Union of the Theatres of Europe

The Union of the Theatres of Europe (UTE; _fr. Union des Théâtres de l'Europe) is an alliance of European public theatres. It serves to promote European integration through cultural interaction.

History

The UTE was founded in 1990 by Jack Lang, then Culture Minister of France, and Italian theater director Giorgio Strehler. Apart from fostering European integration, their motivation also was the perceived threat to European cultural diversity posed by globalisation:

:"Already then we felt that the building of Europe required a firm stand against the unruly vagaries of the economic machine. Today we find ourselves faced with the same questions: how do we defend art within a market economy whose logistics are designed to standardise our way of life and thought so that we are reduced to a state of passive consumerism? Can public policies that support the arts be more effective?" [Jack Lang, Foreword to the 2006 UTE media dossier, p. 3.]

Mission

The UTE's stated mission is:"to contribute to the building of the European Union through culture and theatre, to encourage a collective cultural movement that breaks through language barriers in order to develop an art theatre which is seen as a vector of fraternity among people. The UTE promotes productions and co-productions, theatre exchanges and shared experiences, while respecting individual identities and cultures. ... Etched in continuity, the sum of these activities helps in elucidating the objectives of artistic and cultural policies that aim to reinforce artistic cooperation and transnational circulation in Europe." [2006 UTE media dossier, p. 15.]

Members and structure

The UTE is governed by a General Assembly and a board of directors. The president is Jack Lang and the vice president is Gábor Zsámbéki.

As of 2006, the UTE has 22 member theaters in 15 countries:

* England: Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon
* Finland: Suomen Kansallisteatteri, Helsinki
* France: Odéon - Théâtre de l'Europe, Paris; Théâtre National de Strasbourg, Strasbourg
* Germany: Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Düsseldorf; Schauspielfrankfurt, Frankfurt
* Greece: National Theatre of Norhern Greece, Thessaloniki
* Hungary: Katona József Színház, Budapest
* Israel: Israeli National Theater Habimah, Tel Aviv
* Italy: Piccolo Teatro - Teatro d'Europa, Milan; Teatro di Roma, Rome; Teatro Garibaldi, Palermo; Teatro Stabile di Torino, Turin
* Poland: Stary Teatr, Cracow
* Portugal: Teatro Nacional São João, Porto
* Romania: Teatrul Bulandra, Bucharest
* Russia: Maly Teatr - Teatr Evropy, St. Petersburg; Ecole d’Art Dramatique, Moscow
* Serbia: Yugoslavian Dramatic Theatre, Belgrade
* Spain: Teatre Lliure, Barcelona; Teatro de La Abadía, Madrid
* Sweden: Dramaten, Stockholm

The operations of the UTE are financed by the culture ministries of France and Hungary, the European Commission as well as the cities of Rome and Bucharest.

The UTE is headquartered in Paris, France.

Activities

The work of the UTE includes theatre festivals, workshops, artist exchanges, exhibitions, publications, conferences, theater co-productions and translation initiatives. In particular, each year since 1992 the UTE has organised a festival of theatre productions, hosted by a member theatre.

References

* [http://www.ute-net.org/ute/presse/dp2006EN.pdf 2006 UTE media dossier] (PDF)

External links

* [http://www.ute-net.org/ UTE website] (French only)