Maria Aberg’s PROJEKT EUROPA announced as a Resident Company
Mon 15 Mar 2021The residency brings one of the UK’s brightest directing talents and her company to Kent and is part of our commitment to producing theatre in the region.
The residency will begin in the spring and it is part of our commitment to producing theatre in the region. PROJEKT EUROPA will be our first contemporary theatre company in residence and will be joining Resident Companies The Philharmonia Orchestra, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, Glyndebourne Opera and The Royal Shakespeare Company.
The international theatre company will be creating radical work by migrant theatre makers for both local and global audiences. The company’s work is co-created with artists and audiences in different locations around the world, giving a global outlook and sharing international experiences.
They will be creating and piloting work in The Studio, which will be shared with audiences later in the year. Our audiences and communities will be invited to form part of the work’s development, with the company asking to hear different perspectives from people in the region and the rehearsal room being opened up to the community as work is being made.
PROJEKT EUROPA is led by Artistic Director Maria Aberg. Maria began her career at the Royal Court Theatre and has gone on to direct shows in venues including the National Theatre, Southwark Playhouse and Theatre Royal Bath. Maria has also directed work at the Royal Shakespeare Company, including commissions for the Complete Works and World Shakespeare Festivals. This was where she first met our Chief Executive Deborah Shaw, who was Associate Director at The RSC at the time and directed both festivals.
Maria Aberg, Artistic Director of PROJEKT EUROPA says:
“We are thrilled to take up the position as Resident Company at The Marlowe. From our base in Kent – the UK county nearest to Europe – we will originate and produce our work.
We are going to be making theatre across both spaces at The Marlowe – theatre that is bold, inventive and hopeful. We’ll be creating contemporary work that is playful and experimental and that sometimes takes place in more than one language.
We will collaborate with the most exciting migrant and international theatre makers, to create theatre with lived international experience at its heart. At a time when travelling is still tricky and our need for connection is greater than ever, we will bring the world right to your doorstep – and we could not be more excited.”
Deborah Shaw, Chief Executive at The Marlowe, said:
“I’m thrilled to be welcoming Maria and PROJEKT EUROPA to The Marlowe as a Resident Company. So much of the relationship between the UK and Europe has been played out in the landscape of Kent – from the Romans to Brexit – and it feels really important to give artists and audiences time and space to examine that relationship. We look forward to supporting and learning from Maria’s ground-breaking approach to theatre-making. And we’re beyond excited to be her company’s home base from which brilliant, must-see theatre will be launched to festivals and partners worldwide’.
Rebekah Jones, Executive Producer at The Marlowe, said:
“It’s great to have Maria and PROJEKT EUROPA at The Marlowe. Giving established artists a regional home supports our artistic ambitions and provides great role models for the talent pipeline in our region. I also am thrilled to be supporting such a talented female director to bring new work to our stages in the years to come”.
PROJEKT EUROPA will be our first contemporary theatre company in residence, joining Glyndebourne Opera, The Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures as Resident Companies.
Maria will be writing a regular blog for us. Read her first post today to find out why she’s excited about making theatre at The Marlowe.