Bitef

a cosmo srussia In April 1971, the actors and I decided that our next production would be centred on Fjodor Dostojevskij's life. A series of events from this life fascinated us: his relationship with his father who was murdered by his serfs in revenge for his habit of taking advantage of their young daughters; his encounter with St. Petersburg's liberal intelligentsia; Petrashevski’j literary salon and illegal Wednesday discussions; his stay in the house of the dead in Siberia: his passion for gambling; his turbulent sentimental life. We soon discovered that the objective biographical traces began to blend with the vision of Dostojevskij's own experiences such as he distilled them in his novels. His epilepsy was seen through Prince Myshkin's and Smerdjakow’s illness: his conflict with his father through the Karamazov brothers' confessions; his love life as a constant situation of choice pain; one woman between two

men, one man between two women. Thus the biographical aspect began to mingle with the universe evoked by Dostojevskij in his writings. In this fluid territory, our work took a new course: the historical-literary material guided us into trains of associations, sudden changes of thought, personal questions, the discovery of »Dostojevskijism« within ourselves, a vision of a cosmos-Russia which was also inhabited by the figures of Leskov, Gogol and Gontcharov. The performance is the result of the encounter between Dostojevskij and ourselves. One can trace suggestions and situations from his life and works, but filtered through our own truths, experiences and desires. Wandering and recognising in My Father’s House.

(Eugenio Barba, May 1972)

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