Stage Director

The paper traces the characteristics of Lubomir Pipkov’s musical style in
the context of the “solo song” genre, the object of study being the composer’s
art songs and his songs based on folk thematic material for voice and piano. In
seeking the personal in Pipkov’s interpretation of folk melody and the national
in his original works, a model based on Guido Adler’s concept of musical
style has been applied, consisting of three phases: 1) analysis of the individual
treatment of musical elements; 2) analysis of the relation of vocal music to
the word and its specific interpretation by the composer; and 3) comparative
analysis of Pipkov’s works in which the same thematic material is presented
but in terms of different genres. In the exposition, particular emphasis is
placed on Lubomir Pipkov’s approach to the original folk song. Through an
examination of both field records and Pipkov’s songs based on folk material,
it becomes evident that the composer primarily quotes the melodies of dance
songs verbatim. By contrast, he elaborates on other types of songs, developing
them further in terms of melody and lyrics. As a summary of the study, it is
concluded that certain characteristics of Lubomir Pipkov’s musical style persist
unchanged throughout all stages of his creative development encompassing
both his songs drawing from folk themes and composer’s art songs. These include:
1) the frequent use of ornamentation, which not only introduces national colour
but also contributes to the structural formation of the music, 2) the frequent
alteration of time signatures, 3) the varying textures of the accompaniment,
4) the incorporation of “leit-rhythm” as a fundamental principle in his
songwriting, 5) the stylization of irregular metres in the context of traditional
metric structures (in his songs incorporating folk theme), 6) the “leveling” of
irregular meters (in his original songs) plus 7) a distinctive prosody providing
an impetus for the construction of the song’s compositional form. In his songs
based on folk material for voice and piano, Pipkov thoroughly explores the
expression of the folk song in its rhythmic, melodic, and mode-related aspects,
introducing into his authorial songs elements of folklore that distinctly reflect
the manifestation of the Bulgarian national musical style.

"Alba Gómez, desde un denso y riguroso conocimiento de la vertiginosa evolución del teatro en el siglo xx y, también, de las peripecias menudas de los cómicos españoles antes y después de la Guerra Civil, ha afrontado una investigación muy lúcida en el amplio campo de los actores y actrices a través de una de las más destacadas estrellas fugaces del arte interpretativo nacional, Josita Hernán. Nudo gordiano de su indagación será la reflexión al respecto de uno de los mejores conocedores del desenvolvimiento de nuestro teatro en los azarosos tiempos vividos por Josita Hernán" (Ignacio Amestoy, en  Anales de Literatura Española)

Catalina Bárcena (1888-1978) fue una de las actrices decisivas en el teatro y el cine español del primer tercio del siglo XX, aunque apenas queda algún rastro de su notoria contribución artística en la memoria de nuestro país. Oriunda de Liébana, creció entre Cuba y Santander, y llegó al teatro no por vocación, sino por necesidad. María Guerrero advirtió su talento y la amadrinó hasta que la joven inició su propia trayectoria como primera actriz.

    Catalina Bárcena fue decisiva en el proyecto teatral más importante del teatro español anterior a la Guerra Civil, el Teatro de Arte, dirigido por Gregorio Martínez Sierra, para quien él y María de la O Lejárraga escribieron numerosas comedias en colaboración con otros ilustres dramaturgos. Su enorme éxito en diversos países la condujo a los estudios de Hollywood, donde rodó las primeras películas habladas en español, con lo que acrecentó su prestigio y su peso como icono cultural. La Guerra Civil forzó el exilio de Catalina Bárcena, que permaneció en Argelia, Francia y Argentina, alejada de sus hijos, durante once años.

    Regresó a una España muy distinta de la que había conocido, con el doloroso trance de sobreponerse a la muerte de su compañero. Fue entonces cuando refundó la compañía de Martínez Sierra y se esforzó por seguir sus directrices artísticas, con el propósito de recuperar, en la medida de las limitadas posibilidades que ofrecía la posguerra, el espíritu y el compromiso del Teatro de Arte.

    Esta es la primera biografía de una actriz dotada con unas extraordinarias cualidades interpretativas, que encontró, en su relación profesional y personal con Gregorio Martínez Sierra, la manera de llevar adelante un proyecto artístico de enorme prestigio en España y más allá de sus fronteras.

The article lays the theoretical foundations for considering and understanding the Artist's Book as a unique form of expression in contemporary art. The Artist’s Book is defined as a free visual work of the artist that is conceived and realized through the specific expressive means of the book and is realized independently of the traditional structures and distribution network of formal book publishing. Essential characteristics define the Artist’s Book not as a literary genre but as a genre in the visual arts that derives from innovative ideas of the late 19th century and revolutionary currents in the avant-garde in the 20th century. The text elucidates the historical genesis and articulates the conceptual and aesthetic features of the two main movements: Artists’ Books realized in limited editions and conceptual Artists’ Books, also called Artists’ Publications. The current trends in the highly dynamic development of contemporary Artists’ Books, which are defined by a diversity of forms and innovative plastic and pictorial approaches of artists, are commented.

