ODIN TEATRET ARCHIVES (OTA) - Documents

All the materials deposited at Odin Teatret Archives can be consulted at any time and by any person, on agreement with the person responsible for the archives. The personal letters, i.e. those not addressed to the Odin ensemble, cannot be consulted and/or quoted (not even partially, and not even if mentioned in this inventory) for a period of sixty years from the time they were written. The letters older than sixty years can be consulted and quoted only with written permission of the author or the Odin Teatret Archives. The person authorized to read or quote the correspondence is still expected to respect the private nature of the information.

FONDS CARRERI Inventory

* Series Carreri

(Compiled by Mirella Schino in collaboration with Francesca Romana Rietti. The work started in 2010 and additions and revisions were made during the following years. The information that could not be inferred from the documents, or from books and articles, was provided by Roberta Carreri, and it is here included as a source of oral testimony in support of the documents. The general considerations on the theatrical or historical situation are by Mirella Schino).

Roberta Carreri, actress at Odin Teatret, teacher and theatre organiser. She was born in 1953 in Milan, where she graduated as advertising designer and studied History of Art at the State University. She joined Odin Teatret in 1974, during the group's sojourn in Carpignano Salentino. She participated in ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology) since its first session in 1980, and came in contact with the performance techniques of Japan, India, Bali and China. From 1980 to 1986 she studied with Japanese masters, namely Katsuko Azuma, Natsu Nakajima and Kazuo Ohno. She gives workshops for actors all over the world and presents her work demonstration Traces in the Snow. She organises and directs the yearly international festival Odin Week, in Holstebro and abroad. In 2009 she directed the performance Rumor with Cinzia Ciaramicoli for the Masakini Theatre Company (Malaysia). She published numerous articles in the theatre journals “New Theatre Quarterly”, “Teatro e Storia”, “Máscara”, “The Open Page” and “Performance Research”. In 2007 she published the book Tracce. Training e storia di un’attrice dell’Odin Teatret (Traces. Training and history of an actress at Odin Teatret), translated in Portuguese and in Spanish. She was first married to another Odin actor, Francis Pardeilhan, and later lived with Torgeir Wethal as his partner from approximately 1982 until his death. The Fonds includes several binders containing different kinds of work materials, and especially (binders 13 to 29) the work diaries that Carreri started writing in 1974, when she arrived at Odin Teatret. Many Odin actors have, or had for some time, the habit of keeping work diaries but Carreri's are probably the tidiest and most detailed ones. The memory of the Odin group about dates or sequence of events is inevitably vague and rather contradictory, and the same is often true for the 1 information added by Odin people (mostly Barba) to these inventories. Carreri's diaries are uncommonly accurate: generally the dates she wrote or indicated verbally are the most reliable ones. Carreri's diaries, in Italian, are one of the most valuable materials of these archives. They are not simply notes, they convey the vivid and detailed story of a very special professional life. They include descriptions of improvisations and of Carreri's thoughts during the improvisations. Carreri wrote during the rehearsals, even when the performances were about to start and the audience was coming in the space. She transcribed the speeches given by Barba to inaugurate the work for a new performance, mainly long verbal improvisations meant exclusively for his actors. She described the way the director stimulated and guided his actors' improvisations. Very rarely she wrote about a discussion or a conflict: these diaries are not private (Carreri writes other private diaries). They illustrate the development of actions for an Odin performance. Often the entries are integrated with drawings and newspaper cuttings.

Carreri, b. 1 Materials concerning Brecht's ashes (for the first time performed in 1980), among others the text of the performance Brecht’s Ashes (first version). Among other items, it includes some pages from one of Roberta's work diaries: this proves the application of the diaries to the work on performances as well as the actress's nearly obsessive tidiness. As written above, the diaries are exceptional documents, perhaps the only documents that can partially evoke the atmosphere and the process of creative work at Odin Teatret. The pages are dated 3 April 1981 (this means that the work concerned the second version of Brecht in 1982; on the two versions of Brecht's ashes see Fonds Odin Teatret, especially b. 5 of the series Perf-A) and begin with the description of an improvisation by Francis Pardeilhan:

Time: 11. Francis, I and Eugenio in the white room. Francis shows a proposal for his entrance in the first scene. E.: we are here representing something very dangerous. We can see this in many ways. As Brecht for example: in a grotesque way. But this diminishes reality while theatre should amplify it. We should find a way to break the clichés. The question for you is not about finding “external” solutions (like throwing stones) but having precise images to guide you. Who are you? Which associations do you want to evoke? For the first time I hear Eugenio speak with a calm voice in a way that I feel right and inspiring for Francis. A long silence follows. Crouched to the ground, the 2 stones and a pair of black gloves by his side, the index to his lips – “it is very difficult for me to think this way”. You just need to find your previous soul!!! E.: you must try and think more like an actor, in a way that colours your behaviour.

There is also a drawing of Francis (at the time Carreri's husband) sitting crouched and thinking, songs, poems etc. Excerpts from the typescript diary used for the book Il Brecht dell’Odin (Odin's Brecht). Versions of the performance text in all the languages in which it was translated.

Carreri, b. 2 A miscellaneous binder in which Carreri had placed various notebooks, sheets of paper and journals about her trip to Africa (1982), notes of songs. A notebook from 1984 (“To break free from automatisms. Flying. Adrenaline. Pavlov's dog”; “Flying to believe in yourself; you cannot expect others to see your work and believe in it, if you don't believe in it yourself”). There is a journal- diary of the trip to Africa (in June 1982 Carreri travelled to Africa for a long “barter” with anthropologist Mette Bovin; see also the 1983 film Dances in the sand in the Audiovisual Fonds. A fragment of the diary was published in the actress's book Tracce). The notebook is dated 27 January 1983 and is entitled “Dialogue with Nando”. Perhaps it is a story written a few months later. Nando is certainly Nando Taviani, scholar and literary adviser at Odin Teatret.

As I was saying, the starting point is, was, fear of dying. That fear of dying that is due to the desire to die, the will to be reborn. The journey started the very moment I got on the train. Immediately, the moment I stepped into this wagon alone, with this huge and very heavy suitcase, I had the desire to go back. I actually said to myself: so, why am I 2 going to Africa? I don't have the smallest desire to go to Africa. I have to stop nursing my 10-month-old daughter to go to Africa. This project doesn't interest me, this project doesn't fascinate me. If I want I can take the train back which means: I get to Copenhagen, I change tracks and I take the first morning train to Holstebro. This is technically possible. It was incredible but, although I was aware of this being technically possible, it was something absolutely impossible.

The binder also contains some very beautiful letters (but the recipients are sometimes uncertain) in which Carreri speaks of her life and her choices (“I took a train, it was April – to join a group of people completely unknown to me but to whom I linked my destiny from the moment I saw their performance Min Fars Hus. It was 3 May 1973. April was just finished. Another warm spring evening in Bergamo alta. Nine years ago. I saw a performance and I cried”). A series of images that were used as a starting point to build the “score” of the performance Judith.

Carreri, b. 3 A small bundle of documents concerning the “book of actors” proposed by Franco Quadri and never produced (Carreri is the contact person with the publisher Ubulibri, Quadri. See Fonds Odin Teatret, series Environment, b. 11, and series Activities, b. 45). It is approximately 1982 (see also Fonds Carreri b. 18). In a very long and interesting letter Carreri explains to the publisher the reasons and the way the Odin actors wish to produce this book (“Odin Teatret means contrast: individuals who struggle not to be assimilated - ‘fusi’ -, who keep their strength and continue to be interesting for their working partners as long as they can maintain their individuality […] it would be wrong to write using a starting point that is not our own. Many actors at Odin Teatret would have never chosen to become actors in a traditional theatre or in another group. Many barely know the theatre outside our boundaries. We certainly belong to a specific theatrical geography but within the group we are all very different”). The typescript of Carreri's contribution to the book of actors (the one that was never published) with cuts, additions, and glued fragments, entitled: Hic sunt leones.

Carreri, b. 4 Materials concerning the project “Madama Butterfly”: Barba had left for his sabbatical year (1982- 83), and the actors engaged in different kinds of individual projects. In this case, Roberta Carreri and Torgeir Wethal (who had recently become her partner) devised the project (but never realised it) for a performance that would involve the young Alice Pardeilhan (daughter of Carreri and her previous partner Francis Pardeilhan).

Carreri, b. 5 A folder concerning the work for The Gospel according to Oxyrhyncus (the première was in 1985; see also Fonds Barba). Barba asked each of the actors to write some sort of script for the story of their character (in Carreri's case, Antigone):

Tebe. Outside the royal palace. Antigone comments with Ismene the ill fate of her brother Polynices and Creon's decision to refuse him burial. Antigone communicates to Ismene her decision to give burial to the corpse of Polynices. Ismene tries to dissuade her. The two sisters are already apart although still close to each other: Antigone has chosen death, Ismene life.

In addition to this script there is also the first “scenario” of the performance (description of everyone's actions). The general scenario lists the actions of all the actors (“Julia and I get off the platforms. Ju, E.M. and Rob's dance. Dance stops when I am behind E.M.”); it is interesting because Roberta Carreri includes the logic of her actions in it. This logic evolves from the script and the spectator could absolutely not recognise it in the performance (“Ismene does not agree with Antigone. Diatribe. Finally Antigone says ‘It doesn't matter. I'll do it alone.’”). On The Gospel according to Oxyrhyncus see also the film on the performance directed by Torgeir Wethal. The folder also contains drawings of the characters, songs, lists of Greek words and their translation (the performance was partly in Coptic and partly in other “dead” languages). 3

Still on The Gospel according to Oxyrhyncus, a folder with press cuttings and other documents kept by Carreri. Detailed scenario of the performance.

Carreri, b. 6 A binder concerning Ulven Denis (1987-1991), directed by César Brie (see also Fonds Rasmussen, series Farfa, b. 20).

Carreri, b. 7 Labelled “Spor i Sneen 1989”, meaning Traces in the snow, the work demonstration created by Roberta Carreri in 1989 and still performed in repertory in 2014. It contains the transcripts (typescripts in Italian, English and Danish) of the text of the work demonstration. As Carreri claims in her handwritten notes, “for many years [the text] was improvised from a rough draft and was written down in 1992” from the audiovisual recording of the demonstration. The English text was edited in collaboration with Leo Sykes and Francis Pardeilhan. There are also handwritten fragments of the English translation, presumably by Leo Sykes; a fragment in Italian of the text of the performance Judith and a handwritten translation in English; an interview to Roberta Carreri in Spanish; one page from an interview in Italian; a fax dated 20.09.1999 containing a text Traces in the snow (Roberta C.), possibly a poem about the demonstration. The binder also contains a typed text with Carreri's autograph notes from 1987 to 1988; the text reveals the “genesis” of the work demonstration with notes on the thematic units from which the demonstration was elaborated. As Carreri declares, this is a working draft for a lecture on the training that she presented between 1987 and 1988, at the University of L’Aquila, invited by Nando Taviani, professor of Theatre History at that institution.

