Saint Muse

Kashkhuu NARANJARGAL

Naranjargal Khashkhuu is a former television journalist, award-winning playwright and a Honoray Professor of the University of Arts and Culture of Mongolia. Currently she is a President of Globe International Center, a NGO promoting free expression. She is a former member of the Executive Committee of the IFJ (International Federation of Journalists) and Vice Chairperson of the UNESCO Burea of the International Program of Development of Communication).

She worked on Mongolian TV, current Mongolian National Broadcaster as a Reporter, Editor, Editor-in-Chief of the Department of Cultural and Arts Programs, Chair of the General Department of Arts and Entertainment Department and Program Director. While working there, she has produced more than 300 art programs. She also has translated more than 30 movies and documentaries as weel as novel into Mongolian from Russian and English languages.

She is a member of the International Center of Women Playwrights.  More than 10 her scripts are produced by Mongolian TV and State Drama theatre. In 2007, Empty Fridge, Carrots and Tomatoes won selection among 17 scripts from 150 submissions and received a staged reading at Chicago Her Rah!!! Festival organized by International Center of Women Playwrights.  

She is a winner of the Leon Prize for the Best Play for the Love Hidden in the Hear in 2002  and Gegeen Muse  Annual Award for the best stage script for Empty Fridge, Carrots and Tomatoes (produced as Unfortunately, I love)  in 2009.

She has been lecturing  for the teachers and students of the Mongolian State University, University of Humanities, Diploma Course of Press Institute and School of Radio and Television and University of Culture and Arts.

Naranjargal Khashkhuu has been conducting Drama writing courses since 2005 and she is a member of the Artistic Board of the State Drama Theatre.

Engel ANN MARI

Born 1947 in Stockholm

Member of the Stockholm Regional Parliament and the regional Cultural Board of Stockholm

1978 - 2015 director of Svensk Teaterunion - the Swedish Centre of the ITI, a member organisation of all Swedish theatres and theatre associations, a forum for co- operation and information within Swedish theatre, contact and exchange across the borders in the field of theatre.

1993-2015 main producer of the festival Swedish Theatre Biennial, the biggest Swedish festival, from 2013 enlarged to a performing arts biennial including dance and music theatre.

Many commissions by the state and publications about the Performing Arts in Sweden

Dashdondog BATSAIKHAN

EDUCATION

- Doctor of Arts (Ph.D). 2014

University of Arts and Culture   Topic: Some issues of aesthetic and policy reform of Mongolian theater in the democratic period

- Master of Arts (DEA) 2005

The Sorbonne University in France, DEA

- Theater researcher 1978,

Leningrad Theater and Music School of the USSR

• WORK EXPERIENCE

Ministry of Culture 1978-1980 Specialist

National Drama Theater 1980-1982 Literary editor

Theater of Theater of and Ballet 1987-1990 Literary editor

MNUAC 1995-2002 Professor of theater theory and history

Radio and TV School 2006-2009 Head of Department of Arts

Institute of Culture and Art Studies 2006-2011

She is a Professor of theater theory, history and criticism since 1995

• PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Training consultant: Member of the professor’s research team of Theater School at the University of Mongolia

Member of the Academic Council of the Theater School of MNUAC

Member of the Arts Council of the Mongolian Drama State Academic Theater

Member of Mongolian art workers association,

Member of Mongolian writers' association

• EDITORIAL TITLE

-Doctor of Arts/ Ph.D/. 2014 by the decision of the Academic Council of the University of Arts and Culture

• DIRECTIONS OF RESEARCH WORK

- Analysis of Mongolian theater, film and TV art

- Traditions and innovations of Mongolian stage and screen art

• RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

- Theory and methodology of art studies

- Cultural policy research

- Research on theater education

- History of theater and films

Written and published books:

- A Brief History of Western Theater. UB, UHG. 1983

- Brief history of theater of socialist countries Ulaanbaatar, UHG. 1988

- Pearl curtain. UB.1987

- Crossing the boundaries of theater. UB. 2018

- Invitation to the theater. UB.2019

Collaborative work: more than 30

-Published theater critical articles:  75

Total published works:  more than 100

- Merit award

- Awarded the “Altan Gadas” medal, Mongolia's leading cultural worker, Mongolia's leading education worker, Mongolia's leading science worker, Winner of the D.Namdag Award, winner of  E.Oyun Award  and the “Golden Feather” Award of the Mongolian Writers' Union.

Khoilogdorj CHOIDOGJAMTS

2014 – graduated National University of Mongolia as Literary scholar and critic

2016 – completed Master’s degree in Literature.

from 2014 had worked as lecturer, researcher at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture, member of Editorial office of Literature, editor-in-chief at “Young age” newspaper.

