With last month’s snap general election having yielded no clear victor, a disunited parliament now prepares to lead the country through Brexit, one of its toughest foreign policy challenges in decades. As chance would have it, 2016’s Birmingham European Festival directly coincided with the UK’s EU referendum on 23 June. Since then, shifting moods have repeatedly thwarted all attempts to predict political outcomes across the continent: these are certainly interesting times. 

Now, with the nature of the UK’s future relationship with Europe looking more uncertain than ever, BE Festival returns to the Birmingham REP with its annual celebration of international theatre, art and collaboration.

“This year we received 1,070 applications to perform, as well as several visual arts proposals,” says Miguel Oyarzun, co-director of BE Festival. “Within the range of work we’ve seen in our scouting across Europe, artists have definitely been tapping into current socio-political issues - as of course they should do. Part of that is Brexit, but actually that’s just one symptom of what’s happening: there aren’t any shows here talking about Brexit directly, but there are lots that address the wider situation in Europe and across the world. For example, we have a show about the economic and refugee crises in Greece, and we have another about how people can become extremists, which taps into fears about people coming into the country, so it’s all interconnected.”

Aptly enough, the theme for the visual arts programme this year is ‘Borders’ - a topic which has only become more pertinent since it was selected a couple of years previously.

“We are living in a global society now,” says co-director Isla Aguilar, “and I don’t really understand why we keep trying to put up these walls to contain us and stop us from being close to each other. From a sociological point of view, I think it’s important to have people from other countries coming here and enriching us with new cultures. We try to celebrate difference in the festival. But I also really liked the idea of crossing borders because I think it’s the main ethos of the festival. In terms of artistic disciplines, crossing borders can help us to create something very rich.”

Among the most striking manifestations of the Borders theme will be Asingeline by German company Mameza. This community project-cum-interactive installation takes the form of a single, straight line of red tape, laid down by the artists over the course of a few days and arriving at the theatre in time for the festival opening.

“They go through shops, they go through houses - just about anywhere!” says Aguilar. “It’s a piece which tries to bring people into the theatre, but also works the other way by taking theatre out into the streets. They’ve done this in many cities around the world, but it’s never been done in the UK before, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how it works in Birmingham.”

“We’re offering free tickets for people whose houses are crossed by the line,” adds Oyarzun. “The idea is to connect up an area of the city with low artistic engagement to the venue, so in this case it will be going from Ladywood to the REP through Brindleyplace.”

Another interactive piece called British Enough? plays on the idea of national identity, taking its cues from official tests that non-British nationals must now pass in order to adopt UK citizenship.

“It’s a site-specific project made especially for the REP through a collaboration between Kristina Cranfield and Foolish People,” Oyarzun explains. “Audiences will go through a series of tests inspired by the British citizenship test, and depending on the results, they will then be taken to a series of secret locations in the building, It’s a great way to discover parts of the REP you’ve never seen before. Some of the staff have never even been to these places, so it should be really fun.”

But though the questions of identity, security and cohesion thrown up by the EU referendum are still far from being resolved, after interviewing people on Birmingham’s streets, Oyarzun believes voters on both sides are now beginning to tire of the debate.

“Since Brexit has been in the news and everywhere constantly, the vision of Europe has become very politicised - when you think of Europe here, the first thing you think of is Brexit. But actually, it’s about many more things than that, and with this festival and the theme of Borders we’re trying to share with audiences another idea of Europe - one that is political, of course, but also one that is fun, that is about sharing and making connections and discovering things about ourselves through the eyes of other people.”

This spirit of playful interaction, conversation and co-operation extends to subverting traditional audience-artist relationships, both during the shows themselves and in the friendly, informal spaces between them where visitors, artists, programmers and organisers alike all come together to unwind, break bread and start discussions.

“One of the main aims of the festival is that everybody talks about what they’ve seen,” says Aguilar. “It’s not always easy to create a space where artists can talk with audiences directly, but I think it’s very important to open conversations and break down the barrier between them. Part of the reason artists want to bring their work here is that we create a kind of hub where they get to stay for the whole week, see all of the works and really experience the city.”

“The artists that come here do so with a spirit of sharing and trying to develop new audiences for contemporary work,” adds Oyarzun. “We encourage them to make themselves available to audiences and to really take on board their comments. I think that’s what’s lovely about this festival - there’s a different kind of ethos than you’d find at a normal event where you just go and see shows.”  

As well as a dazzlingly diverse programme of live art, drama, physical theatre, dance, circus and more, with opportunities to see four shows in a single day, there are also workshops running daily and post-show live music playing until late each night. And of course, BE Festival’s famous interval dinners are a crucial part of the schedule. Taking place between the second and third shows of the evening, they’re held in a large, open space, with unreserved bench seating at long tables, in a bid to encourage everyone to meet and talk to new people.

The warmth, friendliness and commitment to nurturing new talent at BE keeps both staff and visitors returning year on year, sometimes in very different capacities. Working with young people as part of 2017’s BE Next scheme is Anna Howard Himali, who has a long history with the event.

“Anna started as one of our volunteers when she was 17,” explains Oyarzun. “Then she worked with us as part of the organisation before becoming a REP Foundry artist. Now she’s working in London as a director!” 

“It’s a beautiful thing,” adds Aguilar. “We’ve worked with lots of young people who’ve volunteered and gone on to run their own ventures. At that age, it can help to open a window, so if someone really wants to engage and come back, we always try to facilitate that.”

“There was a quote from one journalist who described BE as ‘an experience that goes beyond theatre’,” says Oyarzun, “and that really speaks to what we’re trying to achieve here. We try to put art at the centre of something even bigger, which is about the experience and the encounter and sharing and celebrating the crossing of borders together.”

BE Festival takes place at the Birmingham REP from Tuesday 4 to Saturday 8 July.

By Heather Kincaid