Carreri, b. 8 Labelled “Shakuntala 1993” (see Fonds Eugenio Barba, series Barba-Odin, b. 34, and Fonds Wethal). It contains a work notebook by Roberta Carreri labelled “Shakuntala Fara Sabina May 1993”, with notes taken by Roberta Carreri during a session of the University of Eurasian Theatre held at Teatro Potlach in Fara Sabina. During this session Barba worked on the play Śakuntalā by Kālidāsa. On the first day of work, 22 May 1993, Roberta Carreri writes: “An ‘intimate’ ISTA with 45 people and one empty chair under the open window: for Fabrizio. Isabel and I throw the dice to decide about tomorrow's sequence”. “Fabrizio” is Fabrizio Cruciani, an Italian theatre scholar who had recently passed away. He was one of the scholars who were most connected to the Odin and to Barba, and one of the founders of the International School of Theatre Anthropology. Following is the transcription of Barba's speech:

Grotowski staged Shakuntala (hereafter S.) at the beginning of the Sixties, and I didn't see it. Grotowski found in S. an archetypal situation such as in Romeo and Juliet. It is a book I read in Polish and it didn't captivate me. I've chosen S. for this collaboration with Sanjukta (Panigrahi) because in Salento I chose Faust and it was filled with resonances. In Bologna with the Crossing, I attempted to create a story with the whites and the blacks of our cultural heritage. In this meeting I've decided to give to Sanjukta the chance to work on a text. I can't manage to work on a text if it does not strike me in a way that hurts me (because I can't master it), because it has a secret. It is important for the “secret” to prevail in the work. How can S. become a sting that penetrates the area of the“secret”? I said, when I read S. my experience was different. What does OUR experience tell us? Perhaps this is the function of the classics: to be a mountain; by climbing it we can discover our strengths and our weaknesses.

The binder also contains numerous materials concerning the 1993 Festuge – “Kultur Uden Grænser” – during which Sakuntala was presented: printed programmes; internal calendars of the activities programmed by Roberta; pages of handwritten notes about Śakuntalā; several typescripts with the text of the performance in Danish, written by Frans Winther on the basis of Kālidāsa's

4 play; a typescript entitled “Punkter til kærlighedenss stadier” (points for the different stages of falling in love); photocopies of Kālidāsa's play in Danish; a photocopy of handwritten notes by Eugenio Barba.

Carreri, b. 9 (1/2 and 2/2 Labelled “Kaosmos”, it contains: 4 typescripts with the text/scenario of the performance with different dates and the corresponding changes made to the text; the programme of the performance; a page with the technical requirements of the performance and another with the costs in Danish crowns and in Italian liras (dated January 1994); a calendar with the dates of the performance Kaosmos in 1993/1995; a leaflet about Odin Teatret's tour of Kaosmos at the Festival Mundial Teatro de las Naciones ITI Chile 1993; a calendar of the Kaosmos tour in Rome from February to March 1995; 3 pages with handwritten notes by Roberta Carreri describing indications by Eugenio Barba; a page with sketches and drawings of the actors' movements in the space and handwritten notes by Roberta Carreri; photocopies in Danish and Italian of Andersen's fairytale The story of a mother (used by Carreri in Kaosmos) with handwritten notes; sheet music of the madrigal Amarilli mia bella; photocopies of the poem by Jacopone da Todi Donna de Paradiso and following adaptations by Eugenio Barba or the actors; photocopies with fragments of Medea; photocopies of the text by Franz Kafka Davanti alla legge; sheet music and lyrics of songs; fragments of the actors' individual texts; other photocopies of texts, often by unspecified authors. A folder with the title Kaosmos on the spine: it contains all the music proposals – lyrics and sheet music – contributed by the actors during the creative process for the performance.

Carreri, b. 10 A binder with materials concerning Karantener, a project about The three sisters, 1995 (see also Fonds Barba, series Barba-Odin, b. 32). The binder also contains the detailed scenario of the project, dated January-February 1995.

Carreri, b. 11 Report of a meeting of the Odin ensemble held in March 2001, and photocopies of one part of Carreri's diaries (dated May 2001) on the beginning of the preparation of the performance Andersen's dream (Eugenio asks all the actors to go to Africa: “the work for a new performance always implies a journey into the unknown. For this reason Africa is interesting”).

Carreri, b. 12 Text, dvd and some notes concerning the performance Don Giovanni all’inferno, 2006 (see Fonds Barba, series Barba-Odin, b. 25, and Fonds Odin Teatret, Perf-B, b. 19).

Carreri, b. 13 It contains two notebooks, one dated 1974, the other 1977. - The notebook dated ’74 is the first of Carreri's diaries. She had just arrived at Odin Teatret, formally to write her graduation thesis, but Barba included her in the practical work (see also the actress's book Tracce). The actress spent a short period at Odin Teatret then went back home, joined the group again in Carpignano Salentino for its long sojourn in Southern Italy in ’74, and a few months later went back to Denmark as an Odin actress. The diary is not written daily; it starts from May ’74 and covers the years 1974 and ’75. Inside the diary notebook there are loose sheets of paper from ’74-75 and the following years. It seems to start from Carpignano Salentino, May 1974. This is a work diary but it also includes personal reflections. From the notes dated 14.07.1974 (loose pages kept inside the notebook, at the time the Odin was probably still in Salento):

5

And here I am – alone – the only Italian in a Scandinavian community – condemned to silence. This is the life. I had an extremely long period of childhood-adolescence inside my family and this period ended the moment I decided to leave home and come to the Odin. I'm starting to understand a lot about people. Odin was the god of war and we are also fighting a war. Even Iben's cat, who fell from the balcony on the stones of the garden, is fighting his holy war against evil. Every day we spy on the movements of his hind paws and sometimes they look less dead. He even started cleaning himself again. I am also fighting my big war, as the chick that is breaking out of its shell, the child that is about to be born, I have to get out of adolescence too and enter life if I don't want to die. For this operation I've chosen the least happy way, certainly the least dangerous and most fertile way: a clean cut. So with one stone I killed two birds, and I found my maturity and an alternative life choice.

15.07.1974:

I think I will terribly miss Italy once I'm in Denmark. I have to absolutely find a way to avoid this cancer of the soul. I am also very worried about the fate of my studies. University is very valuable to me and with this working rhythm I can't study at all. I have to talk to Eugenio about this. These days I'm facing again the problem of my physical resistance. How much can I do? At times I feel like it would be right to stop but then I go on, and it is even better. Other times I feel it is right and natural to go on but then I suffer from organic micro-collapses. The possibilities of my body are still unknown to me. I am experiencing the old fears of my childhood again, the fears my mother instilled in me about my body and its resistance. I miss my mother so much....my mummy. I am sure that the Odin will not have me for ever. But while I'm living at the Odin I should act as if I spend here my whole life; this is the only way to live fully this experience, certainly the most important of my young existence. This morning while I was typing in the working space I felt like a special correspondent from the Indochina war. It was all there: the muggy heat, the typewriter, the recorder, the insects.

- A small notebook of ’77 (the date is written on one of the inside pages) with a series of transcriptions of Opera arias and notes on the training.

Carreri, b. 14 It contains a plastic folder with Carreri’s manuscript of the outline for the performance The Million. According to Roberta the document is dated from 1978 to 1979 and it records the metamorphosis and separation between The Million (1978-1980) and Brecht’s Ashes (1980-1984) which, for some time, were combined in one single unit and four notebooks: - The first one (blue cover with flowers; labelled b. 14A by OTA for the scanning process) is probably dated January ’78; these are notes on the orixá, with many drawings (journey to Bahia: probably one of the journeys made by Odin actors in preparation of what will be the 1978 performance The Million); - The second notebook (green cover with flowers; labelled b. 14B by OTA for the scanning process) is the most interesting one and covers the period from January to March ’78 (except the first entry on one single page dated ’77). It is the diary of a tour in South America:

13 January 1978. Andean Super Bus – Cochabamba, Bolivia. And I vomited, vomited and cried, vomited. The most disastrous journey of my life through this incomparably barren Bolivia. Desert plateaus and mountains of sand and stones scattered with grass tufts unceasingly munched by voracious lamas. The only trip that has led me to think of suicide as a liberation. To die immediately! And no longer suffer the torture of these montains turning as a carousel in front of me while the bus proceeds with continuous jolts on the trail overhanging the grazing lamas, sheep and little donkeys.

Salvador 8 February 1978. Last night I had a premonitory dream. I dreamt that the Odin ensemble was in a big house with garden, like the castle in Carpignano, and Eugenio invited there all the Odin friends to see the actors perform the pieces they prepared during the journey. All the others put on their costumes but I had none. The performance started without Francis setting up the congas and I ran from one side to the other in panic, looking for a costume and imagining what I would do when it was my turn. Here is the moral: this morning I've drawn a “fantasy” and I'll get it done as soon as possible.

- The third notebook (orange cover; labelled b. 14C by OTA for the scanning process): these are apparently notes for The Million; 6

- The fourth notebook (green cover; labelled b. 14D by OTA for the scanning process) is of the end of 1978 but it was largely ruined by water.

Carreri, b. 15 Diary. On one side: “Brecht 1979” (another notebook on “Odin's Brecht”, which is the performance Brecht's Ashes, can be found in the next binder, dated 1980). Poems by Brecht glued on the pages. The rehearsals had started some time earlier. “9-1-’79. It is a shame if all we do is destroyed by the voice that doesn't match up with the movements. It is necessary to let the nuances stand out through the voice. It is necessary to find the spot in the room towards which we want to direct our voice”. There are external people observing the performance during the process of creation; this is a new habit and it is evidently difficult for the actors: “10-1-’79. Else Marie has come back to the collective rehearsals. Saul, Yves [Lebreton], the French are present. Saul coughs repeatedly. In a few minutes E.M. will be ‘naked’ in front of these strangers' eyes. Now Saul stops coughing. Eugenio has started working with E.M. And the cough resumes. Outside, the day is turning grey”. “17-1-’79 […] E.M. refuses to improvise while there are strangers in the room. Eug. got angry”. Later, Else Marie Laukvik falls ill and leaves the performance rehearsals. “23-3-’79. A hurricane overwhelming us. Spring is in the air. Today Francis and I have bought a house. E.M. is ill in Copenhagen and might not come back. Tom is leaving tomorrow. Odin Teatret has stopped like a death-struck body but its heart is still beating”. On the other side of the notebook there are notes about the seminars: “Holstebro 18-8-’79. The first thing to do is to read the letters sent by the aspiring participants. This is important to establish a clear relationship. When we ask everybody for their names and for what they do it is important to recognise one or two people who ‘told’ us something in their letters”.

Carreri, b. 16 Two diaries dated 1980. 1) A diary with a black and red cover (labelled b. 16A by OTA for the scanning process), with handwritten notes dated from 7 January to 14 October 1980. It contains working notes by Roberta Carreri about her research and the training exercises she was developing at the time (numerous references about experimenting with different parts of the body as dynamic centers of action), as well as reflections on her professional needs as an actress:

In order to be a great actor one needs to halt the thinking. To create the void. When we are on the floor we are on the Mystical string. Loneliness when facing a complicated situation – stop thinking, even thinking of the situation – wait and ANSWER. It's like removing a thorn from a child's foot. This is precision. The thorn hurts. When you do it you don't think of anything, you just try to get the thorn out...if you think of something else you can't do it.

And further:

The first part of the training is to come in contact with the ground. The soles of the feet, the palms of the hands, touch the ground in perfect symmetrical geometry. Today I received good vibrations from the ground. I tried to find the physical logic of traning. After what Nando [Taviani] said, I try to give more attention to what is the pleasure process in doing training: how to create energies inside and direct them in space, “playing” with them. The presence of others in the room helps me very much because it creates a concentrated atmosphere filled with energies.

