Bitef

compound-words, an error, transgression, opposition, transformation...

search within the boundaries of the para-theatre, but there are elements of it even in the works of the most reputed theatre directors of our time.

In a manner similar to that of para-psychology and para-medicine, which deal with notions beyond the classical domains of their respective sciences, the para-theatre functions as an error in the body of the present-day theatre, as a transgression against, or an opposition to, its usual forms, and perhaps a transformation of the theatre. Since 1967, when it was founded, the BITEF festival has shown, in a great majority of performances, various symptoms of that transformation of contemporary theatre. In certain more extreme cases, the Festival has even shown performances which were practually para-theatrical in relation to the theatre of their time.

In the last couple of seasons, para-theatrical productions have taken over the stages of the world and become a favoured form of theatrical expression. The audiences seem to like it, too. The para-theatre is no longer bound with small experimental troupes; it has already invaded the big halls. Furthermore, it is not only the young who seek and

In order to give at least a vague picture of what para-theatre is all about, we could say that it is a theatre which abandons the (spoken) word in favour of increasingly more stylized bodily movement - be it dance, pantomime, martial or gymnastic skills, or the use of the elements of the puppet theatre, ancient rituals and music unheard of in the theatre of our day. On the other side, the classical forms of other arts - opera, ballet, music assume the elements of showmanship seen only at rock concerts.

This interaction of all the elements of scenic expression, at a time when anything goes, gives rise to an art which we may call para-theatre. Naturally, anything goes only if the final outcome is the art. What are the criteria of the new art? That is the question that only the ongoing practice of that art can answer. In fact, it has always been so: whenever a new art was being born, the people would search for a definition of it, in hope of determining the sense, the