In April 2008, the Centre for Research as Practice in Theatre will launch a research project studying the possibilities of video in the theatre and in live performances. The first stage will continue until September 2009.
The research project will identify the limits of the video media by bringing the video onto the theatre stage and sinking it deep into the root of the theatre in order to produce impulses for the text, space and actor. The purpose of the project is to draw attention to the wide possibilities of the video in performing arts.
The Video in the Theatre research project will pay particular attention on the development of the work processes related to video design and the communication of the special features of video design in the design and rehearsal processes.
The observations of the project will also be presented in demo events and seminars open to the public and aimed at professionals.
In autumn 2008, the research results will be presented in the Theatre Museum in Helsinki in connection with Teemu Määttänen’s “NOSTE” installation.
During the Tampere Theatre Festival 2009, the Centre for Practise as Research in Theatre will organise a series of Video in the Theatre seminar discussions aimed at theatre professionals.
The installations, performances, seminars and demonstrations produced in the research project will be used as the basis of the ‘Video in the Theatre’ training material. Its purpose is to provide good basic information about the use of video in performing arts – from the points of view of technology and content.
Teemu Määttänen is Master in Theatrical Arts specialising in video design and graduated from the Department of Lighting and Sound Design of the Theatre Academy. He has wide and successful work experience in dance, theatre and installations. His latest video installation and setting was for Näty’s student production The Inspector (Reviisori), directed by Yrjö Juhani Renvall.
Teemu Määttänen has presented his work in a number of events abroad. He was awarded for his visual design with the SÄDE award granted by the Association of Finnish Sound and Lighting Designers in 2007.