What
During the summer of 2025 we are happy to invite you to the vibrant, international Festival of Stage Art in the south of Sweden, Skillinge Theatre.
The Stage Art Festival is divided into 3 different segments.
Two amazing international guest performances
And the F.E.S.T
- A four-day Stage Art F.E.S.T - a meeting point for professionals and semi-professionals from the arena of physical stage art.
- Tuesday 29 July 15:00 to Friday 1 August 15:00
- At Skillinge Theatre • Skillinge village • The region of Scania (Skåne) • Sweden
-
The focus of the festival is physical theatre
Stage, art, puppet, masque, choreography, performances, circus and object based stage art. -
Four days of inspiration
Masterclasses, performances, seminars, dance, singing, walking meditation, sound bath performance and breathwork through physical theater, object theater, circus, puppets, mask and dance. -
Togetherness is the key
Together with our extended network we grow from communication, playfulness, and outreach. In order to instigate hope, strength, knowledge and inspiration – we all need to reach, hear and see each other.
Festival of Ecology, Stage & Transformation
International guest performances
Voloz Collective
Thursday 10, Friday 12 and Saturday 13 July
The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much
The Voloz Collective is a multi-award-winning international physical theatre company that reinvents and recharges physical comedy by exploiting the capacities of the human body and blurring the lines between the theatrical and cinematic.
Master Class
The Voloz collective will host a Master Class for professionals. The 11th of July 13:00 - 16:00 on the big stage of Skillinge Theatre. Registration details to come.
Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 of August
Tempest Project
A play stemming from a research on The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Adaptation and stage direction Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne.
“The Tempest” by Shakespeare in the adaptation created by the iconic, world-renowned British director Peter Brook is one of the most famous adaptations worldwide of this classic tale. The Tempest is an enigma, a fable where nothing can be taken literally, because, if we stay on the surface of the play, its inner quality escapes us. For the actors, as well as for the audience, it is a play that reveals itself by playing it. It’s like Music.
Peter Brook was born in London in 1925. Throughout his career, he distinguished himself in various genres: theatre, opera, cinema and writing. He directed his first play there in 1943. He then went on to direct over 70 productions in London, Paris and New York.
Production Centre International de Créations Théâtrales / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord
Coproduction Théâtre Gérard Philipe, centre dramatique national de Saint-Denis ; Scène nationale Carré-Colonnes Bordeaux Métropole ; Le Théâtre de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines – Scène Nationale ; Le Carreau - Scène nationale de Forbach et de l'Est mosellan ; Teatro Stabile del Veneto ; Cercle des partenaires des Bouffes du Nord.
The text "Tempest project", adapted by Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne from Jean-Claude Carrière's French version of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, was published in November 2020 by Actes Sud-Papiers.
Master Class
Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord will also host a Master Class for professionals.
The F.E.S.T 29 July - 1 August
Professional stage art artists, and pedagogues from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Spain, France, USA, Argentina, Venezuela and more are gathering at Skillinge Theatre in the picturesque fishing village of Skillinge in the region of Scania (Skåne) in Southern Sweden.
Why
Stage art and society
- How can we increase our impact on the societal challenges?
- Is there a role for stage art in today’s societal crisis?
- What are engaging formats for political stage art today?
Stage art and people
- How do we engage and inspire our audiences to act and create change?
- Methodologies for dialogue and audience participation.
Stage art and us artists
- How to collaborate and support each other as artists?
- How can we collaborate around resources, people and finances?
- How to eco-educate future generations of artists?
Expert's submission of workshops, master classes and performances has closed.
The final program will be presented on this web site in early July.
Check out the preliminary program here.
The final program will be presented on this web site in early July.
Check out the preliminary program here.
How
Get accredited and attend - the Festival Pass cost is a mere SEK 995!
Festival Pass
The Festival Pass includes:
- Access to the festival - all 4 days
- Free access to all seminars, workshops and open stage events (15 min examples of performances).
- Food - Breakfast, lunch, dinner (veg) during the entire festival timespan!
For master classes and staged performances you buy special tickets where the surplus goes to the experts / artists.
As an expert you automatically get a free Festival Pass.
Pragma
Sleeping (how to)
All experts will be hosted in one of the three apartments of the theatre or they will be hosted at private houses of local friends of the theatre.
It is however, utterly helpful if you can bring your own sheets or sleeping bag.
It is however, utterly helpful if you can bring your own sheets or sleeping bag.
