From Street Theatre to Meditation: International Theatre Workshop in Bergamo

Abstract

Abstract Legend has it that the comic figure Arlecchino came from Bergamo, an old cultural center near Milan. Here, too, is the birthplace of Pope John XXIII. Given this historical setting, it was perhaps inevitable that the International Workshop of Group Theatre held here from August 28 to September 6 oscillated between religion and farce. With the funding and prestigious support of the International Theatre Institute and UNESCO, Eugenio Barba, director the Danish Odin Theatre and one of the theoretical chieftains of the group theatre movement, collected a very mixed bag of troupes and performers from Europe, Asia and North and South America.