The first issue of Children. Art. Books Journal (Detsa. Izkustvo. Knigi)
was published in 1965 as a specialized (for teachers and librarians) and ideolog-
icaly dependant periodical. Its purpose was to regulate the ways in which
Bulgarian children and young adults’ art and literature develops. However, in
the course of its 25-year history, one can see the gradual change in the conceptual
and genre picture of the literary works published and presented in the journal, as
well as the deviations from the ideological norm. The main object of the article
is the critical section of the journal, as it has а merit for attracting authoritative
Bulgarian literary scholars and therefore for the development of more precise – in their book choices, theses and language – critical interpretations of Bulgarian
children and young adults’ literature.

Списание „Деца. Изкуство. Книги“ започва да излиза през 1965 г. като отраслово (предимно за учители и библиотекари) и конюнктурно списание, чиято цел е да регламентира пътищата, по които следва да се развиват българското изкуство и литература за деца и юноши. В хода на неговата 25-годишна история обаче се вижда как постепенно част от публикациите показват променящата се концептуална и жанрова кар-тина на художествените произведения, както и отклоненията от зададената идеологическа норма. Основен обект на статията е литературно-критическият отдел на списанието, който има заслуга за привличането на авторитетни български учени и за развитието на все по-специализирания – като избор на текстове, като тезиси и език – литературоведски прочит на българската литература за деца и юноши.

THIS book is intended for all who feel in need of some first orientation in a
strange and fascinating field. It wants to show the newcomer the lie of the
land without confusing him with details; it hopes to enable him to bring
some intelligible order into the wealth of names, periods and styles which
crowd the pages of more ambitious works, and so to equip him for
consulting more specialized books. In planning and writing it I thought first
and foremost of readers in their teens who had just discovered the world of
art for themselves. But I have never believed that books for young people
should differ from books for adults except for the fact that they must reckon
with the most exacting class of critics, critics who are quick to detect and
resent any trace of pretentious jargon or bogus sentiment. I know from
experience that these are the vices which may render people suspicious of
all writings on art for the rest of their lives. I have striven sincerely to avoid
these pitfalls and to use plain language even at the risk of sounding casual
or unprofessional. Difficulties of thought, on the other hand, I have not
avoided, and so I hope that no reader will attribute my decision to get along
with a minimum of the art historian's conventional terms to any desire on
my part of 'talking down' to him. For is it not rather those who misuse
'scientific' language, not to enlighten but to impress the reader, who are
'talking down' to us—from the clouds ?

-Apparu au moment de l'émergence de la mise en scène à la fin du XIX e siècle, le groupe des metteurs en scène ne se constitue véritablement en tant que tel qu'à partir des années 1950 sous l'effet de deux transformations concomitantes : rupture avec la primauté de la littérature et affirmation de l'autonomie des principes esthétiques liés à la scène ; intervention publique qui, progressivement, tend à favoriser les metteurs en scène les plus engagés dans une logique d'innovation artistique. L'auteur analyse ensuite la double posture du metteur en scène du théâtre public : celle de l'artiste manifestant sa distance croissante à l'égard des attentes du public ; celle de l'intellectuel intervenant dans l'espace politique et confronté, dans le même temps, au jugement de ses pairs. © 2001 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS théâtre / profession / culture / politique culturelle / intellectuel Abstract-A new figure of an artist: Theater directors. Theater directors emerged as a group as more emphasis was laid on staged productions in the late 19th century; but they did not form a real group till the 1950s owing to two concomitant changes. For one thing, there was a break with the primacy of literature, as a claim was made for the autonomy of the aesthetic principles governing stage productions. For another, public policy tended to gradually favor those directors who were most committed to artistic innovation. The "double posture" of the directors of publicly subsidized theaters is analyzed, a posture combining two main sources of authority: that of the artist who increasingly distances himself from the expectations of the public, and that of the intellectual who intervenes in politics and must cope with the judgment of his congeners. This analysis sheds light on the contemporary conditions for forming an artistic group. Artists do not just produce new aesthetic forms; they can only exist at the crossroads between the artistic, political and intellectual spheres.

Оперетите на Панайот Пипков за деца са поставяни нееднократно в различни градове в България в периода от 1910 г. до края на 30-те години на миналия век, като се радват на успех пред публиката. Днес обаче те отсъстват почти напълно както от концертния, така и от училищния живот. Въпросите, които поставя статията, са: актуални ли са произведенията на Пипков днес и имат ли място на родната музикална сцена; могат ли да докоснат детската и младежката публика, израснала в условията на електронна и мултимедийна среда; могат ли героите на "Деца и птички" и "Щурец и мравки" и техните музикални характеристики отново да вълнуват и възпитават? Настоящата публикация е опит за нов музикално-драматургичен анализ на двете оперетки, като фокусът е насочен към композиционния замисъл на композитора, но проблемът е разгледан през призмата на поставените въпроси.

