What does “being European” mean?
#Europe21: A trilogy of short films shot entirely in a theatre. Why? Back in 2020 when we started as a multilingual company, theatres were closed and the sector had been heavily impacted by the situation. We decided to combine our two main fields of work and create three original products for cinema whose stories and dynamics will interact in three different ways with the theatrical space that’s around them.
And the stories? They’re a contemporary look at some of Europe’s realities. From the language heritage of enlarged families, through current political and social events, to meaningful facts of history whose long echo keeps resounding in today’s Europe.
And the languages? As in the best tradition of Teatro Multilingue, we have mixed them within the same work. The trilogy uses English, français, español and italiano. As #Europe21 is a product for cinema, subtitles are available if the viewer wants to activate them.
Two of the three short films come in double version (français or español) according to the language used (Goodbye Papà) or to whom is telling the story (Mrs Green) so you can choose your language and perspective, or decide to watch both and compare. They are also all available with English subtitles for the international market.
And for schools… Get your students working! Each short film comes with a set of activities aimed at developing the text for the stage and at looking in a bit deeper at the social and historical context explored. Further reading or studying, with links to literary works and authors, is also suggested for all the languages used.
Check out the plots and the characters by clicking on the posters!
Goodbye, Papá (ES) (FR)
English Father dies all of a sudden in Egypt, leaving “half of his body” to his Son in Italy and the other “half” to his daughter in France (or Spain, in the Spanish version) both of whom he had abandoned at age six. The two siblings have never met and are now getting ready for the two separate funerals.
Mrs Green (FR) (ES)
London, post Brexit. Mrs Green finds a green suitcase under the bed in the flat she used to rent to Isabel, a Spanish girl who was studying to be an actress at the LAMDA Academy. She gets in touch with her. Is the suitcase Isabel’s or Jacques’, the French guy Isabel had a relationship with?
He perdido a Marseille
Marseille, 2 april 1939. María Luisa, Spanish refugee in France, is looking for her cat at the Vieux Port. Suddenly a French guy approaches her trying to give her a pamphlet of the Jeunesse Communiste, followed by an Italian girl with a painful past. What do they want of María Luisa? And will she accept?
TEATRO MULTILINGUE 