In the diary we also find short reports on the performances, especially The Million and on the street parade Anabasis, and notes taken during Eugenio Barba's lectures and seminars. The following excerpt for example is from the three-day seminar held at the University of München, with Roberta Carreri and Toni Cots as assistants:

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EYES are one of the most important things of our biological/theatrical life. When we take an object we see it first as a whole then we analyse it, our eyes move from one point (detail) to the other. What we said about balance is also true for the eyes. Immobility does not exist. The “meditation” (which is a way to break automatisms) requiring to fix one single point for a long time is more difficult than it seems. And after fixing our gaze on one point for some time we change our state of consciousness.

At the end of the diary, there are reports on the first session of the ISTA held that year in Bonn, Germany (see Fonds Odin Teatret, series ISTA-A, b. 1, and Fonds Odin Teatret, series ISTA, b. 1), with specific reference to the course in Japanese classical theatre-dance given by Katsuko Azuma and the teachings of the Indian Odissi dancer Sanjukta Panigrahi. 2) A light blue diary (labelled b. 16B by OTA for the scanning process), labelled “1980 ‘Brecht’”, with handwritten notes dated from 4 February 1980 to 30 March 1981. It contains the working notes of the rehearsals leading to the final montage of the ensemble performance Brecht's Ashes, created in Holstebro at the same time of The Million and performed in repertory from March 1980 to October 1984 (see Fonds Odin Teatret, series Perf-B, b. 9). Comments on the outcome of the different presentations of the performance. Some observations by Eugenio Barba and Roberta Carreri's impressions on the audience during the different tours. There are details about the end of the first version of the performance, dated 30 September 1980, when Torben Bjelke, one of the actors, left the group, and of the beginning of the preparation for the new version from 9 March 1981.

Carreri, b. 17 It contains: a notebook with oriental red fabric cover labelled 1980-81 (labelled b. 17A by OTA for the scanning process). The writing is only on one side and it covers the period from October 1980 to February 1981; it does not deal with any performance, the topics are the training and improvisations. The first part (1980) mostly contains notes on the training and on various teaching situations:

Change of speed. Rhythm. Freedom in repetition. Absorb the exercise = use the energies in time and not in space (dramatic force in the moment of immobility when the energies are gathered to be then thrown in one direction). … Improvisation? We don't start from emotions but from actions. The movement has no meaning in itself, it is the context that decides its meaning. Energy is the mark of a mental process.

In other situations (during the seminars given by Oriental masters hosted in Holstebro after the ISTA in Bonn), Carreri acted as a pupil. She recorded many notes and remarks from Eugenio Barba's speeches: “In Japan, in Nō, the actors use 3/10 in space and 7/10 in time”. There are technical notes to remember exercises and sequences in her own personal training (with objects: fan, mask), other indications on the vocal training and the photocopy of Molly Bloom's last monologue (Roberta Carreri worked repeatedly on this a text and it can be found in later notebooks; it was finally included in the 1996 work demonstration The whispering winds in theatre and dance). The second part (1981) mostly contains working notes on the improvisations in the rehearsal room with the other actors and Eugenio Barba, with numerous transcriptions of the director's speeches and the actors' remarks. Barba:

Repetition is the opposite of improvisation. There are three ways to improvise: 1) improvisation based on a montage (selected sequence of texts); 2) improvisation of the 1960s: personal, expressing the person. Its nature is pathological (as mad people, we see things that do not exist). The theme is always very banal. The improvisation is always static and not dramatic. If it isn't dramatic, it is because you let yourselves be carried away by one single element and this is wrong, banal. 3) Improvisation, relationship among the actors – relationship with the audience (= performance).

8

A notebook with black cover and red sides “1981” (labelled b. 17B by OTA for the scanning process). It covers the period from February 1981 to June 1981 and does not deal with a performance (there are only hints to a new version of The Million); it mostly contains transcriptions of Eugenio Barba's speeches and notes on the actors' individual training. It opens with the transcription of a long speech by Barba to the ensemble explaining some of the changes decided for the administrative management of the theatre and new strategies to face financial difficulties:

Some were very happy to come back to Holstebro and see that a long working period awaited us. For others it was the opposite: it was like going back to prison. I was still naive enough to believe that the situation would be different: a more favourable situation that would give us the old working conditions, the Lost Paradise. I don't think I will find the Lost Paradise because something has changed: myself. We can analyse the situation this way: objectively, we are 12 people and all different from each other. We can only meet by making a performance that includes everyone. The whole basis of our work is no longer useful because we have developed so differently from each other that the only point of contact left is the performance… and the individual training, which I can't follow for everyone and every day. Everything works yet I am “on my guard” because I feel betrayed. I examined the history of the group to see when a situation of change was positive for the ensemble: 1) after Ferai 2) after the journey to Southern Italy. The only way to change the group, to give to the group the chance to express its forces. It is as if death no longer existed, as if this theatre became “Eternal”. We need to create a new situation which mobilizes everyone and I am the only one who can strike a blow. I withdraw completely from the work we've done so far. You still have the possibility to approach a “super expert”. Each one of you can help a colleague in the training, why should I do it? I want to make a performance with you but not all of you because to make a performance together we would still have to wait 14 months. My idea is to stage three performances this year. We can split up in 3 groups and every group is responsible for its training, music and readings. Everyone is responsible for their own ethics. I've stopped playing the sergeant. In every group there can be one person who observes the training […] When a performance is being prepared, the law of the jungle is in force and the strongest get stronger […]. Things need to be taken to their extreme consequences to let negative tendencies become positive. When someone is leaving the ensemble I ask why they do it and I've done the same with myself. I wish to travel with Kim, the young man who has strength and can suck on my wisdom. […] But does this need I have weigh on the fact that we are separating? I do not think so. Every year we need to earn 400.000 or half a million crowns on tour. I do not think we can make it. This year and the next one we can make it thanks to the ISTA but in June ’82 we will find ourselves in a very serious situation. I've decided to close the theatre for 4 months to balance the accounts and to avoid financial loss. […] Increasing the production cannot solve our financial problems. I wish to do only what I want and I am ready to pay a price for it. I want to be paid only for 11 months. This doesn't mean that I want to move away from the theatre. From now on I will ask one of you to write a diary of the Odin. Every actor will receive a colour and on a big calendar we will write the periods of the courses and other teaching work, and the guest performances. The groups: a) Francis, Ulrik, E.M., Tage b) for training: Toni, Rob., Silvia, Gustavo; for performances: Toni, Gustavo c) Torgeir, Iben, Julia. […] The groups decide on the performances – with text. By dividing in groups we can have greater mobility. In September we will break these principles.

Next, there are notes on the training, on the individual work in the rehearsal room, sketches and drawings of actions and improvisations, notes about Roberta Carreri's personal thoughts and emotions, and other transcriptions of Barba's comments. The notebook ends with another transcription of a long speech by Barba in June 1981, in which he announces the calendar of future engagements to the actors and analyses the present situation:

I see that you are getting old and our relationship changes; the tendency that is developing is to build one's presence outside of the group. This gives me the impression of a new spring/puberty. The time of romance is gone. Now life with the Odin resembles a marriage. Between compassion and indifference there lies tenderness. […] It is important for everyone to develop their new identity but it is also important to keep a common moment. In October we will all meet once again for 2 and half months and we'll work for us. In March-April we should perform Come! and then start the future performance. It should have been about the life of Christ but technically (considering time) it is impossible. Therefore there will be more “smaller performances” (Godot. King Oedipus). Small groups have more mobility. I thought of calling this composite performance: “The story of the vagabond” (Jesus was a vagabond, Oedipus was a vagabond, Don Chisciotte, Nijinski). A gathering of vagabonds. Then I thought of calling it “From the periphery to the Empire” and then “Voodoo”. A performance that is changing all the time. We can only create the performance from the situations we have. […] Working on Brecht brings me closer to you. It is like a baby born dumb who learns to speak. What bothers me most is that there is a way to work with me in the training and in the performance that is very intimate. In the training you have to continue by yourselves. Do not make the mistake that all directors make: to stop reading. Do

9 not make the mistake that all actors make: to stop training. As actors you have to be attractive for the director. Being attractive results from finding an explanation to why one is working.

A notebook with marbled cover labelled 1981 (labelled b. 17C by OTA for the scanning process). The writing is only on one side and it covers the period from April 1981 to September 1982. It contains some indications about The Million, the first notes on a new version of the performance Brecht's Ashes, annotations on the training and the work in the rehearsal room, and transcriptions of speeches by Eugenio Barba to the complete ensemble. There are notes taken in Otranto during the shooting of a film by Dieter Mendelsohn about the performance Come! And the day will be ours dated 1982; very detailed transcriptions with drawings of Roberta Carreri's actions and movements in space in relation to her colleagues; Roberta Carreri's notes and reflections on the training:

19.8.1982 Two days without training. Can one stop praying? When one believes? A pause to recharge the batteries. I've always forced myself to continue in the moment the training became painful, physically painful. Now for the first time I've allowed myself a break for two days. The more I trained, the more my muscles shrank. It seemed like a contradiction to me. I felt that the energies I was radiating in the room were less and less and after the training I was a sort of zombie for the rest of the day. […] A week ago I touched a very high point. Through my body my soul reconnected to the other part of myself. I WAS. But it is as if this sort of meditations through the body require all my energies. Outwardly I'm not moving but at the level of nerves this form of training demands as much as a performance. The training of this form of energy is actually the real training for the actor. As Katsuko said: enlarge one's ray of vibrations. […] Everyone must walk the desert alone, no one can walk through it in your place. I can't understand how I could now stop training for 2 days if a few days ago I wrote that salvation lies in the continuity of the work. Perhaps to demonstrate I can do it (I can stop). There are many things I do (are done) because one knows them to be right. Now I feel like questioning every step. Re-discover the meaning by feeling its absence.

A notebook with marbled cover labelled “1981-2-3 BRECHT” (labelled b. 17C by OTA for the scanning process). The writing is only on one side and it covers the period from April 1981 to September 1983. It is all about the second version of Brecht's Ashes: it contains transcriptions of Barba's speeches, reflections by Roberta Carreri on the work in the rehearsal room (repetitions and rehearsals of single scenes) and even remarks about the actress's state of mind, written immediately before entering the stage (in this period Alice – Roberta Carreri's daughter – was still a child and followed Odin Teatret on tour).

Carreri, b. 18 It contains five notebooks from 1982 (but the fourth one covers the period from 1982 to 1984): 1) A white and yellow striped notebook (from April to June 82, labelled b. 18A by OTA for the scanning process): it is mainly about a project on a short story by Borges, The dead man. After a long time and many transformations, this will become The Gospel according to Oxyrhyncus (see also Fonds Barba, series Barba-Odin, b. 27 and Fonds Odin Teatret, series Perf-A, b. 4). Photocopies of Borges's short story, notes. 4.04.1982. A speech by Barba to his actors: “Everyone needs their own compass. In this labyrinth we are now facing eleven different paths to follow. In reality, the exit is a different one and even the twelfth person doesn't know it. This is the role of the twelfth person. It is not by chance that we are 12. I (Eugenio) will be Judas. Thanks to Judas the story unfolds. If he hadn't been there, Christ would have died of old age”. On 19 May there is Barba's speech about the “book of actors” (see Fonds Carreri, b. 3; Fonds Odin Teatret, series Activities, b. 45), and its great importance for him. On 21 May there is a shift from Borges to the myths, particularly Oedipus (Antigone and Polynices will be characters in The Gospel). This work follows the first ISTA sessions, the situation in the rehearsal room is apparently very similar but actually profoundly different from the past. For example, there are several assistant directors (probably former participants to the second ISTA session in Volterra) and there are transcriptions of many of Eugenio Barba's speeches, which are explanations to his actors as well as to his very young assistants.

