopje – Macedonia, JoakinInterFest in Kragujevac – Serbia, Purgatorije in Tivat – Montenegro, Tunis Theatre Weeks - Tunisia, Children theatre Festivals in Egypt, Iran, Germany, France, Spain, Croatia...    

What are the new performances you’re working on?
Doctor Frankestein is our new production, but we would like to realize a co-production with the Municipal Theatre of Stip , with whom we have started an interesting cooperation.

What’s the meaning of Koreja Theatre for the italian theatre?
Without speaking arrogantly, we are very highly rated  by the italian theatre operators. The 2009 has been a very lucky year for us, since we have received official reviews and awards for the first time , then the award of jubilance from the national association of theatre critics and the Eolo award, besides those received for La Passione delle Troiane in Kragujevac and Tivat. Cantieri Teatrali Koreja is one of the most desirable theatres for italian artists and companies and this comes for its spaces, for the numerous audience and for the warm and hospitable atmosphere that you can breath in it. 

You’re vice-president of interACT – How significant is to you this new theatrical network and are you satisfied from its recent functioning?
Theatre would risk to become autoreferencial and fruitless without meetings, cooperations and exchanges. Thanks to Interact all the members have the opportunity to dialogue and to work in a wider contexts, not only from geographical point of view, but, the most important , from the cultural one; we will certainly enrich our experiences and competences, through mutual observation, by widening and expanding our sights, by taking on the field concrete projects of common work. And it is precisely this one, the challenge we are going to face with : since 2009, when we have become a network, I have had the pleasure to look in their eyes, to get in touch personally with them, as  members of the Network, and with some of you Dejan, Adrian, Dee, Jacek, we have also made some steps further, conceiving PLOTS project, for which we hope to receive the EU financing. In my opinion, the challange consists in being concrete and utopians at the same time: let’s work more together and try to be fully aware of the value of the resources we represent in a society inclined to emarginate the art theatre, homologating it to television and entertainement system.




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G E N E R A L  M E E T I N G

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I n t e r A C T 
WORLD THEATRE NETWORK



InterACT is an international consortium of theatre companies and festivals, developed to support and present new, progressive theatre through inter-cultural residencies, artistic barter, and festival participation.  The network envisions theatre as a lingua franca, a shared language, which crosses boundaries, obliterates difference, and provides a flow of energy and knowing between people of different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and cultural concerns.


InterACT connects progressive theatres, institutions, and festivals in Europe, North America, and Asia, and provides sources of inspiration, artistic possibility, travel, and networking opportunities.  The ultimate goal of interACT is to create – through the medium of live theatre – deeper knowledge of the contemporary world.  interACT envisions theatre as an active agent in cultural transformation and renewal. 


InterACT is comprised of Four platforms:

1. Performance – interACT members explore new methods of theatrical expression through training, workshops and residencies.

2. New Works – interACT explores new methods for creating Global Theatre, including the development of new plays intended for global audiences.

3. Productions – interACT provides support for fully staged co-productions between member theatres.

4. Cultural Exchange – interACT members provide opportunities for mutual exchange between interACT organizations and individual artists.