Published “Beyond the unravel”, “Deep interpretation”, “Theatre analysis”, “Talks about literature” and other works.

Has been serving as judge from the “Saint Muse X” International Theatre Festival

Tserenchimed ERDENETSOG

1978 – finished School of Fine arts majoring as artist.

1989 – graduated Saint Petersburg State Academy of Arts named after I. E. Repin and majored as artist, teacher

from 1978 had worked as artists in State Circus, National Academic Drama Theatre, State Opera and Ballet Academic Theatre.

Has been serving as judge from the “Saint Muse VI” International Theatre Festival

Poon JANICE

Janice Poon is a Senior Lecturer (Playwriting and Dramaturgy)
and Academic Project Officer in the School of Drama at The Hong Kong
Academy for Performing Arts. She is also the Artistic Director of Hong
Kong Dramatists and a veteran theatre artist and cultural practitioner
engaged in cross disciplinary playwriting, directing, dramaturgy,
curating and theatre making, focusing on play development and
text-based cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural theatre. Her work is
heavily loaded with socio-political issues and concerns, and has been
recognised with the Asian Cultural Council Lee Hysan Foundation
Fellowship and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the British
Government’s Chevening Scholarship. Devoted to theatre and cultural
exchange between Hong Kong and the international theatre scene, Janice
has been a resident artist at the Odin Teatret in Holstebro, Denmark,
and The Lark Play Development Center in New York. She is a frequent
speaker and master class facilitator at international theatre
conferences and festivals. Her works have been presented in major
cities in Europe, the US, China and other regions in Asia. “And Then, I
Float” (2013) was recognised with four major awards, nominated for the
best play award at the Hong Hong Theatre Libre, and invited as part of
a cultural exchange project at the Schillertage festival in Mannheim,
Germany (2015). “Small Waisted” (2016) won the Multi-cultural Short
Plays Competition organised by the International Theatre Institute of
UNESCO and was adapted to her highly acclaimed immersive theatre
namely “Stragglers”, addressing the pressing issue of climate change. Her recent directed project includes two versions of “Pornography” by Simon Stephens: a week-long online theatre and an immersive theatre.

Demchigdorj MYAGMARSUREN

1975 – graduated Leningrad State Institute of the Theatre, Music and Cinematography majoring in art expert

1996-1999 – studied in post graduate course at All-Union  State Institute of Cinematography 

from 1967 started employment working as editor reporter at State Committee for media, radio and television, afterwards had worked as Executive editor at the Editorial Office of the Mongolian Radio, Literature and Culture, Editor-in-chief, Administration Head of Mongolian National radio program, member of Arts Council of Ministry of Culture, lecturer at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture and Radio and TV University.

Wrote over 40 stories about the radio, television and stage art works also has written “Observation note”, “Realism in screen arts” books in arts history. Has been serving as judge starting from the “Saint Muse I” International Theatre Festival.

Choinkhor NAIDANDORJ

1982 - graduated Mongolian State University of Education majoring in Film and Theatre arts

1992 – post graduation in Directing Arts at the Belorussian State Academy of Arts 

1982-1987 actor at the National Academic Drama Theatre, 1992-2000 онд lecturer of mastery at the Cultural Department of the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture, from 1996 up to present has been working as Director at the National Academic Drama Theatre.

Directed “Liar wife”, “Romeo & Juliet”, “Homosexual”, “State without stamp”, “Forbidden play”, “Thuderstorm”, “Orolmaa” and over 40 world classic and national masterpieces.

Pozeli OLGA

Olga Pozeli took her BA in English Literature at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki(Greece) while training as an actress at Roula Pateraki’s Drama School. She then moved to London where, on a British Council scholarship, she took her MA in Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London, with a major in Directing. 

While in London she worked as an actress and attended seminars at the British Theatre Association, on a British Council grant. She also conducted a research on the work of four promising young theatre directors, on an Academy of Athens scholarship. On her return to Greece she formed a theatre company, NOITI GRAMMI, the productions of which she directs ever since. NOITI GRAMMI has put on plays by Alan Bennett (Her big chance), David Mamet (A sermon) and Steven Berkoff (Kvetch), among others, and has also produced seven pieces of devised theatre: Do you love me? a play based on the life and works of psychiatrist R. D. Laing, The bird of pleasure, a play inspired by one of Peter Carey’s short stories, Is everything I have ever forgotten as big as a house?, a performance inspired by an installation by Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Never take the stairs, a show dealing with the flighty topic of coincidences, Don’t judge a man by his tail, a performance inspired by an installation by Ilya Kabakov, When the red Toyota went off the road and sank in black water, a devised monodrama inspired by a true and painful real life event, and, finally, I remember, a performance/installation inspired by Joe Brainard's book on his memories of growing up.

