Laboratory Theatre Research Articles

Hospitality and the Ethics of Improvisation in the Work of Ingemar Lindh

Ingemar Lindh's work on the principles of collective improvisation has crucial implications for the history of twentieth-century laboratory theatre. His early work with Étienne Decroux and Jerzy Grotowski contributed to the development of a unique practice that resists directorial montage, fixed scores, and choreography; and the ethical dimension that accompanies Lindh's research on collective improvisation is illuminating for a more holistic understanding of the technical and aesthetic considerations in theatre. In this article, Frank Camilleri discusses some of the key aspects of this dimension, notably the dynamics of hospitality and encounter that inform Lindh's approach and the question of responsibility in the actor's work. Frank Camilleri is Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Kent. From 2004 to 2008 he was Academic Coordinator of Theatre Studies at the University of Malta. He is also Artistic Director of Icarus Performance Project – an ongoing research laboratory that investigates the intermediary space between training and performance processes. Camilleri's work with Lindh in the mid-1990s was instrumental for the development of this research practice.

Returning to the Subject: The Heritage of Reduta in Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre

In his book, Pamięć Reduty (Memories of Reduta), Zbigniew Osiński gives a historical account of the work and legacy of a theatre laboratory from the interwar period in Poland, one that Grotowski considered his company's predecessor. In the excerpts presented here, Osiński pursues a comparative analysis of similarities and differences between the two theatre companies and their respective leaders.

Space, Time, Weight, and Flow: suggestions for enhancing assessment of creative movement†

Background: Performance evaluation in the context of creative dance or expressive movement is often a challenging prospect for educators. Nonetheless, the process is a necessary one, not least of all because of the potential as a stimulus to growth. Ideally, assessment becomes a part of the feedback process, assisting teachers and students to clarify goals and to identify interpretive differences. Finding user-friendly ways of characterizing the body in motion is thus of potential interest in a variety of classroom situations. Purpose: To introduce a terminological system designed to focus observations of expressive movement, with the intent of highlighting stylistic differences and subconscious limitations. The concepts behind the system are essentially choreographic, but have been operationally defined through reference to standard kinematic principles (position, speed, acceleration, and jerk). Participants and setting: An interdisciplinary program for the investigation of the creative process, associated with the Theatre Studies department at the University of Malta. Intervention: A search of the theatre literature for tools to assist in characterizing creative movement led to the writings of the choreographer Rudolf Laban. In particular, his system of ‘Effort Actions’ was chosen as a suitable point of departure, due to its focus on expressive range, and its congruence with elements of contemporary kinematics. The terminology was partially redefined, and then applied to the creation of movement charts, to assist with performance evaluation. Research design: The development process consisted of a review of the theatre literature from the perspective of performance assessment; the identification of Laban's Effort Actions as potentially relevant for evaluative purposes; the redefinition of terms to suit more objective aspects of movement analysis; the creation of observational charts based on the resulting terminology; application of the system to subjective and objective data analysis; and finally, reflection on the effectiveness of the results. Data collection: Charts similar to those provided in this paper were used to assist with subjective evaluations of individual performances in a classroom/theatre laboratory setting. More rigorous versions were also applied to the analysis of motion capture data, recorded to investigate the effects of actor training on nonverbal personality. (Details are beyond the scope of this terminological overview.) Data analysis: As the focus was on development of evaluative terminology, analysis consisted of the identification of correlates between elements of the choreographic literature and objective principles of contemporary kinematics. Specifically, Laban's category of Space Effort was analyzed from the perspective of trajectory profiles; Time Effort from the perspective of speed profiles; Weight Effort from acceleration profiles; and Flow Effort from charts of the derivative of acceleration (a measure of smoothness referred to as ‘jerk’). Operational definitions were then re-examined for congruence with a sample field of application (sessions of theatre laboratory), resulting in the charts provided. Findings: Based on the experience at the University of Malta, the terminological system described in this paper was deemed a successful choice for the assessment of creative movement. Specifically, the associated movement charts were found to assist the educator in focusing on fundamental aspects of expressive range in presentation. They were also sufficiently flexible to accommodate additional material for treating group interaction and other topics not addressed by Laban's original scheme. Conclusions: The choreographic terms described here serve as effective organizing principles for structured observation of creative movement, particularly when conceptualized as the subjective correlates of basic kinematic principles. In particular, the polar nature of the vocabulary lends itself to the creation of ‘dynamic images’—essentially snapshots of individual or group performance. Related movement charts are a powerful tool for quick appraisal of expressive tendencies, and can be used both to highlight stylistic differences, and to underscore disparities between presentation and performance objectives. The resulting awareness of habitual dynamics can in turn contribute to the selection of appropriate remedial exercises.

