Marie Yan is a multilingual playwright, writer and dramaturge for dance and theatre. She mostly writes in French and English, reading German, learning Cantonese. Her interest is the future. In worlds that range from near documentary to speculative fiction, she has written stories about immigration, encounter at a border, social collapse and transformation. As a dramaturge and occasional curator, she tends to work on projects with a focus on postcolonial, creaturely and, or, queer-feminist perspectives. She educated herself several times (Master in French Literatures, Master in Playwriting and dramaturgy, Physical Theatre diploma); received the Mary Leishman Award for Theatre for her first play The Fog, the Crossing Borders Scholarship and the New Earth Theatre Seed Commission for her long-running theatre and diary research set in Hong Kong: A Tidal Home, a version of which premiered there in 2021. She lives and works between Paris and Berlin.
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VITA
Playwriting (selection)
Plays followed by * are commissions
EN – original in English, DE – original in German, FR – original in French, CAN/廣東話 – original in Cantonese.
2022
(research in progress) Le Minotaure ou l’enfant du labyrinthe (The Minotaurus or the child who lived in the labyrinth), Compagnie Lou Pantail.
2021
La Théorie, director: Valentine Caille, Compagnie Lou Pantail, Les Plateaux Sauvages, Festival Impatience. – FR
A Tidal Home director: CHAN Kwun Fee, production: Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Cattle Depot Theatre, Hong Kong. – EN, CAN/廣東話
2020
I need to cross invited to the Starke Stücke Festival (cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic)
La Théorie, lecture, mise en scène Valentine Caille, Le LoKal, Saint-Denis, France. – FR
Wahrhaft krumme Balken*, Longlist Augenblick Mal! 2021 (Berlin). – DE
A Tidal Home* awarded the Yellow Earth (now New Earth) Theatre Seed commission (London). – EN
2019
Black Gold*, ecological satire on oil extraction, Freiluft Theater am Darne. – DE
I need to cross*, entering the repertoir of the City Theatre of Eskisehir. – EN
2018
Artes Moriendi – Ways of Dying by A Dog’s Heart Theatre and Compagnie Des Wanderers, Tatwerk, Berlin, Berlin Performing Arts Festival – EN
Wahrhaft krumme Balken*, interaktives Stück für angelogene Kinder (für Echtzeit Theater) – DE
2017
Kantonesisch Lernen, die verlorene Sprache lernen (Ballhaus Naunynstraße, Berlin, Teil des Asian Film Festivals Berlin) – DE
Fressen, Eine dystopische Geschichte Europas, 24h Theater Berlin, Brotfabrik (Berlin) – DE
2016
Heroes (I) Physical theatre piece by A Dog’s Heart Theatre.
2015
A quick decision can be made – a story of the Detained Fast-Track, part of the Refugee Festival Scotland (playwright and director). – EN
The Fog at Stereo, Glasgow (playwright and producer), director: Sam Rowe.
Mary Leishman Theatre Award. – EN
Prose writing
2020
Recipient of the Crossing Borders scholarship for the book project A Tidal Home (accompanying the play of the same name) – FR/EN
2019
Summers / Étés, novel , beginning of the writing and launch of the writing diary The Cauldron – FR
2014
“Theatre in the skycrapers”, article on the housing crisis and the theatre scene in Hong Kong. – FR
Dramaturgy, curating, talks and moderation
2021
Safe Havens Conference 2021, Artists’ Round Table I: A cross-cultural Majlis-style debate on artistic freedom perceptions and ongoing challenges curated by Meriam Bousselmi, (online / Malmö, Sweden)
Moving the Forum, consultant in postcolonial discomfort and multilingual moderation (Berlin).
Can I ever be home in a time of struggle? Hannah Arendt and Laozi a conversation with Dr Jacky Tai, Bookpunch (Hong Kong).
2020
Co-curation of the Symposium class. gender. race, FRATZ International Festival by Theater o.N. (Berlin).
Touching Utopia, curation and multinlingual moderation, FRATZ International Festival (Berlin)
Tacoma, dramaturgy for a concert and juggling experiment, by L’Expédition (Strasbourg, France)
A dramaturgical take on the pandemic in France, Globale Kämpfe: der Gesellschaftsvertrag im Verfall, (Berlin / online event).
2019
Co-curation of the Symposium Another World, FRATZ International Festival by Theater o.N. (Berlin)
Did you think of the children?, multilingual moderation, FRATZ International Festival (Berlin).
