Words of greeting from the curational team

DEAR AUDIENCE,

‘What do we share?’ is the question we want to ask ourselves for this year’s edition of the festival. How can we create shared spaces or spaces for shared experiences? When is sharing easy for us and when is it difficult? And how do we share responsibility and power?

Answers emerge not only in theatre spaces, but also in a large tent, a gymnasium, with chalk on the floor or in a chance encounter on the street.

Productions from Cuba, Taiwan, Burkina Faso and elsewhere deal with justice, equal opportunities and participation – sometimes in a quiet, small ways, sometimes in an overwhelmingly loud way.

We look forward to seeing you!

Ace, Angélica, Brooke, Frederic und Grete 
(curational team)

Words of greeting from Mayor Fabian Mayer

Dear audience,

“What do we share?” This year’s motto for the “Bright View” Festival at JES is more current than ever. Sharing, after all, also means reshaping the world and seeing ourselves as a community that is considerate of each and every one of its members. I am particularly pleased that sharing is not only the motto but also the practice of the festival. Barriers are broken down and thus, access is created. This is the only way a society can function: together and for one another.

As the Mayor for Culture of the City of Stuttgart, I am certain that “Bright View” will once again provide many light-hearted, but of course also serious, thought-provoking ideas this year. And another thing is for certain: the festival will be a source of pleasure and joy.

And still: I know that times are difficult. The world is complicated and confusing, and even in Stuttgart we feel the many new and old challenges every day in very concrete ways. As a city, we therefore have to deal with difficult situations time and again and often make painful decisions.

And that is precisely why – perhaps even more so – spaces and opportunities to come together, to think together and to talk with each other are so important to us as a society. The festival will once again create and share these spaces this year, and that is fortunate. We need the “Bright View” as a point of view, as a ‘viewpoint’. Because from a good vantage point, you can view the world particularly deeply and perhaps also particularly far into the future.

This year’s festival programme once again offers plenty of opportunities to do just that. I am particularly impressed by the nine international guest performances that the team has invited to Stuttgart this year. The festival motto fits perfectly got these performances, as well. Because, after all, there is one thing we all share: the entire world.

I would like to thank the entire JES team for their commitment and passion, even though times are not easy. It will be worth it! To you, dear audience, I wish you good questions, good times, good stories and a bright view this year!