🇪🇺 TEEN European Digital Community: Forest Tree from Hamburg, Germany

Forest Tree

I’m Geri, 18/19 years old. I practice theatre in the form of dance theatre as well as traditional English stage theatre. Through theatre, I mostly explore abstract ideas about the limits of our perception and alternative lifestyles for humans. More generally, I’m very interested in anything connected to the many different experiences of life.

The soil / the need

I was searching for opportunities. I was first drawn to theatre and acting when I was 7 years old, and I was intrigued that one could explore real aspirations with a dedicated group of people in a fictional setting. I found it interesting to have a space where I could explore any possible living condition and situation and be met with a supportive environment. This freedom to imagine has never left me since.

The first seed

A teacher / school

Tell us about that first spark

My stage experience started with dance theatre when I was 4. But only after I entered elementary school did I get in touch with many conditions of life. My friends and I had differing economic circumstances, and my exposure to YouTube and the lavish lives of influencers around the globe made me curious about how different life can feel from the one I am living. This curiosity was best explored and engaged in theatre settings, which drew me in over time.

Roots (people & experiences that shaped your path)

What inspires my acting and artistic expression in theatre the most are conversations. Because theatre, for me, is a lens through which I can try to see more of the world than I have the financial opportunity to. A natural extension and support of my interest in theatre is the peek into other people’s lives and philosophies. Therefore, my love for conversations and my urge to create theatre are in a symbiotic and dependent relationship with each other.
In that sense, many things are important to me, tales of persistence, ingenuity, tragedy, pain, and happiness inspire me, even if my conversation partner doesn’t know. It happens automatically.

The trunk (what keeps you in theatre)

Theatre has found its way into my life and is now a secure part of how I experience and process my life. I have found good friends in theatre whom I connect with regularly through our practice of creating, and in times when I haven’t had many opportunities to act and create, I have felt a lack of expression in my life. Being connected to theatre makes me feel authentically myself.

Branches (future / desire)

I want theatre to be accessible to everyone, regardless of class and other demographic factors. I think that, with the growing concerns around climate change and the continuing economic challenges globally, theatre is an essential outlet, a place to dream and hope for a future that will be okay. It is also a space to resist current movements that disadvantage human beings, and a platform to inspire large audiences with alternative ways of living beyond our isolated and consumerist ones.

In the coming years, I think theatre can give me clarity of mind. As I am now an adult and am planning my first productions, it can give me the impulse to sort my thoughts and bring them to life for others to see and discuss.

Are you currently involved in cultural activities?

Yes, regularly

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? Why?

If I were a tree, I would be the kind that stands in a city, caged in by a metal rim, or perhaps a tree in a city park, connected to other trees beneath the surface, yet placed and regulated by city planners and confined to my space. The kind of tree I would like to be, though, is one in a forest, a female tree producing fruits that no city inhabitants are annoyed by, in constant connection with my peers, and in balanced exchange of nutrients so that we can all thrive.

If the practice of theatre has taught me one thing, it is that my life in a big city is in many ways synthetic, in the way in which communities are often weak and our culture leans toward the pursuit of comfort for instance. If I were a tree, I would want my life to be filled with struggle. On one hand struggle for the survival of my peers, and on the other hand the resulting sense of community that brings us together as a forest.

Contact

Email: givanovapetrova07@gmail.com