Anarchie ≠ Chaos, series of laboratories about anarchist thought and artistic practice, Theater o.N. (Berlin)
Looking for a feminist body in dance, archive project with Natalie Riedelsheimer, Caroline Alves and Kathleen Kunath. (Berlin)
2018
(k)no(w)-go-zones, dramaturgical support, for Grupo Oito, Berlin, Performing Arts Festival Berlin.
The Machine to become_womxn, performative dance piece by Natalie Riedelsheimer and Caroline Alves (Berlin).
Das Schaurige Haus invited to Spielarten Festival 2018 (Germany).
2017
Unrestricted Contact, playtext and dramaturgy, by Grupo Oito (Berlin)
Das Schaurige Haus, text co-adaptation and dramaturgy, direction: Catharina Fillers, Echtzeit Theater company (Münster)
Popcorn, Compagnie Les Objets Volants (Strasbourg, France)
Federlicht/UAU Happening Now: Two dance solos on the multiple I by Caroline Alves, Theater o.N. (Berlin)
Performance
2016
Germany 2071, Nature Theatre of Oklahoma, protagonist and camera assistant, for the Foreign Affairs Festival and Impulse Theater Festival.
Guerilla, El Conde de Torrefiel, participant, Steirischer Herbst Festival.
Awards, scholarships, residencies
2022
Writing Residency at the National Theatre Studio for A Tidal Home, with New Earth Theatre (U.K.)
Writing Residency at La Générale, Artistic, political and social lab for the novel Été(s) (Summers).
2020
Crossing Borders scholarship / Grenzgänger Stipendium for the book project In mid-air (working title), Literarisches Colloquium Berlin / Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany)
New Earth Seed Commission, New Earth Theatre (U.K.)
Grand Jury Prize in the Vertical category for The Cell, Courant3D Festival (France)
2015
Mary Leishman Award for Theatre for The Fog (U.K.)
Reviews, reports
La Théorie
Au Festival Impatience, le jeune théâtre joue les lanceurs d’alerte, Joëlle Gayot, Télérama, 07/12/2021.
Le conflit de réalité(s), Yannaï Plettener, Zone critique, 06/12/2021.
La Théorie, Nicolas Thévenot, Un Fauteuil pour l’Orchestre, 17/11/2021.
La Théorie, une coproduction du théâtre Anthéa d’Antibes, Laurence Ray, France Net Infos, 13/11/2021.
Entretien avec Valentine Caille et Marie Yan, Radio Raptz, 14/11/2021.
Théâtre : des lycéens Niçois découvrent “La théorie”, la pièce qui décrypte le complotisme, France 3 PACA, 12/11/2021.
A Tidal Home
Isn’t this house your home? Not anymore, roll.mance 戲路漫思, 21/07/2021. (CAN/廣東話)
Rencontre avec Marie Yan, dramaturge franco-hongkongaise, Paroles, nov/déc 2021. (FR & CAN/廣東話)
【文藝Follow me】時差中跨地域創作 劇場《漂泊居留所》探問何以為家, ([Literature – Follow me] Creating across countries and timezones, the theatre production A Tidal Home and the feeling of home), 2021. (EN & CAN/廣東話)
《漂泊居留所》RTHK Weekend culture, 03/07/2021. (CAN/廣東話), from 29:50.
Yellow Earth announces recipients of the Professional Writers Programme Commission, At The Theatre, 31/07/2020.
Production
In the Name of Love and France, a radio play on Margaret Thatcher coming to the rescue of the French President, 2022.
Studies, Training, Mentoring
Master degree in French Literature and Theatre Studies, Sorbonne university – Paris IV (France)
Diploma of Physical Theatre Practice, Fife college (UK)
Master degree in Playwriting and Dramaturgy, Glasgow University (UK)
Screenwriting course and Film Studies Short course, Edinburgh University (UK)
Seven Things that happened while you were sleeping, course on archives and performance by Mohammed Shawki, Arsenal Institut für Videokunst (Berlin, Germany)
Yellow Earth Professional Writers Programme (UK)
Curating No-Thing, Lecture series by T:>Works led by Ong Keng Seng (Singapour)
Theatre Machine, Workshop by Nassim Soleimanpour (Germany/Iran)
Mini-Mentoring-Programme by the dramaturgie-netzwerk with Frederika Tsai (Germany)
horsescrossing.wordpress.com 