French film director Gagnaire shows in Ukraine newest IT technologies in theatre
KYIV. Sept 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Modern IT technologies could change the theatrical world in the same way as the appearance of theatrical dramatic art back then, French film director and teacher Georges Gagnaire has said.
"New technologies are scary for many. And we really cannot know exactly what the theater will become as a result, but this does not mean that we should not ask this question and try new opportunities that are opening up. After a while, it will become clear that giving them up is equivalent to giving up dramaturgy or writing," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
The director believes that the latest IT technologies will inevitably enter the theater space and significantly transform it.
Gagnaire said that he is adapting the technology of "motion capture," which is widely used in the cinema and the industry of computer games, to the needs of the theater, and seeks to make it available even for low-budget theaters. He develops and teaches this direction at the Paris-8 University in Paris, and arrived in Ukraine under the auspices of the Theater Window to Europe project, which was supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the French Institute.
As part of the project, Gagnaire gives a series of master classes for theater professionals and theater students in Kharkiv and Kyiv. In addition, he shows his digital performance "Shadow", which presents these new opportunities, in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Dnipro (at the Gogolfest festival). The Ukrainian first run of "Shadows" with the participation of actor Pavlo Chirva was released earlier than the French version of the play.
The "Theater Window to Europe" project was launched by the Kharkiv-based Theatre na Zhukah in 2011, its curator and initiator is the co-founder of Theatre na Zhukah Dmytro Ternovy. The project is aimed at bringing Ukrainian and European theater cultures closer and helps students of theater universities to expand their knowledge of modern theater via master classes with representatives of European theater schools.
