The observers are directly and actively involved in the creative process.
Observation #3
Participatory observation
Societas - Chiara Guidi
All photographs © Argos
Cesena, Italy, December 2019
December 2019 was the date of the second experimentation, namely the participatory observation at the legendary ‘Teatro Comandini’, the premises of the internationally acclaimed Italian theatre company Societas [Raffaello Sanzio] in Cesena (IT). A group of ARGOS members (scholars, mediators, students, spectators and artists) were actively integrated in the creative process of La terra dei lombrichi [The land of the earthworms], a ‘tragedy for children’, freely inspired by Euripides’ Alcestis, directed by Chiara Guidi. Similarly to Alcestis, Chiara Guidi’s Terra revolves around the bipolar contrast of light versus darkness and deals with the sensitive issue of death.
The community of observers had the unique opportunity to experience a holistic creative process during all its stages, from its very start, i.e. the procedure of casting, training, rehearsals until its final artistic result, a complete theatrical production. Throughout the creative process, Chiara Guidi applied the ‘Metodo Errante’ [The Errant Method], an interactive approach that builds a relation of co-creation between actors, educators, and children. As a result of the Errant Method, children discovered the story through wandering and were able to change it with their own initiatives, decisions and interventions, while keeping the dramatic structure of the plot unaltered.
Additionally, the members of the ARGOS project studied the reception of the performance by different groups of children and were offered the opportunity to discuss aspects of the creative procedure with all the artistic collaborators (director, actors etc), as well as with the educators of the children-spectators. The research results will be communicated to the scholarly public in February 2020, through the participation of the ARGOS project to the forthcoming EASTAP conference in Bologna.
- Pages from the rocketbook of Avra Xepapadakou
- Pages from the rocketbook of Venetia Theodoropoulou
- Pages from the rocketbook of Sophie Lucet
- Page from the rocketbook of Lydia Chelidoni
- Page from the rocketbook of Maria-Georgia Papadaki
- Article on the second (Cesena) and third (Rennes) experimentation of the ARGOS project, in Research, bulletin of the University of the Peloponnese, May 2020
- Paper by Venetia A. Theodoropoulou
- ARGOS. Reflections on the Cesena experiment by Luk Van den Dries
- La terra del lombrichi
The ARGOS community of observers followed the recreation of La terra dei lombrichi. In five days Chiara Guidi guided her performers through casting, training, rehearsals and two performances.
Resembling an orchestra conductor, Chiara Guidi conducted the group of young actors based on the tone and colour of their voices
The cast of La terra dei lombrichi rehearsing their parts
Chiara Guidi commented constantly on the acting. She spoke, played and demonstrated all the roles
One of the three Fates [Moirai] leads the member of the ARGOS group Laura Naudeix to the Land of the Earthworms
The “Errant Method” as developed by Chiara Guidi, builds a relation between actors, educators, and children, within the field of the performing arts
Dress rehearsal
The central character of the ‘lombrico’ (earthworm)
Amore (Love) confronts La Morte (Death) during the dress rehearsal
The community of observers
The ARGOS observation in Cesena started with a presentation by Chiara Guidi
From left to right: Luk Van den Dries, Edith Cassiers, Ana Clara Santos, Sophie Lucet, Laura Naudeix
Observation and notation in the rocketbooks
The two organizers of the Cesena experiment Eleni Papalexiou and Avra Xepapadakou, with on their left Christiana Cheiranagnostaki who has been filming the whole creative process
Left to right: Elena Debortoli; Severine Leroy; Antonia Vasilakou; Lydia Chelidoni; Sophie Proust; Edith Cassiers
During the Cesena experimentation at the premises of the Societas, the ARGOS group also had the chance to cross paths with Romeo Castellucci
Argos meeting
Left to right: Bénédicte Boisson, Lydia Chelidoni, Georgia-Maria Papadaki, Eleni Papalexiou
Interview by Luk van den Dries of Avra Xepapadakou, researcher
Audio-documentary made by Séverine Leroy on the ARGOS experiment at Teatro Commandini in Cesena