Interview: Katharina Reinthaller, Co-Director of Voila! Theatre Festival
Voila! Theatre Festival is showcasing pan-lingual theatre at venues across London until 24th November – so we caught up with Austrian director & dramaturg and Voila Co-Director Katharina Reinthaller to talk about border busting theatre, adventure & discovery through storytelling on stage, inspirations and Things To Do in London.
Voila! Theatre Festival | Multiple Venues | 4-24 November
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us about Voila! Theatre Festival – how would you sum it up in a sentence or two?
Border Busting Theatre for Citizens of Everywhere. A theatre festival celebrating artists, languages & cultures, connecting curious audiences.
The festival is popping up at some of our favourite venues in London – how important is it for Voila to reach out to audiences across the city?
In past years Voila has been happening at the Cockpit only (& online) or at most at three different venues. Working with nine venues this year has made it possible to discover and programme even more exciting, unusual theatre pieces and connect artists to local communities as well as establish new creative collaborations.
The festival has been going for over 10 years and we hope that this year will put us on the radar of even more culturally curious audiences, connecting to the rich tapestry of people that call London home.
We’re excited to see such a ‘pan lingual’ line-up of performances. Could you tell us about your approach to curating a festival which embraces multilingualism and multiculturalism?
This year the festival features work including 35 languages, we have shows that mix languages or are non-verbal, but most will have surtitles of some kind – either as part of the show concept or in the ‘classic’ way.
It sometimes feels in the English-speaking world there is a fear of not understanding, of missing out, dreading the gaps in translation. But when English isn’t your first language, you learn to communicate through different means than just words or text, and that it is something incredibly exciting. I think this is mirrored in the shows we programme – celebrating those gaps, connecting the dots and focusing on the experience of a performance.
We invite audiences to go on an adventure together, encounter stories of different cultures and discover something new.
Who or what inspires your own work, beyond Voila?
I can be inspired by many different things. It could be a mundane moment of everyday life: a conversation overheard on the pavement; a mural that catches my eye; a song blasted from a car driving by. It can be literature, music, visual art – I’m often most interested in work that combines several practices, that plays with boundaries and tries something different.
Most recently I saw Khalid Abdalla’s Nowhere – an extraordinary piece. It reminded me of the power of theatre, its act of resistance and ignition, but it also broke me a little. When an artist achieves this, regardless of the artform, it inspires me to keep going, think outside the box, and see theatre for what it is: a tool of communication, resistance and empowerment. Other artists/companies I admire and find hugely inspiring are Rash Dash, Miet Warlop, Suzan-Lori Parks, Arundhati Roy… there are too many really!
What are your favourite Things To Do in London?
Walk. I love walking through London and just listening to the different chatter going on around me, discovering something new every day. I live in Tottenham; I love the bustle of West Green Road but also being so close to the Lea River and Marshes to get some peaceful countryside thinking space. And food is not short on options – Chuku’s has amazing Nigerian tapas, Moko is great for a drink & dance and there are a number of Colombian Cafes who have the most delicious coffee and pastries. The creative scene here is incredible, there are lots of artists that work and live around the area – for example at Gaunson Creative Studios, who hold open days in September, which is a great opportunity to discover artists’ work and learn about their techniques & creative approaches. There is also a permanent mushroom installation in Unit 3 (which also doubles as a barber shop & cafe) which I love.
Voila! Theatre Festival runs from 4th – 24th November at nine different venues across London. For more information visit: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like: nice pubs, film marathons, not doing real marathons, bad comedy, plays/musicals with shorter second halves, and the Oxford comma.
