A Forum Theatre Play challenging the current ideology and creating a space to explore what a different Europe could look like
Inspired by the events of the European Crisis of the last few years, Hotel Europa brings together a European cast from France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Croatia and Scotland who have developed the Play over two years of working together. The piece tells the story of a middle-class family who are affected by the austerity measures imposed by Governments and the accompanying striving for more profit from an unreformed banking sector. Exploring the historical foundations of the current crisis, the piece invites the audience to ask themselves how we can challenge a neo-liberal ideology whilst living inside a society based on these principles. Through Forum Theatre the cast stages the question: What would a different future for Europe look like?
Characters
Hotel Europa is an ensemble piece with actors playing different characters throughout. The play is told from the point of view of AOIO whose parents own and run Hotel Europa. AOIO is an activist who tries to persuade his parents that the anti-capitalist ideology that he protests for on the streets is possible to create in their hotel. This central storyline is supported by other characters who help to illuminate the context of this struggle (workers, capitalist, banker, media, politician, police, protesters) as well as those directly involved with the specific story (AOIO’s mother and father, hotel workers, banker, customers). The piece is also supported by two musicians who play live music on the stage. Hotel Europa is a Forum Theatre Play where audience is invited of being active and making interventions on dramatic action in order to search for concrete alternatives for the staged problems.