Olga has been nominated for two awards (one by the Theatre Critics  Association and the other by a prominent magazine, Athinorama) for her works Do you love me? and Kvetch. In 2012 the International Festival of Monoperformances Vidlunnja awarded her the Festival Directors’ Award for the production When the red Toyota went off the road and sank in black water.

She also directed Play by Samuel Beckett, at the Beckett Festival in Athens in 2004 and the Wizard of Oz at a State Theatre in Northern Greece. 

Since 2008, Olga Pozeli is the Secretary of the International Monodrama Forum of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), while at the same time she acts as an advisor for Fujairah International Monodrama Festival (UAE). From 2004 to 2011, she taught Theatre Direction in the Department of Theatre Studies at the University of Patras. She leeds the European Theatre Project PEEP at Moraitis School.

Sambuu SARANTUYA

1980 - graduated Mongolian State University of Education majoring in Film and Theatre arts

1998 - Master’s degree at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture

from 1980 up to present – actress of the National Academic Drama Theatre, 2002 – 2016 lecturer at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture, 1999 founded “Saint Muse” Academy and has been working as President till nowadays

Role as Mary Antonovna for play “The Government Inspector”, Abi for play “Hell Love”, the Nurse for play “Romeo & Juliet”, Lady Milford for play “Intrigue and Love”, Shipin for play “Thunderstorm”, Jocasta for play “Oedipus the King”, Orolmaa for play “Orolmaa”, Madimahan for play “Cuckoo Moon” and over 80 roles in world classic and national masterpieces.

Azman TATJANA

Slovenian dramaturge and theatrologist Tatjana Ažman graduated from Ljubljana Academy for Theater, Radio and Television. Since 1995 she is in-house dramaturge of the Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana where in 2015 she became acclaimed dramaturge. Since 1998 she has cooperated with numerous home and international theatre and opera directors, choreographers, composers and conductors of all generations in more than 40 stagings of opera, ballet, drama theatre and contemporary dance. She is also an editor and an author of stage adaptations, radio drama, screenplays, researches, essays and dramaturgical analysis. Several times she was a member of international juries for theatre and playwriting, and conducted international events (round tables, symposia, workshops). She has published her research papers and written contributions worldwide and is over 20 years active in International Theater Institute as a leader of a national center and member of the Executive Council. For several years she has served as artistic board vice president of Maribor Theater Festival, she is the president of the Artistic Board of Mladinsko Theatre. She was a member of several artistic teams awarded at theatre festivals, in 2011 she received the Ivy Wreath Award, a recognition for her artistic contribution by the Association of Dramatic Artists of Slovenia.

Werdenberg URSULA

Ursula Werdenberg is a well known Swiss dramaturg, author and lecturer for Dramaturgy.

For many years she has worked as a dramaturg in drama, dance and opera at various  established theatres in Switzerland (Basel, Luzern, Bern, Zürich Neumarkt), Germany (Heidelberg, Wiesbaden, Braunschweig) and Austria (Vienna).For 15 years she has hold the position of Head of Dramaturgy and Member of the Artistic Board.

She is currently Secretary General of the International Playwrights’ Forum (IPF) of the International Theatre Institute ITI /UNESCO and Board Member of the Swiss Centre of the International Theatre Institute ITI.

She is the initiator of the recent New Radio Play Mongolia–Switzerland 2019/2020: “What does Homeland mean in Terms of Globality and how does it sound in Mongolia and in Switzerland?”

Since August 1, 2020 this joint radio play is online on Swiss Radio and Televison SRF.

It was realized in workshops with students of the Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture (School of Broadcasting & Media Arts) and with students of the University of Arts Zürich in collaboration with Swiss Radio and Television SRF and the National Mongolian Broadcaster MNB. It was supported by SDC/DEZA of the Embassy of Switzerland in Mongolia and was also broadcasted by MNB.

Her play „The Birthing Trial”, („Das Geburtsverhör“) based on a novel by Linda Stibler, originally written in German, was staged in November 2014 in Liestal/Basel. It has been very successful in Switzerland and abroad.

The English translation by well known theatre translator Penny Black, London, has been supported by the Goethe Institute Manila and Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Art Council.

In 2017 it has been performed during the KURIS Festival at the Gallaga Theatre, Bacolod, in the Philippines. 2018 a staged reading in Spanish was realized at the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Centre in Santiago, Chile, during the Women Playwrights International Conference (WPIC). A production of the play in a Greek translation has followed in September 2019 in Athens during the Analogio Festival – Drama across Borders.