The sala beckett and the zero degree of theatricality: From Lluïsa Cunillé to Carles Batlle

Students who have attended the seminars and workshops habitually offered by Jose Sanchis Sinisterra (b. 1940) at the Sala Beckett, Barcelona's preeminent experimental theatre laboratory, frequently...

‘Umuntu, Ngumuntu, Ngabantu’: The story of the African choir

This article describes a collaborative practice-as-research project that is being developed by the Market Theatre Laboratory in Johannesburg and Wimbledon College of Art in the United Kingdom. The article seeks to explain some of the ways in which an analysis of the costumes and stage design of performances by a South African choir that toured Britain at the end of the nineteenth century are being used as a starting point for a new work for the stage. The project uses the medium of performance in order to investigate the production and reception of performance, under the colonial gaze, by a group of young, black South Africans. It offers a critical perspective on the way in which this group attempted to construct a ‘stage’ identity designed to meet the expectations of western audiences, and speculates about the extent to which the failure of the tour may be attributed to the Choir's failure to fulfil these expectations.

Latex Allergy in the Prehospital Setting

Latex allergy first was recognized early in the 20th Century, but was not a matter of concern until the last decade of that Century. The reported incidence of latex allergy in different occupations varies considerably. It has been documented in dental workers, operating theater staff, anesthetists, and laboratory technicians. However, little data specifically related to those involved in patient care in the emergency prehospital setting are available. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of both volunteer and salaried first responders from St. John Ambulance Australia in South Australia and Western Australia, and the South Australian Ambulance Service. The first responders were surveyed to: (1) determine the incidence of latex allergy; (2) consider possible factors associated with its development; (3) compare characteristics of the surveyed groups; and (4) reinforce the development of an educational program. The study tool had predetermined statistical qualities. Data were collated and processed using standard statistical procedures. Surveys were collected anonymously. Of the 2,716 forms distributed, 1,099 were returned, resulting in an overall response rate of 40.5%. Atopy was identified in 14.9% of participants, hand dermatitis in 9.4%, and latex allergy in 6.4%. In the group of full-time ambulance officers, there was a significantly higher incidence of hand dermatitis and latex allergy. There also was a significant relationship between latex allergies and both dermatitis and glove usage (as measured by frequency and duration). In a group of first responders assessed by an anonymous, voluntary questionnaire, the subset of full-time, salaried ambulance officers was identified as having a higher incidence of hand dermatitis and latex allergy than their volunteer co-workers. These results require further assessment to substantiate the frequency of latex allergy and determine the predisposing factors. All personnel must learn about hand care. Non-powdered, natural rubber latex gloves should be supported for general use in this setting.

Confrontation, Simulation, Admiration: The Wooster Group's Poor Theater

The Wooster Group's Poor Theater questions the state of contemporary performance by trying on the styles of a vanished group, the Polish Laboratory Theatre, dissolved in 1984; and a vanishing one, the Ballett Frankfurt, disbanded in August 2004 (half a year after Poor Theater had its first showing) and resurrected as the smaller Forsythe Company in 2005.

