CONTENTS

Iben Nagel Rasmussen (Denmark) - A ROAD IN MY MIND

Neusa Thomasi (Brazil/France) - WALKING TO AVIGNON

Ayla Algan (Turkey) - FROM THE CROSSROADS OF ISTANBUL

Ananya Chatterjea (India/USA) - ETCHINGS IN THE SAND

Cora Herrendorf (Argentina/Italy) - WORDS FROM EXILE

Ileana Citaristi (Italy/India) - DESTINATION INDIA

Kerensa Johnston (Australia/Bali) - EASY RIDER

Cristina Wistari (Italy/Bali) - FOREIGN LANDSCAPES

Hala Nassar (Palestine/USA) - THE INVOCATION OF LOST PLACES

Nehad Selaiha (Egypt) - AT THE FAJR FESTIVAL IN TEHRAN

Julia Varley (Britain/Denmark) - NEFERTARI UNDER COVER

Touria Hadraoui (Morocco) - TRADITION AND I

Nasrin Pourhosseini (Iran/France) - RESTING INJURED FEET

Sonia M'barek (Tunisia) interview by Brigitte Kaquet (Belgium) - A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Helen Chadwick (Britain) - PAGES FROM MY NOTEBOOKS

Luisa Calcumil interview by Isabel Martins (Argentina) - WOMAN, MAPUCHE, ARTIST

Petra Lindblom (Sweden) - MYTH OF THE SPIDER-WOMAN

Savannah Walling (USA/Canada) - RUNNING FOR LIFE

Beatriz Seibel (Argentina) - NO OTHER OPTION

Guillermina Willet (Brazil) - WANDERING KNIGHT OF LOVE

Ginevra Sanguigno (Italy) - LET'S GO!

Yamile Lanchas (Colombia) - TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE TIDE

Leo Sykes (Britain/Brazil) - FROM MY DIARY

Clelia Falletti (Italy) - THE INACCESSIBLE MOUNTAIN

Geddy Aniksdal (Norway) - CROSS COUNTRY

Laylage Courie (USA) - MEDEA IN THE DESERT

Liza Magtoto (The Philippines) - SEA BREEZE

Marianne Blichfeldt (Denmark) - AT THE FEET OF THE HIMALAYAS

Sally Rodwell (Aotearoa New Zealand) - ROADS, WHEELS, ROUNDABOUTS

The Open Page - ORIENTEERING

Miff Moore - ON MY WAY

Monica Borg Fure - AWAY FROM IT ALL

Sara Serrano López - THE EYES OF AN OLD WOMAN

Susanne Christensen - THE FISHING TRIP

Verena Tay - WHAT IS SNOW LIKE?

The Open Page - BEING IN TRANSIT

The Open Page - OPEN LETTERS - OPEN NEWS

Susan Bassnett - FLYING TO SIBERIA

 

 

EDITORIAL

 

Theatre women have always travelled. Beatriz Seibel reminds us of this by quoting María Esther Podestá who wrote in Argentina in 1911 that theatre traditionally only exists on tour. Indeed theatre does not respect national borders nor can it be confined to a building. Many articles in this issue on Travel reflect the reality of women who work in theatre feeling estranged and foreign deep inside. They become exiles by choice or constraint, leaving the country where they were born. They are outsiders and rebels in society, eternally in search of a home, or carrying their home with them, like the indigenous women of Patagonia who kept a fire alight on their boats as a symbol of where they came from. Travelling is both a physical and metaphorical experience, a movement towards the unknown and fear, excitement and getting lost, learning and forgetting. It can include visiting exotic places and navigating on the internet, letters and diaries, discovery and escape; travel implies both meetings and solitude.

 

In the last issue of The Open Page, the theme of Text presented itself as a journey that used words to move from one kind of silence to another. Almost every article we have ever received has expressed a need for movement and the feeling of belonging to a professional country without borders, where origins are blurred, and destinations are crossroads. In this issue, Ginevra Sanguigno points out that the geography we refer to is determined by disparate audiences, while Ileana Citaristi and Cristina Wistari amongst others indicate that "countries" and "continents" can be created by particular techniques and masters. Neusa Thomasi, making her way on foot to the Avignon Festival, uses a mountain in the distance as compass while Florinda, the 17th century character whom Clelia Falletti tells us about, worries that she will not be able to cross over the mountain she sees before her. Laylage Courie gives an example of how travel and creation can influence each other. The tension of travelling in between tradition and renewal is present in many articles that refer to the Arab world, while others have chosen to confront the theme as a journey back and forth in time, a visit inside memory.

 

The choice of Travel as a theme answered our wish to hear about personal experiences of lives on tour as well as how professional, cultural and personal identities are defined by encountering that which is different. Reading this issue is another opportunity to understand that with theatre we can travel even when we stand still, and that as women we can discover the freedom and joy of travelling while establishing our right to exist on the move and our need for peace in the world.

 

Julia Varley

Holstebro, March 2002