6: Theatre - Women - Text
- Poems, Leah Thorn (Britain)
- Yes, Geddy Aniksdal (Norway)
- Lonely Voyage, Ursula Cetinski (Slovenia)
- Invisible Score, Brigitte Cirla (France)
- Memoirs of a Journey, Teresa Ludovico (Italy)
- Childhood Texts, Pei Yanling (China)
- Talking to Myself, Jane Buckler (Britain)
- Coming Home, Gabriela Bianco (Argentina)
- Voice of Silence, Susana Freire (Argentina)
- Nomadic Voices, Fadimata Walett Ouman (Touareg)
- From Paper and Ink to Pixels and Links, Helen Varley Jamieson (New Zealand Aotearoa)
- Journey into Criticism, Vivian Martínez Tabares (Cuba)
- Words of Bone and Muscles, Carlotta Ikeda (Japan)
- Androgynous Playwriting, Elena Guiochíns (Mexico)
- Poetry on Stage, Pilar Restrepo (Colombia)
- The Servants' Story, Maringsih, Sarniani & Wistari (Bali)
- House of Text, Helen Chadwick (Britain)
- Wrestling with Words, Lena Ekhem (Sweden)
- Dialect as Discipline, Ermanna Montanari (Italy)
- A Fierce Silence, Jacky Lansley (Britain)
- Words as Movement, Jette Bastian (Denmark)
- Ants in a Carpet of Clouds, Julia Varley (Britain/Denmark)
- What Text Next? Maggie Gale (Britain)
- Poems, Liz Letizia - Leah Thorn (Italy - Britain)
NOTES ON THEATRE PRACTICE
- Written on the Body, Sophia New (Britain)
- Glass Beads, Lilicherie McGregor (Aotearoa New Zealand)
- Playing Dreamtime, Susanne Vill (Germany)
- Vanishing Writing, Nor Hall (USA)
- Burn Gloom, Elaine Avila (Canada)
- Space for Memory, Ana Woolf (Argentina)
- Poems, Susan Bassnett (Britain)
Open Letters - Open News
This is the sixth volume of The Open Page, a theatre journal which originally complemented the Magdalena Project's Newsletter, the last issue of which was published in Autumn of 1999. The Newsletter gave an opportunity for the sharing of accessible information, documentation and discussion and its function has been replaced by a website (www.themagdalenaproject.org). The Open Page was founded on the recognition that there needed to be a more substantial space for women theatre practitioners to report on their work and express their thoughts, feelings about and analysis of theatre, as a means of building their own memory and a critical perspective within theatre history. As the journal has grown so too has the necessity to document and historicise women's work in theatre: we have to leave behind traces of our work for ourselves and for future generations.
Women's work in theatre has until very recently been poorly documented or neglected. The Open Page does not come from one ideological position through which the choice of what is or is not published is filtered, nor does it insist upon an adherence to theoretical perspectives which can inhibit the expression of a plurality of ideas and experiences. Rather The Open Page seeks to give space to many different voices, some of them dissident, others not, keeping a balance in contributions from experienced authors and scholars, practitioners needing to put their thoughts on paper and first time writers more accustomed to expressing themselves through performance.
The sixth issue of The Open Page has the theme of Women - Theatre - Text and issue seven will focus on Women - Theatre - Travel. In collecting articles we have given great importance to international diversity although the choice of printing in one language forces us to confront the problems of translation. As far as possible we have tried to be faithful to the original intentions of the texts even if it has meant showing disrespect for English scholarly form or grammar. The gender form chosen by the author for the word actress-actor-female performer has been respected. We welcome comments and suggestions and information and letters in relation to the seventh issue, Women - Theatre - Travel.
At first, the theme Theatre-Women-Text seemed limited to the horizon of written plays and traditional Western text based performance, though we had expected to receive articles looking at text from different points of view, such as inspiration, action, craft, choreography and narration. We were surprised: we were taken on a journey through different kinds of silence. The unspoken words, which reveal the insecurity of not knowing what to say, the lack of a pulpit from which to make an address or the prohibition of expression were confronted by the wisdom of grandmothers, and women from other parts of the world who write, remember, sing and speak, revealing a silence which is our own, filled with biographies, ambitions and stories. Silence can be inert, but also powerful, mysterious and active. Starting from the awareness of receiving in heritage a free open space on which to leave the mark of our experience, the articles move on optimistically as silence becomes a container to explore and invent, rather than an imposed obligation. Theatre helps us recognise the wisdom that has tacitly been passed down.
The articles don't easily subdivide into groups; they don't immediately reveal a common cultural or geographical background; they all connect in an intricate network of arguments. In relation to text, feminism is as equally upheld or rejected in industrially developed countries as in countries still struggling against imperialism. Confidence and enthusiasm are expressed by the role women are taking in the area of virtual theatre, while the cruel reality which words must deal with is apparent in harsh political contingencies. Hope comes from looking into examples from the past, and the love women have for images and oxymoron is revealed in poetic forms of writing. For practitioners, text is inextricably tied to body language and biography. For critics, writers and intellectuals, text becomes the practical tool that connects them to the stage, while resisting or enjoying isolation and collective participation. Text also includes the richness, emotional depth, personality and mystery of voice and the enormous need women have to sing. The word silence is often used: Pei Yanling repeats her texts without saying a word; Gabriela Bianco communicates in deaf and dumb language; Jacky Lansley dances her revolt against official historiography; Lena Ekhem remembers sitting close together on benches; Carlotta Ikeda turns words into choreography.
The majority of recognised playwrights of the past are men; the easily transmittable text fills the memory of theatre and women play a small role in this kind of historio-graphy, not dominating the connection between auto-biographical, personal writing and dramatic, objective and universal texts - all this is true, but still this issue gives a general feeling of individuality, creative joy, inventiveness and youth. If women have not left texts behind it is also because they are busy living. For some women text is simply the occasion for making theatre and the articles take us on a journey full of expectation. To continue in this direction, Theatre-Women-Travel has been chosen as theme for the next issue.
Julia Varley. Holstebro, March 2001