Residency artists and researchers

Multidisciplinary art

417 International Theater Group

Multilingual theatrical production

417 is an international group of young theatre professionals. The group was founded in Egypt, where its members met for the first time in 2010. The group’s members all come from different countries in Europe and Arab Mediterranean countries. During the residency, 417 will be working on expanding a previous demo performance about multiculturalism and crises entitled Windows into a full evening performance. The demo version was performed in Alexandria, Egypt in September 2012 as part of the Backstreet Festival, to which they have also been invited for 2014. The demo performance received positive feedback in Egypt.

During their residency, the group’s focus is on preparing for their festival performance. The group’s work stems from their inherent diversity, which is represented not only by a variety of different professional backgrounds (417 includes, for example, a video director, a choreographer, actors and a critic) but more importantly, by cultural differences. Windows is in fact based on personal experience. An important driving force has been the upheaval brought on by the Arab Spring, which has had a very real impact on the group and its work: our premiere was rescheduled twice because of the revolution. Another significant focal point for the group’s work is multidisciplinary art and so it is only natural that Windows combines choreography and video with theatrical expression. The textual foundation for the performance is made up of monologues written by members of the group, which hash out the differences and similarities between our personal worldviews.