Harlow International Theatre Exchange
HITE is not so much a club, more a kind of loose association of friends from folk and drama interests around the Herts & Essex border in south-east England. The story begins with ChrisJon Hancock, an Australian director and theatre animateur from Goulburn, NSW, who wanted a workable translation for two Czech classics he had seen at a festival in Bohemia, "Home Land" and "On The Bridge". Michael Branwell was approached through mutual contacts and did the job rather well.
Following which ....
In 1998 we took an English translation of "Home Land" to the Jirasec Festival in the Czech Republic, with a mummer's play adapted from traditional scripts by Dave Albinson as a sort of sideshow. The effect on the local population was interesting. -- One result was that all the shops in Hronov ran out of Becherovka. (It's a long story, but true).
In July 1999 some of the group visited Goulburn, New South Wales with "The Booty" pla\yed in Goulburn, Canberra and Sydney and the Mummers Play performed in schools, village halls and as street theatre.
In 2004 we were fortunate enough to be invited to Donzdorf, and in 2007 we went back to perform street theatre as a background for advertising the festival in Stuttgart and neighbouring towns, as well as a "spot" in the festival programme for a Campton one-act. In 2010 we were delighted to take "Bottoms Dream". The pictures