true <p><img src="http://theatrebristol.net/assets/0000/9451/At_Rehearsal_-_Mittwoch_Theater.jpg" title="rehearsal image" alt="rehearsal image" /></p> <p><em>theatrebristol.net asked Eve Fitt of the <a href="http://theatrebristol.net/notices/2009/5/11/theatre-exchange-between-bristol-and-hanover-oct-2009">Bristol Theatre Exchange</a> group to tell us about the history of the exchange and the people involved.</em></p> <p>The exchange was originally set up by Bert Payne, a teacher at Bristol Grammar School and a member of the Bristol Players amateur dramatic Society. It was through Bert Payne’s educational connections with Bristol’s twin city of Hannover that the Bristol Players started exchanging with the Mittwoch Theater Group. The groups visited each other’s cities on a two-yearly basis, ie each performing every four years. The plays were performed in each other’s native language and, contrary to expectation, proved to be extremely popular in both cities.</p> <p>The exchange did stop for a short while during the 1990s, when the Bristol Players folded, but a few years later, some enthusiasts re-forged the link and in 1998, Mittwoch Theater Group came to Bristol with the Brecht play “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”. The Bristol Theatre Exchange group was formed to return to Hannover in 2000, taking John Mortimer‘s “Voyage Round My Father“. This required a large cast of all ages, including four children. For most of us it was our first visit to Hannover.</p> <p>The city of Hannover had to be completely re-built after the Second World War, and models ranging from a completely destroyed city to the rebuilt city as it is today are displayed in the Town Hall. It has a splendid co-ordinated transport system of trams, buses and trains. Among the attractions in the city there is a large artificial lake for boat trips, an opera house, museums and art galleries and a well-laid out zoo. There are lots of restaurants, bars and beer gardens and, of course, a super shopping centre. There are many places for day trips out, including the formally laid-out ornate gardens at Herrenhausen (which also includes an open air theatre not unlike our dairy garden at Blaise Castle), and picturesque medieval town of Hamlin with a disconcerting number of “Pied Pipers” wandering about and plenty of “rats”!</p> <p>The group returned in 2005 with the “Canterbury Tales”, which the German audiences appeared to find even funnier than the audiences in Bristol. They managed to get all the jokes!</p> <p>In both cities, there is a choice of staying either with members of the group or in a local hotel. In 2005, most of the group chose to stay in a hotel where we saw each other for breakfast, invariably a lively entertaining time despite the early hour &#8211; can 12 thespians ever be in the same room without showing off and cracking jokes?!</p> <p>There are members in both drama groups who have known each other a long time and have made very good personal relationships. The Mittwoch always make us feel very welcome, throwing open their well-appointed four-storey building, which includes a theatre holding up to 120 people, dressing rooms, stores for props and costumes and, of course, the comfortable and well-stocked bar, which has a life-size model of Bertolt Brecht in one corner!</p> <p>Performing in a foreign country may appear to be intimidating but, on the contrary, has proved to be extremely gratifying and worthwhile, even though the audience speaks a different language, they are very attentive and appreciative, and refuse to let the cast go without a minimum of 7 curtain-calls!</p> <p>The Mittwoch Theater Group are extremely enthusiastic about this exchange and love welcoming us to their theatre and, similarly, we love having them over to visit us in Bristol. In each city, there is always a party at the beginning and end of the production , which is very relaxed and gives us all a rousing start and finish to the event.</p> <p>During my many years involved with non-professional theatre, I have found travelling with a drama group a very worthwhile and satisfying experience, and gives an extra dimension to the group dynamics. I highly recommend it &#8211; please come and join us!</p> bristol, hanover 2009-05-18T10:06:44+01:00 4b7af2526ba2c80ce0000001 theatrebristol.net asked Eve Fitt of the Bristol Theatre Exchange group to tell us about the history of the exchange and the people involved. false 169 false bristol-hannover-theatre-exchange 2009-05-18T10:06:44+01:00 2010-02-25T17:16:07+00:00 4b7af2526ba2c80ce0000001