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2) A blue notebook with white clouds on the cover: July ’82 (labelled b. 18B by OTA for the scanning process). It is a diary of the trip to Africa (see also Carreri b. 2). Dori, 13-7-1982:

With the sun directly overhead, my head can barely cast a shadow over these few lines. Two children pass by: “Roberta”. I answer “ça va?”. They know me now in Dori. This morning at 10.30 ‘market action’. Alone in a small-big African market. A crowd of children following me. Watch out for the bunch of youths, that they don't crush the goods carefully laid on the mats. Respect the elderly and the women. Especially the women look at me with ‘closed’ eyes. Diffident.

3) A notebook with mauve cover, September ’82- March ’83 (labelled b. 18C by OTA for the scanning process). Inside, there are loose pages from other periods. Frequent personal notes. 4) A green notebook: from September 1982 to September 1983 (labelled b. 18D by OTA for the scanning process). In some way this is the diary of Barba's sabbatical year, which apparently had a strong impact on the actors. 15-10-1982:

2 p.m.: Meeting with Nando. Practical problems 1) my personal problem. I am afraid of being shut out of Odin's life. When E. was here, he called me and told me about the programmes and what could be said or not. Now how can I know about it? Who should I talk to? I didn't know the dates of the Italian tour. 2) problem of the Italian intellectuals (Fabrizio [Cruciani], Franco [Ruffini], Ugo [Volli], Piero [Giacchè], Claudio Meldolesi, Nicola [Savarese]). When the Odin was on tour it was presented by conferences given by Eugenio. Will these conferences continue? It would be negative if the intellectuals took Eugenio's place in other countries.

Carreri has a young daughter and perhaps for this reason she is somewhat outside the life of the theatre. During the sabbatical year the preparation of the “book of actors” continues. Individual and group work continues too. Carreri often takes notes on her work with a deckchair, a shawl, a fan (this seems the kind of material that will appear in Judith in 1987). She sometimes calls this work the “white lady”. Simultaneously, she starts working with Torgeir and Francis on a common project, which takes the shape of a mystery story (but it will remain a project). Nando Taviani proposes to write a scenario for them. This will be Come un pugno quando si apre la mano (As a fist when you open your hand); Carreri kept a copy of the scenario dated June 1982 (labelled b. 18F by OTA for the scanning process; see also Fonds Wethal b. 25). 21 aprile ’83, Barba announces a meeting after the holidays, “he wants to know who among us is available, how and when. He wants to know our personal and group programmes after 1 December. Write a group letter and a personal letter”. Several speeches by Barba are recorded in the diary after his return, which was apparently problematic. 10-9-1983:

I must admit I was very tempted not to come back, due to problems that are here and that I have collaborated to create: I am responsible for them. I feel like Omar, who persecuted Mohammed. Odin Teatret has become a big palace where I no longer have the possibility to create. The palace is inside the people. I can see that I have built something that perhaps contains all the elements I would like to eliminate. We have become old, not biologically but in another way […] My return is a big challenge. We are unique in the history of theatre: we have been together for 19 years! Will we be able to remain together while respecting personal needs and the meaning of Odin Teatret? We are now entering the middle age. All that was ‘new’ to us is disappearing. Group theatre has become a supermarket. There are groups who are ashamed of us. We are facing the desert, and in the desert we can see if we are strong.

5) A white notebook. From September to November 1982 (labelled b. 18E by OTA for the scanning process). It mainly concerns the meetings of Odin Teatret actors (the problem is always Barba's sabbatical: what they want to do during this year, and generally their relationship to Odin Teatret and to doing theatre).

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Carreri, b. 19 A diary dated 1983, covering the period from 8 September 1983 to 15 January 1985. The diary opens with an article cut out from a newspaper and dedicated to the breaking up of Teatr- Laboratorium, entitled La diaspora di Grotowski. It contains notes on Roberta Carreri's work composed of warm-up, training and composition (some recurring words: slow motion, working with eyes, dynamic stops, walks, segmentation, sticks, throwing). Long pages are dedicated to Odin Teatret's time in Bogotá, Colombia, during that year. A lot of information and notes on the meetings dedicated to the creation of the book of Odin actors proposed by Franco Quadri and never published, of which several typescripts are kept in the binders of the Fonds Odin Teatret, series Publications-B (see Fonds Odin Teatret, series Environment, b. 11). Information about the transformation of Odin Teatret into an independent institution named Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium. There are interesting references to the work on a deckchair with texts by T.S. Eliot; related remarks can also be found at the end of the diary:

In the attic I found a black kimono jacket. I am using it during the work on the deckchair with the text “Portrait of a lady” by Eliot. Hair let down. For the dance with the fan I use the first track by Brian Eno, then the last 3 short tracks. Eugenio has taken away all hope of utilizing the trening [Odin actors generally use the Danish word “trening” instead of the English “training”] but I can't avoid aiming it at something.

The work in the rehearsal room with some of the objects repeatedly mentioned in the diaries, and specifically the fan, the deckchair and the kimono, precedes Roberta Carreri's journey to Japan and is part of her training in that period. This will merge with the separate work developed with Natsu Nakajima and Kazuo Ohno on Butō, for the construction of the final “score” for the solo performance Judith.

Carreri, b. 20 It contains six notebooks from 1984. Some notebooks contain post-it notes added by Carreri while working on her book Tracce. - The first two notebooks have checkered dark covers (labelled b. 20D and b. 20E by OTA for the scanning process). Texts and descriptions of actions for the new performance (The Gospel according to Oxyrhyncus); - A notebook with brown marbled cover: notes on the rehearsals. Creation of the “marble” (in Odin working terminology: materials proposed by the actors to Barba who “sculpts” them for the performance). The rehearsals are different from the 1982 project described in other diaries (the project based on a short story by Borges). Borges is still one of the six stories mingled in the performance. The theme of the apocryphal gospels and the red cloths appear: all elements which will be typical of the final performance. It is a very interesting notebook (labelled b. 20C by OTA for the scanning process); - A black notebook “Diario Brecht – Milione 1984” (labelled b. 20D by OTA for the scanning process). These are notes on the tours, starting from the one to New York, which is an important tour. Carreri always records the place and the date of her notes. N.Y. 26 April 1984: “I didn't believe it was still possible to be nervous for a ‘première’, not even in N.Y. – especially in N.Y. But the nervousness has promptly arrived. I promptly commit to keeping it at bay. I think of the theatre groups that do relaxation exercises before the performance… have you ever seen a rugby team doing relaxation?”. N.Y. 27 April 1984: “Yesterday night, during the first scene in the dark, the audience laughed at the irony of the text. It is the first time in five years. This made me nervous. Here, the way the audience watches is different. The culture is different. The rhythm of life is different. I don't have the slightest idea of how the performance was perceived. Here the audience is a real challenge! But I begin to understand that maybe not all challenges lead to improvement …”. N.Y. 5 May 1984: “Yoko Ono and Rudolf Nureyev have booked a ticket for tonight. I wonder if they come. It will be strange to see them wait to come in, in line with the others (according to 12

Nando Taviani, Yoko Ono went to the performance; Nureyev went too but arrived late and was not allowed inside). - A notebook with green marbled cover (labelled b. 20E by OTA for the scanning process). October 1984-November 1985. The work for Oxyrhyncus is resumed and the première will be presented after the summer of ’85. Initially the work encountered many perplexities from the actors, the performance looked more superficial, full of problems, and Barba explained too much (mostly to his assistant directors), which made the actors perceive everything as too explicit. Towards the end of the work, the mood of the actors seemed to change (at least Carreri's mood). The audience and the critics will consider Oxyrhyncus as one of the most important performances of Odin Teatret. 15 January 1985:

Eugenio made this performance almost totally in the rehearsal room, asking us for proposals to solve the scenes. Very well. On the other hand it seems that Eugenio is looking for a cheap way to cope with the performance by refusing direct confrontation with anyone of us […] my characters have no vital space. They do not exist. The marble never became a sculpture. We produced marble and it is up to Eugenio to sculpt it but it feels as if he doesn't dare to handle the chisel. I would have liked to talk to him today but then I thought it wasn't worth it while Nando [Taviani] is here. Most of all I need to find the centre in myself, find the life of my characters and then ask Eugenio for justice!

17-1-’85: “we are in the Sargasso sea. Nothing seems to happen in the provisional sequence. I need to lay my feet on steady ground”. 26-1-’85: “I cannot get rid of the impression that E. doesn't love this performance. He is missing the ‘visceral motivation’ and the performance remains ‘superficial’. It is a series of images that is hard not to view as arbitrary. The aim is missing. But isn't this perhaps the real message? In our era it is difficult to find an aim – beyond arbitrary faith. There is a need to believe in something. This is a performance about faith”. 13-2-’85: “The speed at which the performance is shaping, is progressively increasing. The image that we have carried in our eyes for months is now revealing itself in front of our eyes”. - A dark-covered notebook with white horizontal stripes (labelled b. 20F by OTA for the scanning process): inside there are some typewritten pages dated ’87 (comparison between the actor and a bullfighter, after meeting a senior former bullfighter). The rest of the notebook however is dated ’84. The notes are mainly in block letters, with general remarks: “It was like being born again, and few things are as painful as birth”. 18-8-’84. “There are different stages in the training of the actor, as many stages as there are different forms of need. At first the training was for me a form of ‘daily challenge’ that had to unveil how big my necessity was to join this theatre group, abandon my life as a university student and become an actress. For two years the sense of the training was in doing it”.

Carreri, b. 21 It contains four notebooks dated 1985-1986, 1986, 1986-1987: 1) A diary with pink cover with flowers dated 1985-86 covering the period from 23 January 1985 to 29 July 1986 (labelled b. 21A by OTA for the scanning process). The diary is predominantly dedicated to the training. It contains different kinds of reflections and notes:

Another first day of trening. Always searching for the “essential point”. Searching for the new-old driving force. The old one is still connected to mastering one's body. The new one is connected to mastering the expression of emotions, especially through the eyes and the changes in rhythms. In the work I try to focus on the wall, I look for the small resistance point that sets my active- creative presence in motion. Sometimes I find them [it]. Second day of trening. It is still more difficult to find the thread back. At times, in my attempts, I find again the patterns of the work with the white lady. Flamenco positions have re-emerged. I feel alive and young working with Japanese music like I feel when I wear blue jeans and sneakers. I am now thinking of TELLING A FAIRY TALE FOR ADULTS.

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The notebook also contains the notes from a speech to the actors by Eugenio Barba. It deals with group dynamics and with the need for new stimuli, as well as the genesis and development of The Gospel according to Oxyrhyncus (see Fonds Odin Teatret, series Perf-A, b. 4 and Fonds Odin Teatret, series Perf-B, b. 10). Remarks and notes on the material that is developing in the training and that will slowly lead to her solo performance Judith in 1987:

The most difficult thing is a story that I can tell ALONE and that lends itself to be STYLISED while containing all the NECESSARY MARKS for the audience to understand. Facial expression. Separated voice. Neutral. With text.

And later: I've started working with the fan again. I've found in the body the different connections with the requirement: a) Fan in a straight line and my body adapting to it – generic oppositions b) Open fan – flowers – butterflies – geisha – round movements c) Immobility in movement (white lady) – closed fan d) “Dance” with speed changes – “flamenco” (thin feet) e) The fan ends up with the tip pointed at my stomach – I move closer – I dodge – the fan continues. I think it is now necessary for me to go back to fixing movement sequences if I don't want to waste years of training work. − Working with the stick − With the oppositions − With the balance = statues and walks − With the speed of movements (“jumps” in throwing) − With the mask − With the chair − With the fan − Dance of the little man with Japanese music.