Accredited attendees and/or anyone else that find it acceptable will have access to free sleeping spaces (indoors) albeit lacking some privacy and comfort.
In this case, do not forget sleeping mattress and sleeping bag.
In this case, do not forget sleeping mattress and sleeping bag.
If you prefer to stay at a hotel just inform us and we will help you connect to suitable options no great distance from the theatre.
Do not forget to bring
- Clothes for physical Workshops.
- Swimming gear & towel.
- Something warm and cozy to wear in the evenings.
More practical questions?
Mail us at info@skillingeteater.se or give us a call; Karin Johansson-Mex +46 761-640864 or Royne Levin +46 721-979411
Who
This festival is being jointly organized by the European Sw/ Fr theatre company Theater In-Balance curated by Mariana Araoz and by Skillinge Theater, curated by Karin Johansson-Mex. It is part of a series of theatre festivals initiated in Skillinge by Mariana Araoz and Barbara Wilczek Ekholm, in collaboration with Stefan Ridell & Harald Leander, on the theme of Performing Art, Peace and Gender.
Our language is Performing Arts and our focal point is to move towards a more balanced reality, to inspire communication, idea development and innovative approaches. Thus, enhancing the creator’s possibility to meet the audience while making a difference, addressing a variety of these complex societal challenges. We seek different formats to communicate freely, using our bodies, our consciousness, our diverse forms of semantics and our creativity.
The aim of the festival is to bridge the geographical and practical distance between practitioners and between the performers and their audience. Through this Festival we hope to create new collaborations and to learn from each other and inspire each other in the quest for a sustainable future.
Curators of the festival
Mariana Araoz
Director, pedagogue and designer of the In Balance Method© Professor of Mask and puppets in Malmö Theater school of the University of Lund.
Holds a BA in Biology from Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, a Master in Ecology and environmental management from the University of Rennes and a BA in Theater Studies from Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, Paris. She has directed more than forty mask performances in France, Sweden and in the United States. Nominated in 2014 for the Thalia Prize in Sweden and award-winner of the Festival Off d’Avignon Support Fund in 2017.
Mariana is the manager of Theatre-in Balance (Former Trans Mission Research) a result of 15 years of research and social theater engagement. Developed as a fusion between traditional and modern puppet-mask theater such as Theatre du Soleil, Butto, Bunraku, Kabuki, and Theatre Noh.
Araoz has created The In-Balance method©, a collaborative physical acting system, using puppet, masque and object theatre as a creative tool. The method is based on the concept of balance on stage, and thus balanced power distribution, as well as the transmission of knowledge from one participant to another. Ecology and Gender are the main subjects and philosophy of this practice.
Karin Johansson-Mex
Director and Artistic Manager of Skillinge Theatre, a cultural arena of performing Arts in the South of Sweden.
Karin studied film and digital media at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where she also worked for Tim Burton. Back in Sweden Karin started her own production company managing larger events such as the inauguration of Dunkers Cultural House with over 65.000 visitors. Karin was later hired to develop the film and digital media development in southern Sweden, thus initiating the industry cluster Media Evolution and two professional educations, one in Film and Theater Production and the other one in Post Production for digital art.
For three years she headed the Nordic film organization Filmkontakt Nord (Nordisk Panorama) funded by the 5 Nordic film institutes and the Nordic Minister Council.
She then worked as the managing director of the research institute Medea at Malmö University. After this she became head of the Malmö University Department of Innovation & Development.
At Lund University she became key account manager of ICT related research leading to sustainable innovations of importance to the civil society. Initiating the 1000 square meters lab arena Pro Lab of LU OPEN, addressing student innovation and open innovation.
Where
The festival takes place in the adorable fishing village of Skillinge where you will find Skillinge Theatre, a beautiful culture center situated 200 meters from the sea.
Address: Möllevångsgatan 9, 276 60 Skillinge.
Using public transportation
Take the train from Copenhagen airport via Malmö Central, Malmö Hyllie or Malmö Triangeln to Simrishamn station and then bus 577 to Skillinge Bryggmästaregatan.
The bus station is 3 minutes walk from Skillinge Theater.
The bus station is 3 minutes walk from Skillinge Theater.
The "Skånetrafiken" webpage is only in Swedish or Danish but the "Skånetrafiken App for Mobile" works very well in English.
The Restaurant
During the festival the restaurant of Skillinge Theatre will be open with coffee, snacks, food and wine.
The Gin Bar
The Gin Bar of Skillinge Theatre opens every evening at 17:00.