Play-Back Theatre, Theatre Laboratory, and Role-Playing: New Tools in Investigating the Patient-Physician Relationship in the Context of Continuing Medical Education Courses

Aim The aim of this study was to report on the validation of a role-playing approach, using play-back and theatre laboratory in the context of a continuing medical education (CME) course on predialysis and transplantation, to discuss the patient-physician relationship. Methods The course was developed with the help of a theatre director. The role-playing 2-day course was designed to be highly interactive for a small group (15–20 participants), based on a core of case reports (dialysis, transplantation, and return to dialysis after graft failure). Two stages were included: play-back theatre in which experiences told by the participants were mimed by a group of actors, and theatre laboratory in which different aspects of voice and touch were explored. Opinions were gathered by an anonymous semistructured questionnaire completed by all participants. Results The course obtained a high score from The Ministry of Health (14 credits, 1 per teaching hour). The opinions of the 18 participants were highly positive; all liked the courses. Sixteen of 18 asked to repeat the experience. The strong emotional involvement was an advantage for 15 of 18, sharing emotional aspects of the profession for 10 of 18, and usefulness in clarifying opinions on “dark sides” of our profession for 10 of 18. Conclusion The positive opinions recorded during this experience, the first experiment with a “psycho-theatrical approach” developed in a CME course in our country, suggest the benefit of implementing nonconventional, educational approaches in a multidisciplinary discussion of the patient-physician relationship in transplantation medicine.

Moises Kaufman: The Copulation of Form and Content

Moisés Kaufman:The Copulation of Form and Content Rich Brown (bio) Theory and practice should fuck, and their children should be the plays. The result should be the plays. —Moisés Kaufman Moisés Kaufman's explorations over the past ten years have led to his Tectonic Theater Project's current mission to produce innovative works that explore theatrical language and forms and to foster, through their art, a dialogue with their audiences on social, political, and human issues. Tectonic's creation of new work centers around the "copulation of form and content" (11 Nov. 2002). Kaufman explains: I think the most important thing for Tectonic is this binary focus that we have. Whenever we do a play, we have two interests in mind: form and content. This is something that happens not only in our theoretical meanderings but in our work. Whenever we're in rehearsal, we deal with both of those issues and pose questions about both. We do exercises that explore subject matter, and we do exercises that explore form. [. . .] The way we think about it in Tectonic is that we want form and content to copulate. We want the offspring of that copulation to be the play. We think about it in binary because we like to devote time to each one individually. And that is a theoretical as well as a pragmatic way of working. (11 Nov. 2002) To foster this copulation, Kaufman has developed a technique for creating theatre called Moment Work. In Tectonic workshops in which new work is formed, each artist who signs on for a project becomes what Kaufman calls a "performance writer," meaning she uses all the tools of the stage to generate individual theatrical Moments. Similar to homework assignments, the Moments are individually formulated outside of the workshop, and then presented to the other ensemble members; this is when collaboration begins. Kaufman defines Moment Work in the introduction to The Laramie Project as, "A method to create and analyze theatre from a structuralist (or Tectonic) perspective. . . . A Moment does not mean a change of locale or an entrance or exit of actors or characters. It is simply a unit of theatrical time that is then juxtaposed with other units to convey meaning" (xiv). A Moment can be as simple as a single gesture or breath or as complex as an entire scene complete with multiple characters, scenic pieces, lights, props, and sound. Most importantly, Moment Work is a tool for collaboratively discovering new theatrical forms while using all the languages of the theatre in equal interplay. In this article I investigate the particular devising methods used by Kaufman and Tectonic, and through tracing Kaufman's key influences, examine the origins of his "Tectonic techniques" for creating new work. [End Page 51] Tectonic Theater Project was founded in November 1991 by Kaufman and Managing Director Jeffrey LaHoste as a laboratory in which structural and theoretical questions of the theatre could be posed—"Tectonic" means "relating to the art and science of structure." The company's main objective is to "explore new theatrical vocabularies and theatrical languages that use the full potential of the stage" (Tectonic Theater Project home page). Today, Tectonic begins each new project by conducting workshops—exploring existing texts or investigating new works through rigorous experimentation and collaboration over months, even years. Kaufman believes the rehearsal space is a place for collaborative questioning and exploration that may or may not lead to the creation of a new piece. He states,"This is what we do in rehearsal. We learn as we go. We get into a room, pose some questions, and we ask the theatre to help us discuss it" (9 Dec. 2002). This way of working is directly connected to Kaufman's first artistic home with the Thespis Theatre Company in his native Venezuela, where he acted under the direction of Fernando Ivosky, whose influence on Kaufman cannot be overstated. Ivosky was influenced by the same ground-breaking artists Kaufman had seen and admired as a teenager at the International Theatre Festival in Caracas. At this yearly festival, he witnessed Jerzy Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre's Acropolis, Peter Brook's company's Ubu Roi, and Tadeusz...

