Project of the week – ’Heart Space’ – love stories from Djursland

In the next four years, Syddjurs Regional Theatre and children's theater Filuren create the project 'Heart Space'. Local stories based on true love stories that stretch over 120 years and 5056 km, from Djursland’s manors to the Nazi concentration camps; the stories are about people's willingness to love, in spite of position, distance and resistance.

The theatre trilogy 'Heart Space' is love stories about some of the most - at once - general and intimate experiences in human life. The three performances take place during crucial historic events and periods in Europe in the modern era; from the Modern Breakthrough’s emotionality to Romanticism’s self-perception and perception of love to the alienation of man and the loss of identity during World War II. At the same time, each performance covers one of the three themes 'Faith, Hope and Love'.

The largest project ever
The project extends over four years. The first three years three different performances will play, all of which - fully or partially – are based on real stories that take place in Syddjurs and share a mutual dramatic and historical context.

The first of the three scheduled performances, 'The Blue Tone of Life', has just played in Aarhus and Djursland. The performances over the next three years will all play in the summer months, alternately in theaters and museums in Aarhus and Djursland.

In 2017, a director will take the previous three years of performances and put them together into a larger piece of total theatre involving a large number of groups of volunteers and professionals.

In addition to the actors on stage, these will be a chamber orchestra, local volunteer players, a male voice choir from Skaun in Norway, children from Filuren’s Theatre School and local actors from the individual cities and areas where the show plays.

Hege Tokle, who is Director of Syddjurs Regional Theatre, is enthusiastic:

"This is our biggest project ever. It shows the potential of having a regional theatre. It has many local elements, opportunities for local cooperation and at the same time a view to the world beyond. The process has been enlightening, exciting and touching. We have become much wiser along the way on love and historical conditions, and so will the audience," says Hege Tokle.

International partnerships
The creative forces behind 'Heart Space' has teamed up with foreign partners in the form of Olav’s Friends, The Falstad Museum and Vefsn Municipality of Norway, and Southern Schleswig Association, the Maritime Museum and Cultural Department in Flensburg, Germany.
On top of that, ‘Heart Space' also has a collaboration on theatre with schools in Aarhus and Djursland, in order to develop new, more powerful models for collaboration on the incorporation of theatre in education and to provide schools with the possibility of a new perspective on storytelling.

"In my opinion, it is obvious that schoolchildren can get something out of watching the performances. The performances are aimed at all ages from 13 years upwards. We want to help raise awareness about Djursland among young people, while at the same time informing them about the opportunities in theatre as a medium. In addition, our collaboration with institutions in Scandinavia and Germany means that the performances will also be played abroad - perhaps also in other languages," says Hege Tokle.

The collaboration is titled 'Performing Arts into Schools’, is supported by the Region, and is a collaboration between Filuren, Limfjordsteatret, Opgang2 and Syddjurs Regional Theatre.

Facts
The project involves a number of theatres and museums. In addition to Syddjurs Regional Theatre and Filuren also Opgang2 and Limfjordsteatret. Among the museums is the Danish Steam Frigate Jylland in Ebeltoft, Gl. Estrup Manor Museum in Auning, The Maritime Museum in Flensburg and The Falstad Museum in Levanger, Norway.

The three performances will play over three years. In 2017, they will be combined into one unique performance in relation to the fact that Aarhus is European Capital of Culture.