Odin Teatret Theatre in a New Century

Transcription

1 Odin Teatret

2

3 Odin Teatret Theatre in a New Century Adam J. Ledger Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts, University of Birmingham, UK

4 Adam J. Ledger 2012 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act First published 2012 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number , of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

5 For D.S.L. and D.M.L.

6 and the angel said to him, you have been left alone. And he answered, yes, but I stretch out my hand and I wish that those who touch it, those who accept it, will be those who in ten, in twenty, in thirty years, still will be able to say, yes, we have seen, we remember, we keep the memory of what happened and what can happen again; differently, but what can happen. White as Jasmine

7 Contents Illustrations Foreword Acknowledgements viii x xiii Introduction 1 1 Burning the House: Paradigms of Practice 32 2 A privileged universe : Training at Odin Teatret 62 3 Performances 86 4 Odin Teatret in the Community: Barter and Festuge Intercultural Theatre 159 Afterword: Faces of the Future 192 Notes 197 Bibliography 204 Index 212 vii

8 Illustrations Cover image: Roberta Carreri and Jan Ferslev in Salt 0.1 Odin Teatret, Holstebro, Denmark Map of activities of the Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium, Eugenio Barba at the 13th ISTA, Seville, Spain, Julia Varley in The Dead Brother Barba directing ISTA participants, Væksthus during rehearsals for The Chronic Life Roberta Carreri teaching at the 14th ISTA, Wroclaw and Krzyzowa Mr Peanut in white, Holstebro Festuge Inside the Skeleton of the Whale Great Cities Under the Moon Iben Nagel Rasmussen in Ester s Book Salt Roberta Carreri and Jan Ferslev in Salt Rehearsal of Andersen s Dream Andersen s Dream Torgeir Wethal in Andersen s Dream Sofia Monsalve and Kai Bredholt in The Chronic Life Roberta Carreri in The Chronic Life Holstebro Festuge Odin Teatret in Ayacucho, Peru, Barter in Skarrild village, Denmark, August 2003, with Cuban and Danish musicians and local choirs The straw square, Holstebro Festuge Holstebro Festuge viii

9 Illustrations ix 5.1 I Wayan Bawa teaching at the 2005 Wroclaw ISTA Tage Larsen teaching at the 13th ISTA, Seville Augusto Omolú in Orô de Otelo Theatre Anthropology: Akira Matsui, Julia Varley, Augusto Omolú, 14th ISTA, Wroclaw Ur-Hamlet Ni Made Partini in The Marriage of Medea Tage Larsen, Julia Varley, Ni Made Partini, the Jasonites and the Gambuh Desa Batuan Ensemble in The Marriage of Medea 187

10 Foreword For both Marx and Ortega what we are, or what we can be, does not come ready made. We have, perpetually and never-endingly, to be making ourselves. That is what life is, what history is, and what it means to produce. And that is what it means to be human. Tim Ingold, Being Alive, 2011, p. 7 Eugenio Barba and Odin Teatret need no introduction; however, their ever-evolving body of work, the processes they use to make their work, the ideas and concepts used to frame and reflect upon that work, and the complex network of sociocultural relationships that inform that important work do need constant updating. Adam Ledger s Odin Teatret: Theatre in a New Century describes, traces and reflects upon how Barba and the Odin have been perpetually and never-endingly remaking themselves since the company was founded in Given the wealth of publications on (or by) Barba and the Odin focused on their earlier histories and practices, Ledger pays particular attention to the company s most recent modes of remaking since 2000 an interweaving of (always ageing) parallel lives and relationships: the common life of this company within a laboratory theatre setting; the company s life and relationship within the town of Holstebro, Denmark, where on invitation a place/space to inhabit began to be developed in 1966; the company s relationships to a network of local/international communities and locations; and the company as a set of distinct and disparate individual lives each with her own unique cultural/linguistic history and artistic interests and aspirations. As Ledger s book makes clear, the company s everevolving ways of remaking and transforming itself in relation to the practices, networks and environments within which its work has been made is what has allowed a company like Odin to have not just survived but to have continuously flourished. Ledger captures the fragility that necessarily accompanies Odin s longevity by reminding the reader of the company members processes of finding constant x

11 Foreword xi enrichment in the human work of ageing. In this sense, Odin s flourishing is similar to the central image of Zeami s reflections on acting the flower. In her recent essay, Flower as Performing Body in No Theatre, Yuka Amano provides a close reading of the multiple ways that the metaphor of the flower was central to Zeami (Amano, 2011). Chief among these is the flower as a metaphor of physical transience (2011, p. 534). Reflecting on such transience, Zeami notes how A flower is particularly appreciated for its rarity when its time comes, since it among all the trees and grasses blooms in response to the change of seasons. The mind perceives as interesting what it knows to be rare. Is there any blossom, after all, that does not scatter but lasts on and on? Precisely because it scatters, a blossom is rare when in bloom. Rarity comes from not clinging to the same but moving on to other forms of expression. (Hare, 2008, p. 64) Based on observation, interviews and engagement with a diverse range of members within the Odin family, Ledger s account of Odin and Barba s work is measured in the best sense of the term that is, it provides a balanced account of each key aspect of the company s work since 2000 in a new century : the cluster of practices Odin members engage as a network of groups ; transformations of training over the years; the diverse modes of making performances as an ensemble under Barba s guidance, and/or as individuals pursuing their own lines of performative expression within the laboratory theatre framework; Odin as it interacts with and responds to its various communities in Holstebro and beyond; and the modes of intercultural encounter engaged by Barba in particular, and at times the larger company ISTA, Theatrum Mundi performances, and Eurasian Theatre. When one considers Odin s work as a whole, as Ledger does, one cannot but be struck by the diversity and richness of its modes of flourishing. Ledger s book will make an excellent up-to-date companion to two important recent publications: Barba s intimate reflection upon and description of his working methods (On Directing and Dramaturgy, 2010) and Julia Varley s personal account from her unique perspective as a woman as she discusses her work processes and experiences