The Japanese influence of Butō is perceivable from the beginning of the diary. From half way through, the diary contains notes about Roberta Carreri's time in Tokyo under the guidance of Natsu Nakajima, with descriptions of the exercises proposed by the master and reflections (see Tracce. Training e storia di un’attrice dell’Odin Teatret, Milano, Edizioni Il Principe Costante, 2007). The last notes were taken at the time of Roberta Carreri's return to Holstebro and apparently describe a new performance work with Eugenio Barba. 2) A diary notebook with Japanese patterns on the white cover labelled “1986 JAPAN” (labelled b. 21D by OTA for the scanning process). The notebook contains notes on both sides: on one side there are notes about texts Roberta Carreri read, for example Ezra Pound, and reflections especially about performances the actress saw during her trip to Japan; on the other side the book contains daily diary notes:

Bunraku is a miracle. Three lives to give birth to a doll. The exceptional collaboration of 3 people is necessary to give all the nuances needed to make the doll come ALIVE. Rhythm – the 3 dance together and their dance becomes a miracle. It is impossible to reach something like this without using a lifetime... several lifetimes. Bunraku is unique. It is wonderful that the core, the character of the puppets' movement is the same as what Kazuo Ohno teaches us – KOKORO. I believe this is the most important word for Ohno and in Nipponese culture. To be in constant contact with the heart. To live in the heart of things – the heart of the moment. What is wonderful in Bunraku is that it intensifies every movement, also thanks to the fact that the puppets have a wider field of action. […] But what is most extraordinary is that, despite all its beauty (of the costumes, the design, the texts, the puppets), Bunraku (like Nō and Kabuki) mostly ends up being BORING! It is beautiful to see the movements of the puppets. The sweet undulation of the female “bodies”... but only the “action” movements are worthwhile – because they capture the attention. I am not just talking about me! Several Japanese people fell asleep during the dialogues, when the action didn't support the words! 14

3) A diary notebook with flowers on the green cover dated 1986-1987, covering the period from 5 January 1986 to 4 July 1987 (labelled b. 21C by OTA for the scanning process). The diary opens with the report of a møde (weekly meeting of the whole group to exchange information), followed by the report of a new year meeting with Eugenio Barba to plan the following months and the collective meetings. Reactions. Then a series of reports of the various presentations of The Gospel according to Oxyrhyncus on tour in Italy, Germany, Sweden, Uruguay, Mexico. 4) A diary notebook with flowers on the blue cover dated 1986-1987, covering the period from 30 July 1986 to 6 August 1987 (labelled b. 21B by OTA for the scanning process). It contains notes about meetings regarding administrative issues, among other things. Reflections on dance and energy. Thoughts about the shift from the group training, still strongly influenced by the exercises observed by Eugenio Barba at Grotowski's Teatr-Laboratorium, to the training of the so- called “Swiss exercises” developed by Iben Nagel Rasmussen with her group Farfa. Another topic is the ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology) organized for September 1986. Meetings with other groups, especially from Latin America. In November a new ensemble project is proposed for the following year but Roberta Carreri decides not to take part in it and to dedicate herself to the project Maddalena, later to become the performance Judith. There are ample notes about texts on which to work for the performance or texts and characters influencing her interpretation at this stage. New objects are introduced in the work, now discussed with and partly followed by Eugenio Barba. On different pages of the notebook, working notes from the training:

Exercises for the body. Strengthen the muscles of the neck, pelvis, legs and back. Stretch the tendons and muscles of legs and back. Cubist segmentation of the body including the legs. Extremely slow walks with explosions of energy (to be used with the fan). SHAMISEN MUSIC: staccato as BUNRAKU puppet. Eye out of focus, following the movements of the head. Segmented movement of all limbs and spine with “psychadelic light”. This slowly transforms into a flowing movement and then into the dance of the “Balinese chameleon”. Chair. VOICE. Very syncopated rhythm with Arabic sounding syllables. Low tone voice (as if gasping for air *= make the spectator gasp for air). Use natural phenomena as reference points to say the text. AS A STREAM BECOMING A RIVER AND FLOWING INTO THE SEA. AS WIND THROUGH THE WOODS OR THE CITY STREETS, FROM ALLEYS TO SQUARES SOUNDS LIKE CHIRPING CICADAS OR A CRYING SEAGULL OR A BLEATING GOAT OR A BUZZING BUMBLEBEE OR A SOFTLY ROARING PUSSYCAT OR (CHINESE) MEOWING OR A HISSING SNAKE Sounds to “create” the desert of penance.

Carreri, b. 22 It contains two notebooks dated 1987-88. 1) A white and blue notebook with lilies on the cover, dated 1987-88 (labelled b. 22A by OTA for the scanning process). The diary describes trips, mostly with the performance Judith. Notes about materials needed for Judith. Notes about friends who come to see the performance while she is touring in Italy – the actors from Teatro Tascabile in Bergamo, the actors from Pontedera. Difficulties in touring with the performance alone (1-9-1987: “yesterday was my worst performance. I was very emotional because my family was there – and precision went to hell”).

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Meeting with the colleagues, including newcomers. Ulrik Skeel is leaving, he will not take part in the next performance (he will come back to Odin Teatret to work as organizer). 2) Black notebook May-October ’88 (labelled b. 22B by OTA for the scanning process). Various notes (“proposal to buy a dishwasher for the theatre: rejected”).

Carreri, b. 23 It contains three notebooks from 1988. 1) A small green notebook with marbled cover: September-December ’88 (labelled b. 23A by OTA for the scanning process). “Hamlet” project (love dialogues between Hamlet and Ophelia taken from the Gītagovinda). Tour to Lima and Santiago. Barba's presentation (14-2-88): “I founded Odin Teatret 24 years ago with Torgeir. He is Norwegian, I am Italian etc.”. A long description of the beginnings: there were no theatre groups back then. We contributed something every week to pay for the rehearsal room etc. 2) A blue notebook, 1989. “Winter Seeds” (labelled b. 23C by OTA for the scanning process). A 3- month seminar with six pupils. Together with the notebook, we kept two envelopes of photographs given by Carreri, with images of “face masks” (Grotowski's training). 3) A white notebook with black vertical stripes dated 1988-89-90-91 (labelled b. 23D by OTA for the scanning process). A photograph of Carreri wearing the black trousers and T-shirt of her work demonstration Traces in the snow. She is touring alone with the performance Judith. (9-11-88: “What peace doing a performance alone! I really want to prepare another performance, like a second act of Judith. Not to be shown together, but two performances that make sense if seen one after the other”). The diary is mostly about touring.

Carreri, b. 24 It contains three notebooks dated 1989-1990. 1) A grey notebook about training and workshops (labelled b. 24A by OTA for the scanning process). 6-11-1989:

Black room. Here I am again. Starting from zero. As soon as I enter the space my body starts making gestures and sounds. Potential beginning of a dance. Rhythm marked by my hands on my body. Then slow motion on the floor. Desire to work, create, tell stories. Now that I've decided to take a year without thinking and worrying about a new work, now the need reappears. The need was always there because since I started Judith I stopped training.

2) A black notebook with red side: May 1990-June 1991 (labelled b. 24C by OTA for the scanning process). Notes on the ISTA session in Bologna. Notes about tours and presentations. Spoken improvisations. This notebook is more difficult to follow than other ones. 3) Notebook 1990, partly ruined by water (labelled b. 24B by OTA for the scanning process).

Carreri, b. 25 It contains: - A white notebook with patterns on the cover (labelled b. 25A by OTA for the scanning process). It gathers notes from ’91 to ’97. It is a “well of thoughts” as the actress calls it, where Carreri records thoughts, possibilities, free associations for actions and projects. Associations of ideas about Rimbaud (Rimbaud's sister: Torgeir Wethal contemplated a Rimbaud project for years). There are also photocopies of a diary from ’94 (still on the project “Rimbaud's sister”: evidently the actress took notes on the topic and, following her rigorous logic, she photocopied the notes and placed them here). Among other things, there are notes about books, drawings, reflections. Sequences of actions that will later be included in other works (there is for example the drawing of a bowl and jug next to a towel reminding of a scene from Salt, the 2002 performance with Carreri and the musician Jan Ferslev). Photocopies of texts. Postcards. A bundle of pages (belonging to a different situation than

16 the rest of the notebook; the pages are in fact about the preparation for a workshop and Roberta folded them – to mark them as a 'foreign body'). - A notebook with flower patterns (labelled b. 25B by OTA for the scanning process). Apparently a notebook about workshops. From half way through the notebook (6 January ’92): “In January the new performance starts. Eugenio wants a professional who can play piano, accordeon and violin. This performance should be a reply to The book of dances and The Million. Eugenio promised it in Belo Horizonte in Brasil”. 3-2-1992 (apparently notes from a speech by Barba): “We have to furnish the room for a performance that has to do with the sea. Do not think of objects, think of creating different levels that allow us to go deeper. Different levels and light objects. We are on a beach, there are men and women waiting. Is it dawn or sunset?”. These could be the very first steps for Kaosmos, although the notebook is about the training. Notes about songs and music. - A notebook with pink, orange and blue patterns on the cover (labelled b. 25C by OTA for the scanning process). The period covered is from 1991 to 2011. This is one of the diaries about the tours with Judith. 21-9-1991:

Often, when people ask me how I prepare for a performance, I answer with a question: did you get married? Because essentially the preparation I do before a performance is the same you would do on your wedding day: waking up. Washing, drinking tea. Putting on light make-up and perfume, cutting and caring for my nails, wearing the (wedding) dress. Simple actions that are ritualised and therefore enhance the contact with one's centre: they increase one's con-centration.

Remarks about the state of the performance spaces and about small incidents (Poznań, 10-10-1991: “we cleaned the floor six times and still when you touch it the hand picks up dirt [becomes grey]. A very ugly room – pure socialist style ‘no-nonsense, keep to the essentials’”). A fascinating notebook. Wrocław, 14-10-1991:

Sitting in the dressing rooms of the Teatr-Laboratorium, I'm thinking about the fact that 30 years ago Eugenio was here. I think of myself now in this same place. Self-confident enough not to feel intimidated at all by the vibration of this place, quite the opposite… I feel well between these walls. Especially between the black walls and the brick wall of the performance space. The space that was abandoned by its actors and director in 1981, ten years ago [actually, when Barba was at Teatr-Laboratorium it was located in Opole].

Carreri, b. 26 It contains three diaries dated 1992, 1992-1993, 1993-1994-1995 (labelled b. 26A, b. 26B, b. 26C by OTA for the scanning process). One of the diaries, with a yellow marbled cover labelled “1992 ‘KAOSMOS’”, contains handwritten notes from 7 May 1992 to 11 September 1992. The diary starts with the first meeting in the black room about the new ensemble work of Odin Teatret, inspired by Rudyard Kipling's The book of the jungle, of which the actors read the first chapter.

Carreri, b. 27 - A black notebook with red side dated 1993-1994-1995 (labelled b. 27A by OTA for the scanning process). Photographs. Group meetings “Eugenio says that Shakuntala was important because it was like the first Odin Teatret parade in Castrignano. Barba says that Shakuntala didn't work because he didn't have experience. E. desires to use the richness of Theatrum Mundi to make a great performance based on the theme of Prospero's island, The island of labyrinths” (on Shakuntala see b. 8 in Fonds Carreri; Fonds Barba, series Barba-Odin, b. 34; Fonds Wethal, b. 49 and Fonds Odin Teatret, Perf-A, b. 3). Training, 8-2-1994:

17

I am working alone in the white room. It is difficult to ‘re-create’ a training taking into account all my ailments. A training that allows me to articulate the force I have in me without destroying my body. A training that is like ‘physiotherapy’ but allows me to ‘dance’. I tried my ‘breath dance’, first without, then with music. I thought music would help me – it blocked me instead. Music danced, I tried to follow it.