A radio version of the play in Swiss German has been broadcasted by the National Swiss Radio and Television SRF in September 2018.

In the same month Mrs. Werdenberg has been invited to „Music for a Guest“,

a well known Swiss talk show by the National Swiss Radio and Television SRF, where guests from politics, science an culture are invited.

The radio play was invited in May 2019 to „Zonser Hörspieltage“, in Germany – an expert conference on new audio play productions, where it has been awarded. In April 2020 the radio play was broadcasted by the German National Broadcaster SWR.

Her plays for children have been staged in Switzerland and in Germany. They are represented by the publishing house, Gerhard Pegler/Litag Verlag in München (Germany).

Ursula Werdenberg gives lectures and conducts workshops for Dramaturgy/ Developing a Play at home and abroad.

 Since 2012 regularely at the Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture (MSUAC) sponsored by the Cooperation Office of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ulaanbaatar SDC/DEZA and at the St. La Salle University in Bacolod, Philippines, supported by the Swiss Embassy in Manila.

Ursula Werdenberg is a member of several literary and theatrical organizations in Switzerland (Writers’ Associaton of Switzerland/ Autorinnen und Autoren der Schweiz).

From 2007-2012 she has been Secretary General of the Swiss Centre of the International Theatre Institute ITI.

Krasnogorov Valentin

V. Krasnogorov, Russian famous writer, director and theater researcher, was born on November 20, 1934, in the city of Leningrad in the former Soviet Union. Before connecting his life with art and theater, Krasnogorov was a scientist who he had received several patents and he has the Doctor’s degree of Technical Science by succeeding in the field of chemical technology in the late 60's. In early 2000, he was appointed as a deputy who is responsible for Culture and Art commission in Haifa city, Israel.

Many of his plays have been performed in more than 400 theaters in Australia, Albania, England, Bulgaria, Germany, India, Cyprus, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, the United States of America, Czech, Slovakia, and Montenegro as well as there is a history that the theater specialists appreciated highly his works and he awarded special awards from international bigger festivals.

Information about him had been published in American famous magazine “Who's Who in the World” and “International Who's Who in the Intellectuals” reference by Cambridge, England.

В. Krasnogorov is a member of the Russian Writers and Union of Russian Theater Workers. He first initiated and established Gildy of directors in Petersburg city and worked as a first chairman. He was awarded the Prize named after A. Volodyn.

BEST KNOWN PLAYS:

• The Bride’s Room
• Somebody must leave  
• Knight passion  
• The Delights of Adultery
• Crazy love
• Now or Never
• Let’s have a sex!
• Dating on Wednesdays  
• Love Voimog – A record of his masculine pride
• Several Hours in the Life of a Man and a Woman

THE WORKS WERE TRANSLATED AND PERFORMED IN MONGOLIAN STAGE:

• Let’s have sex! ( Давай займемся сексом!)
• The Swan song (Лебединая песня)
• Now or Never (Сегодня или никогда или Я тоже хочу быть счастливым)
• The Love to distraction (Любовь до потери памяти)
• The Fall of Don Juan (Его Донжуанский список)
• Several Hours in the Life of a Man and a Woman (У каждого своя звезда)
• A Cruel lesson (Жестокий урок)

Zinoviev Valerey Anatolyevich

Valerey Anatolyevich Zinoviev, the first winner of the “International Theatre Pedagogy” named after K.Stanislavsky who is People's Artist of Russia, and a disciple of Professor Z.Korogodsky, is an actor, director, professor and “ The Best Worker” of the Russian Education Department with the highest degree of  “Theater Pedagogy”.   

He graduated from the “Leningrad State University of Music and Film” in 1981. Since 1981 to the present, he has been working as actor, director and teacher in several productions such as “Theater for Young Audience”, “The Children and Teens” Theater, and “Venice in the North”, Music and Drama Theater. As well as he started working as a director of the School of Culture called “The Family of Theater” and has acted more than 50 roles ranging from theater, public television, and movies since 2008.

One of the peculiarities of the teaching methodology of director and teacher Valery Zinoviev is that he not only combined the actor's skills with the classical systems of K. Stanislavsky, but also he pays special attention to the mental and physical energy resources that are the core of acting.

Erdenebileg ZULTSETSEG

2003 – graduated the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture and majored as musicologist

2005 - Master degree in Arts, 2019 – Doctor of Arts

Besides working as Head of Division at the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture she has worked as a member of project programs such as “Renovation of music class’s standard of secondary schools”, “Developing handbook for music teachers”, “Continuance of Love”, “Galaikhan” and musical works and researches.