12 xii Foreword as an Odin company member for over 30 years (Notes From an Odin Actress, 2011). I began this brief Foreword with a quotation from social anthropologist Tim Ingold s most recent book, Being Alive (2011). Ingold s project has been nothing less than an attempt to remake anthropology as a discipline: to shift the field and its methodologies towards understanding of the lived world (2011, p. xi). Barba and the work of the Odin have always inhabited the multiple, interwoven strands of this lived world in all its complexities. To be is not to be in place but to be along paths. The path, and not the place, is the primary condition of being, or rather of becoming (Ingold, 2011, p. 12). Odin continues on its life-long paths. Phillip B. Zarrilli References Amano, Yuka Flower as Performing Body in No Theatre, Asian Theatre Journal 28.25: Hare, Thomas, trans Zeami: Performance Notes. New York: Columbia University Press. Ingold, Tim Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description. London: Routledge.

13 Acknowledgements Odin Teatret encourages connections between people. Thinking back over the course of my research, I am struck by the number of individuals I have met; they have all helped me and I owe many thanks. I first made a particular connection with Roberta Carreri, who has always been supportive of my endeavours to understand something of the complexity of the Odin. I have got to know all of the actors, who have always been remarkably patient with my questions and generous with their time. During the final stages, Julia Varley and Iben Nagel Rasmussen answered s to clarify points and offer insights. I am glad I could share a few conversations with Torgeir Wethal and remember him with affection. I owe Eugenio Barba particular thanks. He has been unfailing in his support and generosity and, from the very beginning of my work, has always welcomed me unquestioningly into the burning house. He read the manuscript of this book and offered valuable comments and corrections. Omissions or misunderstandings remain my own. All of the administrative staff and technicians at Odin Teatret, who are crucial to its success though are often neglected in publication, have aided me. Anna Savage has looked after me and answered many questions. Ulrik Skeel answered several questions by . Luciana Bazzo, Fausto Pro, Lena Højmark Kayasan, Sigrid Post and Pelle Henningsen have helped me in Holstebro and answered questions. Rina Skeel has shared images and answered queries. The director s assistants at the Odin, Pierangelo Pompa, Raúl Iaiza and Ana Woolf, have always greeted me warmly. Without the help of the dedicated staff and assistants at the Odin Teatret Archives and Centre for Theatre Laboratory Studies, this book would not have appeared. Francesca Romana Rietti helped me make sense of the vast amount of material. I am glad to have met and continue my acquaintance with Mirella Schino, who has helped me with queries, as well as Nando Taviani. Valentina Tibaldi, who is in charge of the vitally important website, has been hugely helpful and I owe her particular thanks for the images that appear in this book. Claudio Coloberti has sent me DVDs on several occasions. xiii

14 xiv Acknowledgements I have benefited from being amongst participants in Odin Teatret s activities, from many countries and cultures, especially the Odin Week Festival and The Collective Mind in 2010, and the 2008 Festuge and Ur-Hamlet production of that year. Jacques Arpin kindly sent me many of his drawings. The Faculty of Arts Research Support and Staff Development Funds at the University of Hull have supported my research trips unfailingly throughout the body of my work on this book. At the University of Birmingham, funds from the College of Arts and Law Research and Knowledge Transfer Fund and the School of English, Drama and American and Canadian Studies have helped me finish the research. Thanks to my colleagues in both Hull and Birmingham. I am particularly grateful for translations of press materials by Deborah Vlaeymans, Abigail Loxham and George Talbot. Anthony Hozier and Anne Fliotsos have generously read and commented on drafts of Chapters 1 and 5. Some sections of Chapters 4 and 5 appeared in the journals About Performance and Studies in Theatre and Performance respectively and are reproduced here with permission. Several people have generously allowed me to quote from unpublished material. Paula Kennedy and her assistant Ben Doyle at Palgrave have been helpful and understanding throughout the process of research and writing. I am especially grateful to be allowed room for the many photos in the book. In the final stages, Linda Auld and Caroline Richards have cast their keen eyes over the work. Phillip B. Zarrilli has been a mentor and friend for some years, and I am very grateful he has found the time in a busy professional and domestic schedule to write a Foreword in which years of accumulated wisdom resonate. I have been given a room by the sea at two critical points in writing by my parents and parents-in-law. My family, Jill Dowse and Jack Ledger-Dowse, have been patient with me during regular trips to Denmark and elsewhere, and when seeing me too often at the computer. I hope they will reap some reward.