DAH Theatre: A Sourcebook ed. by Dennis Barnett

Abstract

Reviewed by: DAH Theatre: A Sourcebook ed. by Dennis Barnett C. Drew Vidal DAH Theatre: A Sourcebook. Edited by Dennis Barnett. Foreword by Eugenio Barba. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2016. xvi + 231 pp. $90.00 cloth. In his foreword to this collection of mostly new essays, Eugenio Barba, a significant mentor to the DAH, declares that the group "doesn't fight uncertainty, it manages it" (ix). Considering DAH is a Serbian word for the process of breathing, I was struck how encountering uncertainties in life and art does indeed shift our breath, with a quickening or deepening, a catching of itself, or a laboring forward; fighting this need for breath is futile. The DAH, a group founded and maintained by a core group of women theatre artists, grew up surrounded by the uncertainties brought on by continued civil war, leaving them with a keen sense of social responsibility in their art. While the DAH's artistic lineage links them to Grotowski and Lecoq as well, it is Barba's Odin Teatret in Denmark that left the most indelible mark, so his words are a fitting introduction to this important trove. As editor Dennis Barnett points out in his introduction, the recent twenty-five-year anniversary of the group marks an ideal time to scrutinize and celebrate their achievements and longevity, especially amid the backdrop of war. Readers are afforded the opportunity to witness "what began as a street theatre … turn into an internationally recognized organization dedicated to using their performances to change the world, one audience, one student at a time" (xi). The Sourcebook contains fifteen essays, thirteen new and two revised, authored by an impressive and varied list of contributors from all over the world: an eminent Yugoslavian dramaturg and playwright, one of Serbia's most esteemed critics, professors from Brown, Knox, and the University of Edinburgh, artistic directors from the United States and Germany, and an internationally recognized poet, playwright, and musician, to name a few. Much on the content employs an investigation of a specific DAH performance as a jumping-off point (there currently are twenty-six performances in total, from 1992 to 2015). The collection is organized into three sections, first exploring DAH Theatre's work in Serbia, next their reach worldwide, and, finally, multiple accounts from artists who have worked closely with them. In his introduction, Barnett shares not only a brief synopsis of each essay but also its leaning, be it theoretical, historical, practical, or personal. He is correct to point out that a healthy dose of sociopolitical context and cognizance is necessary to discuss or analyze the work of the DAH. Founded in the former Yugoslavia in 1991 by directors Dijana [End Page 349] Milošević and Jadranka Anđelić, then existing with a home base in Belgrade, their evolution weathered the chaos, destruction, and stigma brought on by the Balkan Wars, while their art constantly addressed and challenged the atrocities around them. The running order of the contributions is orchestrated with care and intent by Barnett. The first two essays, the first by an early artistic associate of the DAH and the next through the lens of the political scientist, offer the reader the necessary history and background to fully engage with the content to follow. Beloit College associate professor Amy Sarno investigates the DAH's three site-specific "Angel" plays, reflecting on how the unearthing of personal and community-based memory can offer societal, healing mechanisms. Speaking to the audience experience, she shares that "socializing was expected… . [A] dialogic process evolved that helped people make sense of the world while strengthening communal bonds" (41). In the sixth essay, choreographer and Colorado College professor Shawn Womack tackles one of the DAH's most popular sitespecific performances, In/Visible City. This performance was staged in the very cramped quarters of commuter buses, literally in motion, and sought to "build a momentary community of traveling citizens, to honor the different ethnicities that shaped the modern city" (84). Later, US director/scholar Elizabeth Carlin Metz shares a fascinating account of the DAH's contribution to a student production of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. Her interest in...