Naujųjų energijų teatras : baktruppen in recto verso

After the theatre has been through the conceptual phase, a new mixture of recycled styles has appeared by the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, working both with the potential of Laboratory theatre and the more conceptual, visual kind of dramaturgy. But there has been a new way of putting references and using direct communication into it, which could be spoken about as telling the world. Recycling deals with the way textual materials are used in visual theatre, as well as understanding text as a free intermediation of references. These references may be related to cultural identities of both an urban and an ethnic kind, and thus creating a new theatre of ener gies. Baktruppen is one of the major examples of new theatre developments departing from a visual kind of dramaturgy towards a post-mainstream and a theatre of energies from the late 1980s and early 1990s. In a Scandinavian context there are or have been other groups touching a similar direction, like the Danish Hotel Pro Forma and Exement, as well as Swedish Remote Control Productions and also Norwegian Verdensteatret. In the context of intercultural or even intercontinental exchanges, it is important to go across the Northern Atlantic, to Quebec, Canada, to look at Recto Verso from Quebec and their energetic and installation - like theatre exemplified with their production of "Parcours scenographique".

Safety guidelines for radiolocalised sentinel node resection.

Sentinel node radiolocalisation procedures are associated with low levels of radiation exposure. Radioactive material is present in the operating theatre and pathology laboratory. In most hospitals there are no official regulations in place for sentinel node radiation exposure. To establish guidelines on the safety of sentinel node mapping with emphasis on the management of radioisotopes. The current literature regarding sentinel node procedures and radiation safety was reviewed. EU and US radiation safety regulations were scrutinised. Personnel involved in sentinel node procedures are exposed to low levels of radiation. These levels are not high enough to require designated radiation workers in the theatre and pathology laboratory. Awareness of radiation safety and certain precautions during the procedure and processing of the specimen can further reduce levels of exposure. Although low levels of radiation exposure are associated with sentinel node procedures, awareness of radiation safety and adherence to regulations, along with close interdepartmental co-operation, are recommended for further reduction in radiation exposure and safe application of this technique.

Jerzy Grotowski 1933-1999

Jerzy Grotowski died on 14 January 1999. His influence, better to say his impact, upon experimental theatre practitioners is inestimable. When he first became known in the mid-1960s it was as the director of the Polish Theatre Laboratory, which already had gone through a few developmental phases (as had he). Those were the days when exceptional young directors were taken up as gurus, and Grotowski rose to the occasion, although he was careful to say, “I am not a one-man band.” He was more than a guru; his reception – outside Poland, anyhow – was messianic. His company, which I once described as seeming like a chamber music group in rippling Polish, had by then already achieved an astounding vocal and physical expressiveness. In their productions they stunned us with their originality, their intensity, their commitment, their austerity, the thoroughness of the actors’ work, the degree to which they seemed to have (at last!) found a technique to embody the Artaudian theatre some of us dreamed of realizing.

