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Phase 1:

K:13 and producer Charlotte Faaberg-Johansen from Syv mil visited their partner in Riga in February 2022. On this project kick off, the partners got to know each other, socialize and have network- and creative meetings. K:13 also organized a workshop on methods of  interactivity and participation for potensial collaborators, including directors, choreographers, scenographers, composers, actors, producers etc. In addition, K:13 performed their interactive performance "Romeo & Juliet" at the renowned Gertrude Street Theatre in Riga . 

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In this collaborative project, K:13 will share their experience in the use of interactive and immersive theatre tools, lead seminars and workshops, and create a participatory performance <<Līdzinieki>> together with Duka and a creative team from Riga, Latvia.

The performance is set to premiere at the Trade Union House in Riga, in the autumn of 2022. It will be a participatory exhibition/performance for teenagers. 

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The title of the performance<<Līdzinieki>> emphasizes the principles of participation and equality. Curator Duka explains: “The use of graphics in the title encodes the dynamics of our time - rapid movement, accelerated revision, comparisons. Peers are participants. Active or passive, whether they are part of a minority or a majority,  they are all part of- and participate in society. <<Līdzinieki>> will be a workshop in art activism. Young people will have the opportunity to create a participatory art event led by professional artists, curators, choreographers and directors. The art of participation is characterized by the fact that the audience becomes co-creators. The objects in the exhibition can be extended and commented on and the layout of the room is designed for collaborative games, discussions and role-plays. The main task of this exhibition - performance is to ask questions about participation and its forms today.

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Phase 2:

In the second phase K:13 went back to Riga where they collborated with the artistic team from Riga to develop a pilot and the plot of the performance together during a one week long workshop.

They developed the structure and games to be used in the performance, and arranged a try out/workshop with youngsters  (15 people) from the focus group

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Phase 3:

The third phase took place in Riga, in October 2022. The premiere of the collaborative and participatory perfomance <<Līdzinieki>> was on October 12 in the House of the Trade Unions in the center of Riga.

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The four-week marathon of the participation art event for young people <<Demo-creators>> in the Trade Union House has come to an end. Rehearsals began on September 27, and from October 12 to 18, ten interactive performances took place in this venue, attended by more than 500 young people. The production was created by the collaborative team of I-DEJAS MĀJAS, the Norwegian theatre company K:13 and the Initium Foundation.

 

<<Demo-creators>> was the first production in Latvia where the audience could, not only participate, but also influence the course of the performance with their personal choices. The intention of the creative team was to design an interactive and site-specific theatre piece. The Trade Union House was used as a giant scenography and performance environment. The drama is set to the night of May 15, 1934, when the building, then called "the House of the People", was besieged by the home guard during the political coup by Ulmanis.

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"In this production, the audience experienced two times concurrently - the historically based story in the former People's House and the work of the trade union organizations currently taking place here," says Sanita Duka, curator of the project. “The main characters are three poets who are historically associated with this house. The intrigue of the show – will the young people agree to cooperate with the secret police and submit to censorship? It was a pleasure to watch how enthusiastically they participated and unravelled the sequence of the game."

 

The script, the breakout game within and the visitor experience were jointly created by the entire creative team. The interactive game consultants were the project partners Jorunn Sofie Lullau, Steinar Thorsen and Charlotte Faaberg-Johansen from Norway. From the Latvian side, the director Edgars Niklasons, scenographer Toms Jansons, choreographer Jānis Putniņš, playwright Luke Welch, composer Platons Buravickis, artists Ance Eikena and Anita Rozentāle and costume designer Anda Ščerbak worked under the direction of the producer, Ieva Niedre.

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