saison 2008/2009 

Motivated by the conviction that culture is a driving force in society and that a cultural dimension has to be a key part of Europe’s make-up, the TNB has joined forces with five major European theatres in a long-term cooperative agreement. The European Commission is backing this artistic and cultural cooperation for the development of creation, research and training in Europe. Called Prospero, it is a five year project spanning from 2008 to 2012.


There are three strands to Prospero’s activities:

The development of European creation :

Large-scale creations

Managers and administrators in European theatres are experiencing even greater difficulty in finding partners to run large-scale artistic projects and make a success of them. For some time now, cinema and television have concentrated their development along international lines to appeal to wider audiences. If theatres come together, it means that not only are they able to react to propositions, opportunities and invitations, but that they can actually generate them and transform initiatives into long-term and mutually beneficial cooperative projects. Working on a European scale allows resources to be pooled, energies consolidated and large stages used (for performances to between 600 and 900 people). It also means that more ambitious creations are possible. Artists capable of making use of this opportunity are going to propose large-scale productions.
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associate artists

Each organisation designates an associate artist with whom it will work, and Prospero co-produces the creation which goes on to be presented in the cities for three performances.
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young associate artists

Young artists must be involved in theatre life because theatres are places of the future, places where projects, dialogue and research are carried out and where people’s passion can lead to links with other artistic fields. The venues and their teams therefore ensure all of this is passed on to young artists who in turn communicate their thirst for undertaking ventures, their capacity for challenging and their great intensity.
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The organisation of European research

To boost European theoretical research, the six members of Prospero will pool their networks. They will set up a group which will ultimately be able to generate permanent high-level international exchanges culminating in two symposiums.
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The training of young actors

Stagecraft is taught differently in all the countries involved. Their traditions must be capable of being shared. Over the next five years, there are plans for meetings to be held between teaching teams and exchanges organised in which sixteen students per class will study in a foreign school for at least one month, immersed in another country, another culture and other teaching methods.
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More informations
The Théâtre National de Bretagne (Rennes, France), which is heading up the European project, the Théâtre de la Place (Liège, Belgium), the Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione (Modena, Italy), the Schaubühne (Berlin, Germany), the Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon, Portugal) and the Tutkivan Teatterityön Keskus (Tampere, Finland) are joining forces to develop this dialogue by encouraging mobility between artists and cultural players and providing an opportunity to have their work seen more widely. This cooperation is also opening up partnerships with Latvia (Riga Theatre, artistic director Alvis Hermanis) and Poland (with the director Krzysztof Warlikowski).