To Be or to Have

Ed. note: This essay began in I983 when my friend, Zbigniew Cynkutis, was a visiting professor at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Cynkutisdirector, teacher, and former actor in the Polish Theatre Laboratory directed by Jerzy Grotowski-wrote a lengthy proposal to Edwin B. Barrett, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, to fundamentally restructure the department into a Department of Active Culture. At the time he askedfor my help, translating and editing his remarks (originally translatedfrom Polish to English by his daughter, Magdalena) for the faculty and administration of Hamilton College. In it, he offered to contribute his expertise toward its realization, saying that he would be happy to remain at Hamilton College to do so. His proposal, however, was accepted, and he prepared to return to Poland with hisfamily in June of I984. The last time I saw him was in Clinton in the latter part of April. He seemed frustrated that his proposal had been rejected, but he was dedicated to continuing his efforts wherever he could. In Poland, he later assumed leadership of the Theatre Laboratory's facilities in Wroclaw after the official breakup of the company which had taken place in January 1984. Under his direction, the new Theatre Laboratory was named The Second Studio of Wroclaw. Sadly, Cynkutis was killed in an automobile accident in January of 1987. In a recent phone conversation with Professor Barrett (emeritus), I asked him about Cynkutis's proposal and why it wasn't accepted. He said it was regarded as 'far-seeing and demanding at the time, but it was hard to move an American college that operated on precedents and procedures. It was not thought possible to achieve the radical reorganization of educational priorities Cynkutis suggested (Barrett I993). Inspired by Richard Schechner's keynote address, A New Paradigmfor Theatre in the Academy, given at the August i992 conference of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in Atlanta, I have retrieved Cynkutis's remarks and re-edited them for the purpose of adding another voice to Schechner's revolutionary callfor a reevaluation of our educational systemsfor theatre in higher education. At a time when world cultural, social, and political systems are experiencing unprecedented change, can we afford to do otherwise?

The Steps on the River Bank

I signed this message of thanks on 29 September 1963, at the end of three weeks spent at the Kathakali Kalamandalam in Cheruthuruthy. It is a formal note about which I had forgotten until, 10 years ago, I had the surprise of finding it on page 147 of Richard Schechner's book Performative Circumstancesfrom the Avant Garde to Ramlila (I983), published in Calcutta by Seagull Books who, incidentally, have the same emblem as the Moscow Art Theatre. Schechner read my words in the school visitor's book when he also went to the Kathakali Kalamandalam in 1972. He quoted them as a reminder of how a 27-year-old Italian passed on to a young Pole of barely 30 the news of the kathakali exercises. This young Pole-Jerzy Grotowski-incorporated them into the actors' training at his Theatre Laboratory where they played a certain role. That letter of so many years ago is merely a footnote in the history of theatre research in the second half of the 20th century, in the chapter

Arthur Schnitzler's The Bridal Veil at the American Laboratory Theatre

Whatever the particular intentions of the playwright, Arthur Schnitzler's Der Schleier der Pierrette (The Veil of Pierrette), a ballet-pantomime first performed in Dresden, January 22, 1910, with music by Ernst von Dohnányi, became, in the first year of its composition, a vehicle of avant-garde experimentalists on the Russian theatrical scene. In October 1910, Vsevolod Meyerhold used Schnitzler's ballet-pantomime for his own avant-garde interests in commedia dell'arte motifs, producing Columbine's Scarf (a variant title) at the House of Interludes in St. Petersburg. Three years later, in 1913, Alexander Tairov, as anti-Meyerholdean as he was anti-Stanislavskian, also staged a version of Der Schleier under the title The Veil of Pierrette, at the Mardzhanov's Free Theatre in Moscow. Both directors, relying on different aesthetic principles, used the commedia dell'arte ballet-pantomime as a statement against Stanislavskian psychological realism (1).

In Memory of Ryszard Cieslak

The Polish actor Ryszard Cieslak, who died in June 1990, joined Jerzy Grotowski's first theatrical venture, the Theatre of the Thirteen Rows in Opole, in 1962, three years after its formation, remaining with Grotowski throughout the life of the Laboratory Theatre in Wroclaw, and until it ceased touring early in 1980 after Grotowski's period of paratheatrical experiments had begun. Cieslak is best remembered for his performances in The Constant Prince and Apocalypsis cum Figuris, and his achievements as an actor were in some senses inseparable from those of Grotowski – but in later years he worked independently, both as a director and, before his death, in the memorable Tiresias-like role of Dhrtarastra in Peter Brook's version of The Mahabharata. In the first part of this feature, Ferdinando Taviani explores the nature and the quality of Cieslak's work, and its relationship with the Laboratory Theatre. To complement his analysis, we are reprinting the final interview given by Cieslak before his death, which was first published on 2 May 1990 in the literary supplement of the Polish-language American journal Nowy Dziennik. Its occasion was the screening of the film of The Mahabharata in Los Angeles and other United States cities in May and June 1990.