They are organizing the celebrations for their thirtieth anniversary. ISTA [International School of Theatre Anthropology] in Londrina. Londrina, 19-8-’94: it records the emergence of the mother character in Kaosmos (1993). - Klee notebook: 1995 (labelled b. 27B by OTA for the scanning process). About the project Karantener (see also Carreri b. 10). A photograph portraying Odin Teatret posing like the Moscow Art Theatre in a famous photograph during the staging of The three sisters. See also Barba-Odin, b. 32. The experimentation occurs in Iben Nagel Rasmussen's house in Ryde. It begins (31-1-1995) with a speech by Barba about the “quaggas” (a crossbreed of zebras and horses extinct in 1838, which he had heard about during a very long journey from Quito to Bogotá):

During this long journey from Quito to Bogotá I tried to dispel the fear by thinking of the Quaggas, and I wondered what it meant. Why did they make me think of Nostalgia? Nostalgia is what drives me forward. Something you have and cannot lose. In reality, what belongs to us is only what we have lost […] and now concretely, how can we proceed? The key lies in the word nostalgia, absence. Then I have to disappear, but my absence has to be very strong to hold you in my hand. We don't know why I disappear. There is a group without a director because he has disappeared. But his chair is present. The actors gather around the empty chair, brought together by the nostaglia for the time they gathered around him; but each of them has to follow their inner voice and this causes solitude and separation to be your destiny. But before separating you need to have one last celebration, in a way that would make the absent one burst into hearty laughter.

The celebration consists in the staging of a performance which (according to the same speech by Barba) will be a performance about stones, as well as a classical text, The three sisters, with plenty of text for Roberta.

Carreri, b. 28 Two notebooks dated 1995-1996. 1) A black notebook with red side “’95-96” (labelled b. 28A by OTA for the scanning process): diverse notes, difficult to decipher. 2) A notebook (female figure on the cover?) about journeys and tours (labelled b. 28B by OTA for the scanning process), mostly for the performance Kaosmos: the audience is suddenly larger or smaller, quality of the actress's presence, organizational problems.

Carreri, b. 29 It contains three notebooks: 1) Cover with animals. January ’97- May ’98 (labelled b. 29C by OTA for the scanning process). This notebook is about the creation of the performance Mythos. Cut-outs from magazines of luxury and bizarre outfits, which was the first hypothesis for the costumes of this performance. A long speech by Barba to inaugurate the work (see also Eugenio Barba, Il prossimo spettacolo (The next performance), L’Aquila, Textus, 1999). 15-4-1997:

We enter the white room. Torgeir tests the design – the sounds – the space – the structures (Oxy plus Kaosmos). Two towers. Two portals, two black cloths. The floor of gravel and stones. A line of shells hanging between the two towers. The room is cold and humid, inhospitable. The lights are blinding. Torgeir throws the big stones and lets them land violently. They raise smoke and dust. Then he composes them into a throne-tombstone […] The dust raised by the colleagues while working goes directly into our lungs … this stage design will affect the use of our voices […] We resume after the break and rebuild the space as it was originally. Iben-Roberta-Julia-Isabel [this is clearly Barba speaking] one at a time. Behind the courtain are four baskets – take one basket each and place the contents where you want in the garden. Every basket contains something specific; Iben: you are Medea, in the basket are the remains of

18 your children, when you lay them in the garden you have to choose how to do it. If you want you can also use your voice. When you are finished you exit and Roberta enters. Make a gesture meaning “silence”. If you go on the stones you make noise. Roberta: you are a woman who goes to collect the body of her brother Hector, and you are a woman who can see the future and talk about it. Nobody believes you. You are Cassandra. Your brother was smashed by Achilles and you lay his body in the garden. You can use your voice. You can perform a ritual-funeral. Julia, in your basket are the remains of your husband, you killed him with great pleasure: you are Clytemnestra laying the remains of Agamemnon in the garden. Isabel [Isabel Ubeda, she took part in the performance Kaosmos, for Mythos she only participated in a few early rehearsals], in your basket are the remains of your father, the man you slept with for 14 nights. You are Smyrna [or Myrrha], the woman condemned by the gods to fall in love with her father.

Reports on the rehearsals, on the films they watch with “Nando” Taviani (Medea by Pasolini). Roberta reads Cassandra by Christa Wolf. There are photographs of the first attempts to use the mountains of wooden hands commissioned by Barba for the stage design (floor covered with gravel). Photograph of a fashion model from which Carreri copied the make-up for the eyes of her Cassandra. - Small red notebook: Seville, February 1997 (labelled b. 29B by OTA for the scanning process): “Certainly the first teacher is the one who marks you: she marks your mind and your body, establishing a learning system. With Carmen I have learned in a ‘gipsy’ but disciplined way”. The diary is about the journey to Spain that Carreri makes in order to learn flamenco. Just a few pages are written. - A notebook with ducks on the cover; it contains some notes from ’96, then from February 1997 to February 1998: Ode to progress (the notebook was labelled b. 29A by OTA for the scanning process). Notes about text and actions. Organisation of the final bows for the curtain call (differently from Odin Teatret's habits). Diverse notes (among other things, the presentation of the book Il crocevia del Ponte d’Era by Mirella Schino, about 'group theatre' in Italy). Notes about Mythos, especially about texts, probably from the work with Barba for the performance.

Carreri, b. 30 It contains: - A notebook with cover with patterns in the middle and green to the sides labelled “MYTHOS 1998-1999-2000-2001” (labelled b. 30B by OTA for the scanning process). It is written only on one side, it covers the period from April 1998 to November 2003, and it is about the performance Mythos. It mainly contains notes taken after showings of the performance in Denmark and on tour, with remarks about the audience's reactions; Barba's indications for the performance; notes and letters sent by spectators to Roberta Carreri after seeing the performance. - A notebook with black cover and red sides labelled “1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004” (labelled b. 30A by OTA for the scanning process). It is written only on one side, it covers the period from August 1998 to March 2004, very diverse topics. It also contains some loose sheets of paper with notes handwritten by Roberta Carreri and various leaflets of activities organised by Odin Teatret or in which Odin Teatret participated (a leaflet about the celebration for the 35th anniversary of Odin Teatret in 1999; it corresponded to the year of Grotowski's death therefore the celebration was to him dedicated [“Til Jurek”]; inside the leaflet there is the Italian text of the letter written by the exiled poet Li-Po to his friend So-Kin, later set to music by Frans Winther and included in the performance The great cities under the moon). The first pages contain notes from the 1998 ISTA session in Montemor-o-Novo focusing on the theme of organicity; the photocopy of a fax sent by Roberta Carreri and Torgeir Wethal to Antonio Tabucchi and his wife Zé Lancastre in September 1998 to thank them for a performance they presented in Lisboa. Notes about different worrkshops given by Roberta Carreri and/or Torgeir Wethal, and messages from participants expressing their gratitude. 22.2.1999: very detailed notes with drawings and comments about Roberta Carreri's improvisation for Ode to progress. Very detailed descriptions of physical scores with lists of single actions. Fragments of texts for work demonstrations and performances (including the final page of the Italian text of A doll's house by Ibsen, used by Roberta Carreri in the

19 work demonstration with Torgeir Wethal Dialogue between two actors, with side notations of some of the physical actions). The schedule of all the interventions during the celebrations for Grotowski (“Grotowski’s Party”, 27.8.1999) and, among the notes on how to decorate the picnic tables, these reflections: “Method in Greek means WAY (the small methos). Each one of us has his own. METHOD is also a series of rules. 2 METHODS: 1) Stanislavskij (the self- mental) 2) Decroux physical. These two methods can be put into practice even without the master”. Notes and diaries about Odin Teatret's tour to Rome with the performance Mythos in May 2000, about the showings of the performance Ego Faust – Theatrum Mundi ensemble– in Bologna in August 2000 and about the ISTA session in Bielefeld in September 2000. The notebook closes with notes about Roberta Carreri's workshops with drafts of speeches for the pupils, comments to their training and to their exercises. The very last item of the notebook is the transcription of a meeting held in the white room of Odin Teatret on 30.1.2004 with the first indications – genesis – for the performance Ur-Hamlet by Odin Teatret with a part of the Theatrum Mundi ensemble, which will be presented for the first time in 2006, commissioned by the Hamlet Festival held yearly at the Kronborg castle in Helsingør.

Carreri, b. 31 It contains two notebooks (2000-2001): 1) A brown notebook (labelled b. 31B by OTA for the scanning process). Diverse notes. In March 2001 a reflection on the year to come (evidently Barba asked who wanted to remain and who wants to leave). 7 March 2001, a speech by Barba (or perhaps a reflection by Roberta? It is unclear):

Many of us felt this strong bond with the others and yet felt the desire to leave. This is due to a lack of stimulation. Why have actors in their best age become so mild in their ambitions? This is due to the relationship with the director because if he is unable to produce stimulation something goes wrong. The last performance left an unpleasant taste. Why do we do it? We all wonder if we can continue despite the fatigue […] We are strong and individualistic. But at a certain point the question is what are we doing here – if we lack motivation. We are old and lack vitality, curiosity, the will to dive into something new – we have wisdom instead. We lack the force of enthusiasm, we lack gallantry. Does founding a school create gallantry? No, I don't think so. We can only do it if we adopt new actors – but this also requires time and responsibility. Only Franz, Tage and Eugenio have their family outside of the theatre. If I leave … where can I go. Many of us have no country, no network of friends, no family … The Odin is our family. Think of a world without this family. Should Odin Teatret continue or stop? We are Odin Teatret. What happens if EB disappears? OT doesn't stop. It does and it doesn't. If throughout the years we have come to say that OT is the performances I signed. What makes us say that these are actors from the Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium, ex-OT?. How should we end?

2) A grey notebook with dolphins (labelled b. 31A by OTA for the scanning process). On the title page “Advice from E.B.”. Notes about the performance Salt (2002). The notes are especially about movement, with some remarks. 28-2-2001: “Entrance. Develop the rhythm. Is it possible to make a performance developing the process only acoustically? A sound dramaturgy of Hamlet – create the theme. In the scene create variations on the theme”.

Carreri, b. 32 It contains five notebooks. - Three small brown ring notebooks: 1) A notebook about individual and group work demonstrations, notes from speeches (labelled b. 32A by OTA for the scanning process); 2) A notebook about Salt, notes on the text and on other topics: “Since the creation of Judith my collaboration with Eugenio has been minimal. In the creation of the group performances I have never had the possibility to work. During the seventies and eighties Eugenio was very active in the creation of my characters. This collaboration culminated in the creation of Judith, my solo performance in ’87. Since then I have been abandoned to myself ” (labelled b. 32B by OTA for the scanning process); 20

3) A notebook labelled b. 32C by OTA for the scanning process. A long speech by Barba (11-11- 2002), with the first reflections for a new performance: “There is something I fear: coming to see your work at the end of January and what I see does not correspond to your artistic maturity. In some way I understand why the other directors left their old collaborators. Because what compensates the lack of forces is the enthusiasm that young people put in the work”. Interventions by the different actors. Among other things, Torgeir says: “I never work when the directors are present in the room with the actors. EB's language with his assistants negatively influences us actors when we are used as ‘examples’, not because he works with us”. - A Japanese purple notebook (labelled b. 32D by OTA for the scanning process). About Salt. Notes about actions and texts; - A marbled notebook (labelled b. 32E by OTA for the scanning process). Journey to Zanzibar. This is probably the trip to Africa requested by Barba to all actors as first step for Andersen's dream (see Carreri b. 11).

