FESTIVAL OPERA PRIMA CALL FOR ENTRIES
Selection of performances for Opera Prima Festival XVIII
Rovigo, 16 / 19 June 2022
CALL FOR ENTRIES “OPERA PRIMA 2022”
The call is open to single artists or emerging and independent professional companies that work with professional purposes in the field of contemporary theatre, dance and performing arts.
Deadline: 16th January 2022
Premises
In 2018, nine years after its last edition, Opera Prima Festival was realized once again in Rovigo.
The Festival is organized by the Association Festival Opera Prima ets in collaboration with Teatro del Lemming and the Culture Department of the Municipality of Rovigo and with the support of Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo Foundation, Veneto Region and the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Born in Rovigo in 1994 under the artistic direction of Teatro del Lemming, Festival Opera Prima became immediately an event able to lead to critical attention a new theatrical generation that, in the 90s, was completely excluded from the Italian theatre scene. OPERA PRIMA became a "home" and a reference point for this generation, that soon proclaimed itself “Generation of the Invisible Theatres”. The Festival was really important to support those artists to stand out. In recognition of this activity, in 1996 the Festival was the winner of the UBU "Giuseppe Bartolucci" prize, awarded by a jury led by the critic Franco Quadri.
Coherently with its history, this new edition of Opera Prima wants to host and enhance the multiplicity of trends and researches in the contemporary theatre scene.
It also wants to become a bridge between different theatrical generations: in addition to the performances selected by this call, every year there will be four important artists or European historical theatre groups, that have to invite to the festival an unknown young artist or an unknown young group.
The Object of the Call
This call for entries is opened to national and international groups or artists that practice experimental theatre.
By experimental theatre we mean a work that truly experiments with the dramaturgy (interpreted as scenic composition), the actor, the spectator and the scenic space.
In other words, experimental theatre is all that unconventional theatre pursuing:
the autonomy of scenic language from a written play; the redefinition of the scenic space; the reformulation of the role and the gaze of the spectator; an original actors' training; a link that connects the actors to the project of the company.
Participation requirements
The call is opened to Italian and international individuals or groups of professional theatre and performing arts, structured in any legal form that allows them to fulfill the administrative and bureaucratic practices necessary to realize their performance.
Only artistic projects that realize experimentation with scenic languages, according to the points mentioned above, are eligible for selection. Amateur works, drama theater and performances of entertainment won’t be selected.
The Festival commission selects both original works that have not been yet performed, as well as works that have already debut, but which have not had an adequate circulation and/or visibility. It is advisable to submit works no longer than 60 minutes.
Submission
Submissions must include:
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Artistic curriculum of the company or the artist;
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Artistic schedule of the performance;
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Technical rider of the performance;
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link to the full video of the performance (if the proposal consists of a debut, link to previous works). Video material has to be viewed directly online (by a link) and it mustn’t be downloaded (no wetransfer, google drive, etc.). Other ways of sending materials are not accepted.
Each group or individual can submit only one proposal.
The application (with video links) has to be sent by e-mail to
We do not accept other ways of sending materials.
Participants authorize, pursuant to Law 196/2003 and GDPR - European Regulation no. 2016/679, the processing of personal data and the use of the sent informations for all the purposes related to the announcement.
Selection
The selection of the performances is entrusted to the unquestionable judgment of the artistic direction of the Festival.
By submitting their candidacy, participants authorize the use of sent images for the communication and publications related to the initiative.
Publication of results
The contact person of the selected projects is going to be contacted by Association Festival Opera Prima once the selection process has been completed.
Conditions
The selected performances are going to be included in the 2022 edition of Festival Opera Prima.
All expenses and practices concerning the organization, communication, staff, promotion of the event will be in charge of the organization of the Festival.
At each selected company will be paid, after the presentation of an invoice, a fee that has to be agreed and will be guaranteed the possibility of lodging at an affiliated guesthouse (just for the people working in the performance).
Calendar and PLACE of performance
All the performances are going to be realized in Rovigo inside the venues used by the Festival from the 16th to the 19th June 2022. It is possible to realize performances also in unconventional locations and outdoor. The artistic direction can ask the selected company to realize more replies of the performance.
Obligations
Selected candidates commit to:
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support the promotion of FESTIVAL OPERA PRIMA throughout their channels (web site, social, press office…);
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respect Festival praxis regarding set-up times and rules;
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perform the selected work on the agreed day or days.
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comply with the local measaures prescribed for the containment of Covid-19 infection, in force during the company’s stay at the festival.
Participation in the announcement implies full acceptance of this regulation.
The organization reserves the right to decide on issues not expected by this regulation.