Towards a Poor Theatre in Brazil

São Paulo's Grupo Macunaíma has established a paradigm for a unique form of poor theatre, which has had a marked influence on alternative troupes in Brazil attempting to break the commercial mould and to return to a social vision, lost during the darkest years of the military dictatorship. Grotowski's Towards a Poor Theatre outlines the abstract formulation and practical applications of the method he elaborated in his Polish Laboratory Theatre. The director-theoretician proposed first and foremost to overturn what he called rich theatre: a form of staging using ‘borrowed mechanisms’ from movies and television and expensive scenic technology. The Polish Laboratory was also an actor-centred theatre in which the stage was redesigned architecturally for each performance to allow the performers to interact with the audience and in which there were no naturalistic sets or props, no recorded music or sophisticated lighting. The actor, through a complex system of signs, continually created and recreated the meaning of text, constumes, set, and props. ‘By this use of controlled gesture the actor transforms the floor into a sea, a table into a confessional, a piece of iron into an animate partner, etc.’ (Poor Theatre, p. 21). Grotowski's plays were filled with costumes made of torn bags, bathtubs serving as altars, bunkbeds becoming mountains, hammers used as ‘musical’ instruments. ‘Each object must contribute not to the meaning but to the dynamic of the play; its value resides in its various uses.’ Other tenets of the Grotowski system germane to this study are a return to mythical and ritual roots, the theatrical remaking of classical works, and the collective basis of stagecraft.

Welcome to TDR, Sun Huizhu and Richard Gough

From time to time, the editors of TDR change. Some editors no longer want to serve; some don't contribute and I ask them to resign. And as editors leave, new ones arrive. Two new contributing editors have joined TDR. Sun Huizhu is Chinese playwright and scholar. In May-June I989, I directed his Tomorrow He'll Be Out of the Mountains at the Shanghai Peoples Art Theatre in China. An account of Sun's The Old B Hanging on the Wall appeared in TII2. He is professor at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Presently he is writing his PhD dissertation (NYU Performance Studies) on an experimental popular theatre in rural China in the 1930S and teaching at York University, Toronto. Richard Gough heads the Centre for Performance Research in Cardiff, Wales. The CPR-sucessor to the Cardiff Laboratory Theatre Company which Gough also led-is, in his words, a multifaceted theatre organization that combines pedagogical activities, cultural cooperation, production, and promotion and which pioneers forms and approaches which have bearing on the rest of the U.K. Both Sun and Gough, rooted in their own cultures, are committed to intercultural polylog-TDR talk.

Eastern and Western Influences on Performer Training at Eugenio Barba's Odin Teatret

The Odin Teatret, which continues to produce new and exciting works, was originally formed in Oslo, Norway, in 1964. In 1966 the company moved to Holstebro, a small town near the west coast of Denmark, where it has been based ever since. In its 23-year history the company has mounted productions ranging from intimate studio pieces, for audiences as small as sixty or less, to huge street spectacles encapsulating whole villages at a time. The Odin has traveled extensively in Europe, South America, and Asia. It has established a major theatre center in Holstebro, where it publishes books, makes and rents films, and mounts workshops in collaboration with artists such as Jerzy Grotowski, Dario Fo, and JeanLouis Barrault; and it is the only state-supported pedagogical institute devoted to theatre research in Western Europe. Barba, the founder and artistic director of the Odin, began his theatre career as an assistant to Grotowski in the early sixties, long before Grotowski became known in the West. In fact, Barba was instrumental in introducing Grotowski to the world by organizing the Theatre Laboratory's first European tour, and through books and articles, including Towards a Poor Theatre, which Barba edited, and the famous Tulane Drama Review articles of 1965, written by Barba and Ludwig Flaszen, which were among the first materials published on Grotowski in the United States. Barba, unlike Grotowski, has remained in the theatre and is rec-

Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre: Dissolution and Diaspora

Grotowski's Laboratory Theatre: Dissolution and Diaspora