Carreri, b. 33 It contains a notebook dated 2003 and a diary dated 2002-2010: 1) A notebook with blue cover, without titles, with handwritten notes from 1 December 2003 to 18 May 2004 (labelled b. 33A by OTA for the scanning process). Writings about living in Holstebro without the group, on tour, at the time when Alice Pardeilhan, Roberta Carreri's daughter, was still young and the mother decided to remain alone in Denmark, with her solo performance Judith. Notes about seminars given in Italy, sometimes with the names of participants, and more or less detailed description of the exercises proposed. An example:

Awakening – Snake dance – Japanese walk – Dynamic images – Slow motion – Eyes Break 12.00 Action and reaction : sequence of 5 series Pulling/pushing in space The action happens in the space and in the immobility marking the series of sequences. Song with different intensities: qualities/states of water.

There are other miscellaneous and less systematic reflections:

The mentality of the “accomplished” actor loses rigour towards himself. None of the pupils came in the room chewing a gum. “The actresses” did. I see this as a lack of respect for oneself, for that part of oneself that is in continuous growth. Once reached a certain point in our life we can stop – and wait for death – or we can continue to “grow” – until death. The fact that you are here makes me believe you have chosen the second option but – show me.

2) A diary with yellowish marbled cover. It is a logbook about Salt, containing handwritten notes from 2 October 2002 to 13 November 2010 (labelled b. 33B by OTA for the scanning process). Opening the diary, on the inside cover, a photograph of Jan Ferslev and Roberta Carreri taken by Marianne Ahrne in Wrocław in June 2003. A short message by Raúl Iaiza to Roberta Carreri, then a letter from Marianne Ahrne to the actress, from Stockholm, the day of the Italian première of the performance Salt; she writes that she just saw the programme of the performance and wants to absolutely see it. The diary begins with the première in Pontedera:

Pontedera 2 October 2002 Italian première. The salt for the room is coming from Malpensa, where Kai gave it to Ivan (from Raúl's group). EB is outside in the foyer with Antonio (Tabucchi) and Zè (María José de Lancastre, his wife). Cesare Cancellieri and Renzo Filippetti are here too. Chatting. I wonder what they are saying. I wonder what goes through Eugenio's mind in a moment like this. Yesterday and today he was so nervous that the only way to quieten him down a bit was to tell him that I am very nervous. I am really nervous, although yesterday's rehearsal went well.

21

The room has good acoustics but my voice is filled with mucus. It is actually one step from disappearing. This is the season of colds and flus... and the tour has just started... It is 6.20 p.m. – the salt has just arrived. We will start with a half hour delay.

A series of notes taken immediately before or after the showings of the performance, often mentioning friends or people dear to the Odin who will come to see it. Some messages from spectators or friends. Comments and descriptions on the different performance spaces and how they influence the performance.

Bergamo 23.10.2002 It is wonderful to be somewhere where we feel loved. The acoustics in the room of the Carmine [theatre] is perfect. Now it is up to us. I love this place that meant so much for me in my youth, and where I saw Min Fars Hus, the performance that changed my life. The performance that pulled me out of Milan, the city that I don't love anymore, and out of relationships that do not correspond me. Tonight the salt, for the first time since we are in Italy, behaves as in Denmark: it slips out of the hole in the suitcase as soon as I place it upright.

Bologna 4.12.2002 Yesterday we performed with some mistakes in the lights and the music; on top of it all, the coffee pot didn't work because I forgot to check if there was any alcohol in the burner. So in the end I drank water and salt. […]

Holstebro 7.1.2004 Not even one single spectator booked to see the performance. Perhaps tonight I will have the experience of performing WITHOUT spectators. It would be WONDERFUL!

8.1.2004 And instead, we had no less than 2 women spectators […]

Londrina 9.6.2005 A typical Brasilian tour: the cargo did not pass through customs in time and arrived the morning of the première. The stage is set up at full speed. There is no time for a rehearsal with lights at 100%. The performance begins and all the lights are halved – the scenes are in total darkness. Jan's candle is the only thing illuminating the scene. Jan loses it and makes mistakes while playing. Can he not see the cues? and he makes mistakes with the lights. With my adrenaline pumped up, I tell him when the cues are early or late. At the end however, the audience is enthusiastic. It is hard to believe it but when I stand up with the suitcase under the salt rain a resounding applause explodes with shouts of joy. Finally when, after the shower, I meet a woman who says that “after seeing a performance yesterday she decided she hated theatre, and after seeing the performance tonight she decided she loves it”, that made my day.

Paris 1.12.2005 Théâtre du Soleil... but here it is terribly cold. The dressing rooms are separated from the foyer by a white curtain with big holes to let the spectators observe the preparation of the actors – NO PRIVACY. And the showers are very far away, you need to cross the foyer to reach them. The actors here are considered as much as animals. It is a director's theatre par excellence. That's why Arianne Mnouchkine liked Andersens Drøm so much: because it is a director's performance. She will certainly get bored with Salt. Tonight Alice is coming to see the performance with Laura Ojier. I do not feel confident, even if the rehearsal went well. On the stage there is an icy draught that bends the flame of the coffee pot to 90 degrees. I'm afraid the coffee won't boil. I'm afraid my voice won't survive the chill in my feet. I already feel my throat ache... Bruna Filippi and Piergiorgio Giacchè will be in the audience tonight. 150 spectators.

2.12.2005 As expected, the coffee pot didn't work. Due to the cold and the draught the water didn't boil in time, and the match burnt out. Tonight I will use less water. […]

The diary ends on 13.11.2010 in Pontedera:

22

There are two white pages left but I prefer ending this logbook with thoughts from the same city where I started it 8 years ago.

Carreri, b. 34 It contains two notebooks: 1) A brown ring notebook (labelled b. 34A by OTA for the scanning process). On the title page: “Andersen Drøm 2004”. From 2 March 2004 to 13 September. Notes about actions, tasks. Drawings to record a dance. Notes for a meeting about Hamlet (for what will be the performance Ur-Hamlet, 2006); 2) A notebook with Florentine fleurs-de-lis from 2004 to 2008 (labelled b. 34B by OTA for the scanning process). Indications and notes for workshops. Reports on meetings of the group.

Carreri, b. 35 - A notebook (labelled b. 35A by OTA for the scanning process) with golden patterns on the red silk cover labelled “Don Giovanni Mozart 2005” (this is Odin Teatret's performance Don Giovanni all’inferno dated 2006), the writing is only on one side. It contains a page with Barba's handwriting for Roberta: “You who are looking, if your soul is not deceived in me to the first illusion of peace and can see the weight of this quiet, the quiet of the ‘after’ filled with emptiness and insomnia – here you will also remain mute mute like me and alone like the sea”. On the same page there is a yellow post-it note with another text handwritten by Barba: “I wanted the light and I had Don Giovanni. I wanted revenge and I am alone in a sea of stones”. The notebook contains notes about the performance scenes and sequences, with Roberta Carreri alone or in relation to the other actors and musicians; fragments of arias sung by Donna Anna – Roberta's character – from Don Giovanni by Mozart; notes with the sequences of the other actors; transcriptions of sequences of physical actions combined by Barba in a montage with text fragments and musical arias. - A notebook with red cover without title (labelled b. 35B by OTA for the scanning process). The writing is only on one side and it covers the period from June 2006 to December 2006. The notebook is not about a specific performance. Notes for Roberta Carreri's speech during the session of the University of Eurasian Theatre in Ravenna in 2006 entitled “Le statue che danzano” (“Dancing statues”); annotations for the book that Roberta is writing about her professional autobiography (Tracce. Training e storia di un’attrice dell’Odin Teatret, Milano, Il Principe Costante, 2007); notes for different workshops (especially a workshop taught by Torgeir Wethal in Perugia); the transcription of a speech given by Barba to the actors ensemble and the tour manager Patricia Alves on 29.10.2006 in Rio de Janeiro, in which he presents the future projects involving Odin Teatret and various strategies of cultural and economic policies, but without indications on specific performances or on the work in the rehearsal room. - A black notebook beginning on 19.12.2006 (labelled b. 35C by OTA for the scanning process). It deals with the situation at Odin Teatret as well as the actors' economy: emphasis is made on the need to make projects. Another part of the notebook contains writing that could be in preparation for an speech or an essay: memories from the early times at Odin Teatret, from the relocations to the Scandinavian silence. Roberta Carreri's involvement in the local community, due to her daughter Alice. Reflections on the scenic presence “as a result of talent or conquered through work. It can always be amplified and strengthened”. Reflections about the meaning of training for her. A long account about the “white lady” born from the training and later merged with her Butō experience in Japan, to generate Judith. Description of her trip to Japan and of what she learnt from Butō. Reflections on her presence in some performances, especially Come!, Brecht's ashes etc. Memory of how the character Judith was born (after seeing her training, after the journey to Japan, Barba asked her to work on a catalogue for an exhibition on Mary Magdalene). Memories of the work for Andersen's dream. This is a long and detailed autobiographical account, of great interest.

Carreri, b. 36 23

- A black notebook labelled “2008, X-large” (labelled b. 36B by OTA for the scanning process). It records the beginnings of The chronic life (during the early rehearsals, the internal title for the performance was X-large). Transcription of the speech given by Eugenio Barba at the start of the rehearsals (5 February 2008):

The starting point is a blasphemy but one cannot express one's belief system without blasphemy. This is the only solution I could find. I want to ask you to follow me for these three weeks, then you can leave me – on the border of the forbidden. One day you arrive at the theatre and you are told that I am dead. There is a letter in which I ask you to organize a funeral and you should do it with what you know that I love. You also have the chance to dialogue with me, to tell me what you never told me. A scene where you show Jacob's fight with the angel. For long years you have struggled not to be crushed by the angel. Then you need to tell me a story with horror and […]. A story about EB and you have to say “He” or “She” and not “you”. This is the only way for you not to act, not to do what you know. Each one of you needs to prepare his ceremony. You decide how. In a few minutes. And you direct your colleagues.

On the other side of the notebook there are notes about Roberta's personal work for The chronic life, for example a story about who is the character she is proposing. - A black notebook with a postcard glued on the cover. 2008 and 2009 (labelled b. 36A by OTA for the scanning process). Apparently notes for workshops. It also contains notes about La prima pietra (The first stone), the meeting organized for the tenth anniversary of Grotowski's death. On the other side texts or poems. - A blue notebook (labelled b. 36C by OTA for the scanning process) “I ponti della memoria” (“The bridges of memory”). Notes about work demonstrations for the presentation of her book, Tracce. - A blue notebook 2011-2012 (labelled b. 36D by OTA for the scanning process) with diverse notes among which a meeting with Barba “on the future of the Odin”. He describes the reactions of politicians to the announcement that Odin Teatret will end with his actors. He talks about the next Festuge in 2014, the fiftieth anniversary of Odin Teatret, a way to “develop and seal the last act of our presence in Holstebro”.

