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Issue 13: Theatre - Women - Letters

While researching in The Magdalena Project's archives in preparation for the 20th anniversary celebrations at Transit 5 Festival in January 2007, we came across many letters from and between the women involved in the activities and planning of the early years. The letters have the common characteristic of jumping continually from personal to professional information, from questions and thoughts concerning the creative process to news about friends, partners and children, to timetables and schedules for future meetings. Most letters are hand-written and the style of writing, the underlining, colours, pressure, question and exclamation marks are just as revealing as the words. Although some of us are trying to renew hand written communication, we are aware that most exchange now happens by telephone or email.

The speed and quantity of contact that technological means allow us has also stolen a particular quality from our words. The theme "Theatre - Women - Letters" of issue 13 of The Open Page intends to search for this particular quality in different ways: with letters intentionally written to The Open Page or to one of its editors; with letters the authors chose because of their relevance; with articles built around a letter to indicate its context; with articles which underline the particularity of letters as a form of communication especially chosen by women; with articles that identify letters as an important source of theatre history that enables us to hear the voices of the silent women of the past; and articles that look at the individual letters of the different alphabets as action, inspiration, sound, awareness, availability and rhythm.

With this theme we hope to encourage some women theatre practitioners to look into their personal and theatre archives to reveal documents that will throw light on the motivations which guided us in the past and also help us rediscover the enthusiasm we need for our work today. By explaining the background and context of a letter, an article can bring to life forgotten episodes and events which can help us understand how we arrived at the subsequent outcome. The letters can also be printed as paintings or graphic design, underlining the individuality, tradition and cultural circumstances of each author. The calligraphy of the single letters of an alphabet and of the strokes of a character is an art which today still helps us define the discipline and concentration, the form and information, the complexity of montage, the relationship between text and action, the distillation of sense and meaning of our theatre craft.

At Transit 5, during the presentation of the experimental performance Women with Big Eyes , we saw letters projected on a white wall and falling off sentences like rain or leaves; letters painted with water evaporate and disappear; letters written as urgent messages on strips of paper burn to light up a tree. Letters can compose many words and meanings, they can become part of books, anthologies and biographies, but they can also speak for themselves. This issue hopes to find them, print them and reveal some of their secrets.

If you intend to send us an article or letter, please let the Editorial Board (Gilly Adams, Geddy Aniksdal, Maria Ficara, Maggie Gale or Julia Varley) know by January 6 th 2008 . Articles should be sent in to the Editorial Board (Gilly Adams, Geddy Aniksdal, Maria Ficara, Maggie Gale or Julia Varley) by the beginning of February 2008 if they need to be translated into English, and beginning of March 2008 if already in English. Together with the articles we need photographs or illustrations for which permission for publication has been obtained, and a five line curriculum vitae. Photographs should be original and should be sent to Rina Skeel, Odin Teatret, Box 1283, 7500 Holstebro, Denmark, or rina.skeel@odinteatret.dk If sent by email, they need to have a quality of minimum 300-600 DPI.

The editorial process followed by The Open Page consists of a preliminary meeting to suggest women whom it might be interesting to invite to write on the particular theme. After a first reading after the deadline of the delivery of the articles, another meeting makes a general assessment of the articles to establish the particular character of the issue in relation to what we have received. In this phase some articles may be refused and others requested in order to obtain the necessary diversity of experience (geographical distribution, theatre styles, age groups...). The editing work which ensues is intended to bring out the quality of each article in the context of the whole issue, to avoid repetition and improve the written language/translation. In the next couple of months, when the final editorial changes are made, authors are usually consulted about proposed changes. For The Open Page n. 13, the final lay-out and proof reading will be done in April 2008, the issue will be printed in May to be ready in June 2008.


a journal of women's thoughts, questions and visions for theatre
Issue 13: Theatre - Women - Letters While researching in The Magdalena Project's archives in preparation for the 20th anniversary celebrations at Transit 5 Festival in January 2007, we came across many letters from and between the women involved in the activities and planning of the early years. The letters have the common characteristic of jumping continually from personal to professional information, from questions and thoughts concerning the creative process to news about friends, partners and children, to timetables and schedules for future meetings. Most letters are hand-written and the style of writing, the underlining, colours, pressure, question and exclamation marks are just as revealing as the words. Although some of us are trying to renew hand written communication, we are aware that most exchange now happens by telephone or email. The speed and quantity of contact that technological means allow us has also stolen a particular quality from our words. The theme "Theatre - Women - Letters" of issue 13 of The Open Page intends to search for this particular quality in different ways: with letters intentionally written to The Open Page or to one of its editors; with letters the authors chose because of their relevance; with articles built around a letter to indicate its context; with articles which underline the particularity of letters as a form of communication especially chosen by women; with articles that identify letters as an important source of theatre history that enables us to hear the voices of the silent women of the past; and articles that look at the individual letters of the different alphabets as action, inspiration, sound, awareness, availability and rhythm. With this theme we hope to encourage some women theatre practitioners to look into their personal and theatre archives to reveal documents that will throw light on the motivations which guided us in the past and also help us rediscover the enthusiasm we need for our work today. By explaining the background and context of a letter, an article can bring to life forgotten episodes and events which can help us understand how we arrived at the subsequent outcome. The letters can also be printed as paintings or graphic design, underlining the individuality, tradition and cultural circumstances of each author. The calligraphy of the single letters of an alphabet and of the strokes of a character is an art which today still helps us define the discipline and concentration, the form and information, the complexity of montage, the relationship between text and action, the distillation of sense and meaning of our theatre craft. At Transit 5, during the presentation of the experimental performance Women with Big Eyes , we saw letters projected on a white wall and falling off sentences like rain or leaves; letters painted with water evaporate and disappear; letters written as urgent messages on strips of paper burn to light up a tree. Letters can compose many words and meanings, they can become part of books, anthologies and biographies, but they can also speak for themselves. This issue hopes to find them, print them and reveal some of their secrets. If you intend to send us an article or letter, please let the Editorial Board (Gilly Adams, Geddy Aniksdal, Maria Ficara, Maggie Gale or Julia Varley) know by January 6 th 2008 . Articles should be sent in to the Editorial Board (Gilly Adams, Geddy Aniksdal, Maria Ficara, Maggie Gale or Julia Varley) by the beginning of February 2008 if they need to be translated into English, and beginning of March 2008 if already in English. Together with the articles we need photographs or illustrations for which permission for publication has been obtained, and a five line curriculum vitae. Photographs should be original and should be sent to Rina Skeel, Odin Teatret, Box 1283, 7500 Holstebro, Denmark, or rina.skeel@odinteatret.dk If sent by email, they need to have a quality of minimum 300-600 DPI. The editorial process followed by The Open Page consists of a preliminary meeting to suggest women whom it might be interesting to invite to write on the particular theme. After a first reading after the deadline of the delivery of the articles, another meeting makes a general assessment of the articles to establish the particular character of the issue in relation to what we have received. In this phase some articles may be refused and others requested in order to obtain the necessary diversity of experience (geographical distribution, theatre styles, age groups...). The editing work which ensues is intended to bring out the quality of each article in the context of the whole issue, to avoid repetition and improve the written language/translation. In the next couple of months, when the final editorial changes are made, authors are usually consulted about proposed changes. For The Open Page n. 13, the final lay-out and proof reading will be done in April 2008, the issue will be printed in May to be ready in June 2008.