The ISTA Theatrum Mundi performance of Anastasis (Resurrection) preceded by a book launch for Eugenio Barba – Nicola Savarese’s The Five Continents of Theatre – Facts and Legends about the Material Culture of the Actor, with the participation of the author Eugenio Barba. Additional participants at the launch include János Regős and Nikolett Pintér-Németh (translators), and Zsolt Antal (Deputy Rector of the University of Theatre and Film Arts, which published the book, and Head of the Antal Németh Institute of Drama Theory).
Eugenio Barba – Nicola Savarese: The Five Continents of Theatre – Facts and Legends about the Material Culture of the Actor
A special guide to the theatre
When I approached Eugenio, who was standing next to their book counter after the performance of Odin Theatre’s guest production of The Tree at MITEM VI in April 2019, he picked up a decent-sized volume from the table and proudly handed it to me: “János, this is for you! It’s our new book, with over a thousand and five hundred pictures.”
Not long before, we had submitted the translation of the Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology¹ to the publisher, and I was already holding another work in my hands. I flipped through the volume on the spot, it was full of beautiful photos and illustrations. The Five Continents of Theatre, it said on the cover. “Is this some kind of a travel guide?”, I asked. “Yes,” was the answer. I had a feeling that I would have something to do with it in the years to come.
As one of its translators, I can heartily recommend that readers, whether lay or professional, accept the guidance of Eugenio Barba and Nicola Savarese on this special theatre tour.
János Regős
¹ E.Barba, N. Savarese: The Secret Art of the Performer – A Dictionary of Theatre Anthropology, L’Harmattan/KRE, Budapest 2020.
