Who We Are
Founded in 2018, the Multicultural Applied Theatre Society (MAT) is an intercultural collective of artists and performers, who form not only a theatre company but also a learning community focused on multilingualism and embodiment. It invites participants of different ages and backgrounds to engage in an exchange of culture, knowledge, and skills that takes place in a protected creative space, bringing together performers from all over the world in multilingual representations of diversity on stage.
Most of our participants are students and alumni at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where the project takes place in person (when it is possible to do so): professional and non-professional theatre practitioners with the common goal of building opportunities to experience the potential to imagine change and bring the practice Applied Theatre around the world.
For the first two years, MAT has created the "International Applied Theatre Project", devising a show on Migration (2018) and another one about Mythology (2019) with the artistic direction of Valentina Rosati and the production of Jason Tan.
Why multicultural / multilingual theatre?
Multicultural/multilingual theatre might sometimes feel daunting or often misunderstood as theatre only for the international students. We want to remove this connotation as MAT society intends to celebrate ALL languages and cultures, which includes EVERYBODY that communicates and lives somewhere with culture. We are always different from each other and MAT society is a place to learn and appreciate the differences and similarities.
Who is it for?
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For everybody who is interested in bringing/exploring a part of their culture(s)/native language(s) in a theatre space.
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You don't need to necessarily be multilingual, but having multiple languages may expand your field of experimentation compared to a monolingual speaker.
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All languages and cultures are welcome!!
Language
VS Culture
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We think language and culture are closely linked but do not always determine each other.
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You can be monolingual but have a multicultural background, and vice versa.
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You can be monolingual but also multidialectal, which could make you multicultural.
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Sometimes, the same language can be spoken differently in different regions/countries (i.e. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese... e.t.c.) with different cultural contexts.
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In conclusion, we celebrate both language and culture in MAT.