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© Efrat Mazor  What is the essence of performance in your opinion?  To me, the essence of performance is sharing space and time with a group of people that will never again come together.  Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How?  I absolutely do! As both a performer and an audience member, I have felt transformed by art. I feel I never enter and exit the stage the same. There is always some evolution, development, shift that occurs in that heightened state of being watched and of performing. Whether it is a miniscule, chemical change or a life-altering epiphany, every performance presents the opportunity to grow, often in very unexpected ways.    When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your works? When I am working on a piece I try to keep my receivers open. I try to pay attention to what I am drawn to, what memories (often seemingly unrelated) arise, what music, images, movies, tv shows attract me, even what type of clothin

© Gianluca Laneve What is the essence of performance in your opinion? In our opinion the true essence of performance lies in its immediacy, creating an intense and profound experience. Performance is often ephemeral, existing only in the moment of its execution, and this transience adds value to the art by making it unique and unrepeatable. Performance aims to evoke emotions in the audience through the sincerity of expression, encouraging reflection, understanding, and change for both the artist and the audience. All of this, we think, is undoubtedly the beating heart of a performance. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? We believe that art can have a profound impact on people's lives, providing comfort, inspiration, and a sense of purpose for those who create or artistic experience. Personal and collective transformation can indeed occur through this process, helping individuals overcome traumas and discover new perspectives on life. Art can foster intercultura

What is the essence of performance in your opinion? For us performances are essentially about entertaining. We want the audience to feel something, whether the performance makes them laugh, disturbs them or makes them feel sad. We want to move people by connecting with them. Do you believe in the transformative power of art? How? Yes. Think of the world without art. How it would sound, look, feel etc? To create or connect with art, is to transform therefore we are constantly transformed by it, more so if we are open to it. Essentially it is a way to understand and feel life. When you are working on a piece, what sources inspire you? Do dreams play a role in your works? Funnily enough, when we are together, say on tour and see one another first thing in the mornings, we always talk through our dreams. Eleanor’s always having these huge surrealist dreams which I love to listen to. They certainly influence what we talk about that day but no, dreams don’t directly connect into our work.

©  Katherine Longly A bunch of haiku: Not I  In a medium-sized courtyard at 9.15 a.m. Birds chirping, their shadows passing momentarily across the surface of the sunlit wall. Square wooden platform in the centre, L-shaped with spectators on either side; front row on the floor, back row on chairs. On the diagonal of the platform, a woman in a kimono-inspired dress sits on her knees with her back to the audience.  A minimalist stage with various objects: a bowl of onions, a fish, a long thin board, a cast steel carpenter's press, a white cloth. During the performance, other objects are added to these: a sharp steel knife, a glass and a bottle of wine hidden in the cloth. A meditation accompanied by a vague, scratchy soundscape (atmospheric sound design: Jean-Philippe Gross) emanating from mini-speakers placed at various points on the stage throughout the show; delicate, hard, sharp, stormy, soft, smooth, straight, sinuous, seemingly serene on the surface but harbouring tensions withi

Swiss theatre director Milo Rau, who has become an important figure in contemporary Western theatre with his works that blur the boundaries between reality and fiction, push the boundaries of traditional theatre, and display an innovative and sometimes radical approach, often using theatre as a tool for social commentary and participation, is in Istanbul for the second time with his work La Reprise. It would not be wrong to say that art and activism are intertwined in Rau's work, who previously as part of the Istanbul Theatre Festival, encountered the Istanbul audience with his work called Hate Radio, that was about the genocide which took place in Rwanda in 1994. Rau, who as part of his Trilogy of Antique Myths, has rehearsed an adaptation of Oresteia by Aeschylus in Iraq in 2019, then staged a film with refugees in Matera, Italy for The New Gospel, has most recently focused on the Landless Workers Movement in Brazil where farmers occupy non-working fields and grow crops inspired