Carreri, b. 37 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and contains preparatory materials for the performance Judith: negatives, photocopies of fragments of books with text proposals (Bible, poems by Paul Elúard, Ezra Pound), handwritten notes by Roberta Carreri, photocopies of books with paintings of Mary Magdalene, photocopies of Eugenio Barba's text Eurasian theatre (later included in the performance programme), drafts with proposals for music sequences, song lyrics, photocopies of the programme for Judith.

Carreri, b. 38 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and labelled “Tekster Judith og brever”. It contains the press release in Danish announcing the première of Judith in Holstebro on 6 August 1987, several copies of the Judith script in different languages, typescript of the text with handwritten notes, two drawings portraying Roberta Carreri as Judith with dedication, photocopies of the programme in different languages and of the texts contained in it, photocopies of articles from magazines and iconographic material used by Roberta Carreri during the creative process, postcards, “warm letters” from spectators (“warm letters” is the definition given at Odin Teatret to letters by responsive spectators), articles about Judith, photographs of the performance.

Carreri, b. 39 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and labelled “Spor i Sneen” (the work demonstration Traces in the snow). It mainly contains administrative documents, contacts and contracts between Roberta Carreri and theatres or institutions that hosted the work demonstration, some “warm letters” and messages from spectators with their impressions. 24

Carreri, b. 40 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and labelled “Pedagogia: persone scelte Winter Seeds & Co. 1989” (“Pedagogy: chosen people Winter Seeds & Co. 1989”). Winter Seeds is the name of the educational group of 6 students who worked with Roberta Carreri in Holstebro for 3 months (see b. 23). It is a collection of the correspondence between Roberta Carreri and her students (probably also others beside the ones selected for Winter Seeds), which lasted for some time after the workshop. At least some of the letters are written in an intimate and private tone showing that the exchange was not limited to the students' professional life but included details of their private life; the letters therefore demonstrate the distinctive nature of the educational relationship established with the students.

Carreri, b. 41 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and labelled “1999 Odin Sommer Festival 23-27/8”. It contains mainly administrative or organizational documents and correspondence with some of the theatre groups (Atalaya, Remus, Omma Studio, Theatre Labyrinth, Birutè, Sheldon) invited to participate in the summer festival organised by Odin Teatret in conjunction with the celebrations for its thirty-fifth anniversary. Roberta Carreri was responsible for the groups documented in this binder.

Carreri, b. 42 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and labelled “Mythos”. It contains preparatory materials for the performance, specifically: several versions of the performance script (showing the different stages of the work), the translations in different languages, photocopies from books with fragments of poems (some included, others not included in the script), handwritten notes by Roberta Carreri on loose sheets of paper with fragments of Eugenio Barba's speeches, sheet music (with lyrics) of the performance.

Carreri, b. 43 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and labelled “Genesi Sale”. It contains preparatory materials for the performance Salt (see b. 33), especially concerning the editing work on the text; drawings of models with stage costumes; very numerous typescripts with fragments of the performance script and handwritten notes that show the long genesis of the creation and the difficulties of the editing work; Roberta Carreri's handwritten notes with sequences of physical actions and comments to the side, sketches and drawings with some elements of the future stage design; handwritten notes by Roberta Carreri with an outline of the training and a typescript with “Advice from Eugenio”; pages with glued fragments of the short story on which the performance is based, Lettera al vento (Letter to the wind included in Tabucchi's book Si sta facendo sempre più tardi, It's Getting Later All the Time) with handwritten notes on the page sides; photocopies of the poems Ode marittima by Pessoa and Casa sul mare by Montale; a photograph of Erik Trummler, Torgeir Wethal's first theatre teacher; sheet music with lyrics of songs; cooking recipes (tongue alla scarlatta); press cuttings with articles used by Roberta Carreri in the creative process; typescripts with excerpts from Soggetto nomade by Rosy Braidotti; passages from Jeanette Winterson's books; photocopies from books on the story of Tristan and Iseult; photocopies of the libretto of the opera by Wagner; typescript of the text by Eugenio Barba Carnet di drammaturgia: il racconto simultaneo; a review in Italian of the book by Susan Sontag In America; photocopies from Danish books on the topic “heroes”; photocopies with images of sculptures.

Carreri, b. 44 The binder was organized by Roberta Carreri and labelled “Salt”. Differently from the previous one, this binder collects materials from the period around the opening of the performance (2002); for 25 example, some typescripts without signature entitled “PRE-SALE” dated from April 2001 to September 2005 and “warm letters” with the first reactions from spectators. It also contains several press cuttings, translations of the performance programme and script in different languages, notes handwritten by Roberta Carreri entitled “consigli e compiti” (“advice and tasks”), photocopies from books with images of sculptures, physical scores and sheet music.

Carreri, b. 45 Binder “Andersen 6/1-30/3. Materialer”. It contains: a piece of music by Frans Winther for Andersen's dream; a beautiful photograph by Fiora Bemporad of Roberta in the performance space, a close-up of the actress smiling; a scenario with corrections to the performance or fragments of dialogues; photocopies of Andersen's fairy tales; notes by the assistant directors Lilicherie Mcgregor and Raúl Iaiza; poems, drawings and notes about stage actions; photocopies of the original texts from which the lines of the performance were taken. For example: something that in the performance is little more than one line in a song (“ho conosciuto il demone della concupiscenza”) comes from Conrad's Heart of darkness. The binder includes the photocopies of one chapter from the book with one highlighted passage of approximately fifteen lines (“I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were strong, lusty, red-eyed devils…”); this was clearly part of the actress's proposal for the performance and was later reduced to a few words. These work processes are very slow and leave a lot of paper as evidence. A notebook with a glued scenario which is probably not the final one.

Carreri, b. 46 Labelled “Korrespondance Europa 1987-1992 (Judith)”. The correspondece is arranged per country. The binder includes two folders. The first one contains typed and handwritten letters exchanged with: Belgium, Bulgaria, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Denmark and Greece. In the second folder: Sweden, Great Britain, Hungary, France, Germany, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain. In both folders the letters are mainly formal, often contracts and technical requirements for the performance Judith. The “solo” performance Judith, in repertory since August 1987, was born from Roberta Carreri's need to have a performance that she could present alone. This would allow her to remain in Holstebro with her daughter, who at the time started going to school, while the rest of the group was on tour, and to present her performance on tour when possible. These circumstances led to the creation of a personal administrative correspondence, separated from the standard one of the theatre (see Tracce, Milano, Il Principe Costante, 2007). From the correspondence emerges a network of contacts; included are letters, notes or cards from theatre groups or people close to Roberta Carreri or to Odin Teatret, who hosted or saw the performance.

Carreri, b. 47 The binder, labelled “Korrespondance Europa (Judith)”, without dates, includes miscellaneous correspondence from the years 1993-1994-1995 about the performance Judith and workshops. Other letters from senders requesting to be admitted to the Odin Week or asking for further information. The correspondence is arranged per country. The letters exchanged come from: Italy, Denmark, Germany, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Norway.

Carreri, b. 48 Labelled “Korrespondance Resten av verden 1987-1992 (Judith)”, it contains Roberta Carreri's correspondence outside Europe about the administration of her solo performance Judith, as well as other activities organised by her, for example an Odin Week. Compared to the binder about the European correspondence, there is a higher number of informal messages and friendly letters by spectators and friends of the Odin. The correspondence is exchanged with the following countries: 26

Australia, Japan, India, Brazil, Africa, Canada, Mexico, USSR, United States, Israel, Cuba, Puerto Rico.

Carreri, b. 49 The binder, labelled “Korrespondance Resten av verden (Judith)”, contains miscellaneous correspondence from the years 1992-1993-1994. The correspondence is exchanged with the following countries: United States, Canada, Japan, Brasil Chile, Argentina, Australia, Mexico. There are formal letters concerning Judith as well as letters of reaction and gratitude from participants in Roberta Carreri's workshop. The binder also contains a notebook with comments probably about a workshop held by Roberta Carreri in New York. It also contains Roberta Carreri's certificate of participation in the VIII Public session of the ISTA in Londrina, dated 21 August 1994.

Carreri, b. 50 Binder “Europa 1993-1994-1995”. Carreri is very tidy even in her correspondence. The binders gather letters of thanks, organisation, contracts, letters to organise workshops. Correspondence between Carreri and the complex Odin environment, including friends, participants in workshops, Odin spectators, organisers, publishing houses. The binder also contains: some articles, lists of participants in workshops, accounting notes, leaflets, maps of theatres, sheet music. As it happens in Barba's and even in the theatre correspondence, the personal letters, including the ones that are exclusively personal (for example, some emails to her daughter Alice) are kept in the correspondence folder of the year, next to purely organisational letters (this restates the importance of the rigorous restriction to the reading of the correspondence). Sometimes Carreri includes a photocopy of her answer. Among all other things, this binder holds a letter by Nando Taviani: a scenario for a future performance, L’omino, la sonnambula, il grand’uomo, with a long introductory letter. In the letter, Taviani writes about the first time he saw the performance Ferai and met the Odin. Taviani has written much about Odin Teatret but this is one of his most beautiful stories.

Carreri, b. 51 Labelled “Resten av verden 1993-94-95-96-97” (see b. 50). It contains the correspondence during the years 1993-1997 exchanged with countries outside Europe. The letters are arranged per country, specifically: United States, Canada, Argentina, Chile, Australia, Mexico, Brasil, Japan, Cuba, Russia. The correspondence is mainly professional but also includes private letters.

Carreri, b. 52 Binder “Europa 1996-1997” (see b. 50).

Carreri, b. 53 “Korr. Europa 1998-2000” (see b. 50).

Carreri, b. 54 Labelled “Resten av verden 1998-2000” (see b. 50). Professional correspondence including formal and private letters from the years 1998-2000, exchanged with countries outside Europe. It is arranged per country, specifically: United States, Canada, Argentina, Venezuela, Brasil, Mexico, Guatemala, Zanzibar, Malesia, Peru.

Carreri, b. 55 “Korr. Europa 2000-2001” (see b. 50).

Carreri, b. 56 27

Labelled “Korr. Resten av verden 2000” (see b. 50). Professional correspondence including formal and private letters starting from the year 2000, exchanged with countries outside Europe. It is arranged per country, specifically: United States, Brasil Mexico, Japan, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Malesia, Taiwan, Cuba, Zanzibar.

Carreri, b. 57 Labelled “Korr. Europa 2002” (cfr. la b. 50). Professional correspondence including formal and private letters starting from the year 2002, exchanged with European countries. It is arranged per country, specifically: Denmark, Italy, France, Spain, Greece, Poland, Hungary, Great Britain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic.

Carreri, b. 58 “Jubileum”. Correspondence for the fourtieth Odin anniversary celebrated in 2004, mainly covering organisational topics.

Carreri, b. 59 “Europa 2004”. The binder covers the period from 2004 onwards. For example, it contains the letters sent to the actress for the publication of her book Tracce, arranged in a separate folder of the section “Italy”. It also contains reviews of the book, sent to the actress by the publishing house. There are also articles about the book in other languages (the book was translated in Spanish and Portuguese).

Carreri, b. 60 Labelled “Resten av verden 2004” (see b. 50). Professional correspondence including formal and private letters starting from the year 2004. The topics covered concern the performance as well as various other activities: workshops, Odin Week and work demonstrations. It is arranged per country, specifically: United States, Siria, Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Malesia, China.

Carreri, b. 61 Three VHS analog videotapes: the different stages of Traces in the snow.

Carreri, b. 62 A folder with the title Tournée Rob. e candidati per workshop [Tours Rob. and candidates for workshop] on the spine. It contains emails and contacts with tour organisers assigned to Roberta Carreri, from 2003 to 2005.

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