Spanning the schools of mime, acrobatics, and puppetry, as well as the theatrical traditions of Belgium, Serbia, and Germany, the European Theatre video collection contains a wealth of stimulating content. Through rare filmed recordings, archival footage, and critical commentaries by leading directors, this collection explores avant-garde groups such as France’s Théâtre du Mouvement, Denmark’s Odin Teatret, and Serbia’s JEL Theatre.

This collection features:

• A two-part mime demonstration by the great Ivan Bacciocchi, who revives twenty-five centuries of theatre and mime equipped with only a single suitcase
• A selection of avant-garde street and dance performances by the vibrant Danish troupe Odin Teatret, such as The Echo of Silence, Ascent to the Sea, and Kaosmos
• An examination of Belgium experimental troupe Theatre Laboratoire Vicinal who perform selections from Spilliaert’s Tramp, paired with commentary by the critic Margaret Croydon

This collection includes rare footage, often from smaller theatre troupes whose experimental interpretations can provide a more comprehensive understanding of theatre in general and of particular plays. Please note that smaller theatre companies sometimes have lower budgets, which can impact production values.

Synchronised transcripts and closed captions for this collection are being added to videos on a rolling basis. All videos will have transcripts by December 2023. Where films in these collections are in a language other than English, captions will appear on the video and may not always be accessible to screen readers.

Image credits: French actor Stanislas Nordey (Photo by Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images); Portrait of German playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956) (Photo by Fred Stein Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images).