Spaces of Storytelling

Abstract: Spaces of Storytelling is a project aiming to create alternative theatre spaces, based on the relationship between storyteller and audience. By exploring story, deconstruction of the program, the meeting between set design and architecture, and the relation to landscape on a site in Stockholm, the goal has been to reimagine what a theatre could be. A method has been to go back to the basics of theatre and identify the different components of what theatre is and has been through history. The word storytelling is used to describe theatre in a wider sense, including practises that traditionally might not have taken place in a traditional theatre building. The project resulted in three performing spaces (the interactive theatre, the oral storytelling theatre and the moving audience theatre) each focusing on a specific aspect of storytelling. The Interactive Theatre is designed for audience participation and communal experience. The Oral Storytelling Theatre honours the tradition of passing along a story from one to the other. The Moving Audience Theatre is an open space where the audience member actively choses a point of view. All three spaces encourage the audience to be an active participant in different ways.