Проблеми на изкуството 2/2014 Редакционна колегия: проф. д.изк. АлексАНДър яНАкИев, доц. д-р бИсеркА ПеНкОвА (главен редактор), проф. влАДИмИр ПетруХИН (русия), доц. д-р вИОлетА вАсИлчИНА, акад. ГОйкО субОтИч (сърбия), доц. д-р ДИАНА ГерГОвА, чл. кор. елкА бАкАлОвА, проф. д.изк. ИвАНкА ГерГОвА, доц. д-р ИНГебОрГ брАтОевА, проф. д.изк. кАмелИя НИкОлОвА (зам. главен редактор), проф. д.изк. рОмеО ПОПИлИев, проф. д.изк. чАвДАр ПОПОв.

-Apparu au moment de l'émergence de la mise en scène à la fin du XIX e siècle, le groupe des metteurs en scène ne se constitue véritablement en tant que tel qu'à partir des années 1950 sous l'effet de deux transformations concomitantes : rupture avec la primauté de la littérature et affirmation de l'autonomie des principes esthétiques liés à la scène ; intervention publique qui, progressivement, tend à favoriser les metteurs en scène les plus engagés dans une logique d'innovation artistique. L'auteur analyse ensuite la double posture du metteur en scène du théâtre public : celle de l'artiste manifestant sa distance croissante à l'égard des attentes du public ; celle de l'intellectuel intervenant dans l'espace politique et confronté, dans le même temps, au jugement de ses pairs. © 2001 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS théâtre / profession / culture / politique culturelle / intellectuel Abstract-A new figure of an artist: Theater directors. Theater directors emerged as a group as more emphasis was laid on staged productions in the late 19th century; but they did not form a real group till the 1950s owing to two concomitant changes. For one thing, there was a break with the primacy of literature, as a claim was made for the autonomy of the aesthetic principles governing stage productions. For another, public policy tended to gradually favor those directors who were most committed to artistic innovation. The "double posture" of the directors of publicly subsidized theaters is analyzed, a posture combining two main sources of authority: that of the artist who increasingly distances himself from the expectations of the public, and that of the intellectual who intervenes in politics and must cope with the judgment of his congeners. This analysis sheds light on the contemporary conditions for forming an artistic group. Artists do not just produce new aesthetic forms; they can only exist at the crossroads between the artistic, political and intellectual spheres.

In this article, we present the first step of our research work to design a Virtual Assistant for Performers and Stage Directors, able to give a feedback from performances. We use a methodology to automatically construct fuzzy rules in a Fuzzy Rule-Based System that detects contextual emotions from an actor's performance during a show. We collect video data from a lot of performances of the same show from which it should be possible to visualize all the emotions and intents or more precisely "intent graphs". To perform this, the collected data defining low-level descriptors are aggregated and converted into high-level characterizations. Then, depending on the retrieved data and on their distribution on the axis, we partition the universes into classes. The last step is the building of the fuzzy rules that are obtained from the classes and that permit to give conclusions to label the detected emotions.

Статията разглежда идеологически доминирания и репресивен характер на източногерманската визуална култура в периода от 50-е години на миналия век до 1989 г. Посочени са примери за официалния дискурс на фотографията в ГДР изображенията не просто трябва да са реалистични-те трябва да казват каква е реалността. (За целите на режима и да я подменят при необходимост.) Като контрапункт е представено фотографското творчество на Евелин Рихтер, която успява да пречупи официалната визуална култура през автентичността на ежедневния живот. Тази фотография на ежедневното, или "точно виждане", е демаркационната линия между официално продуцираната реалност и ежедневната социална реалност. То артикулира фотографски комплексността на действителността, като очертава връзката между това, което се вижда и начина, по който то се вижда.

SIRAK SKITNIK’S SUNKEN CATHEDRAL Sirak Skitnik has been interested in music all along his life rather than only in his later years and administrative activities. Music is present in one way or the other in his work as a painter as well. The painting The Sunken Cathedral, titled after Claude Debussy’s Préludes – Book 1: No. 10, La cathédrale engloutie is especially inspiring to a musician or music theoretician. Willing to find out if the representation had recreates ‘at random or freely’ the ‘story’ of the prelude, we’d find that the painter not only expressed the imagery of the piece but also placed it in the context of the ancient legend of the Isalnd of Ys through complex symbols and selection of colours. While the composer gives the outcome, the denouement of the tragic myth in tones, the painter has represented also the events that have caused the ‘submergence of the cathedral’. Looking at the images in other paintings by Sirak Skitnik one realizes the necessity to apply such ‘hermeneutics’ to these too so that to understand the language they are speaking to get their message across.

This volume`s texts are presented as papers at the International Conference Art
Readings 2021, New Art Module, 13-15 April, 2021, Sofia, Institute of Art Studies – BAS.
The articles are peer-reviewed and only the successfully went through this procedure
and editing are published in the issue.

Статията представя резултатите от историческо изследване на мандолинните оркестри в София като културна традиция на столицата. Целта ѝ е да създаде вярна, ясна и точна картина на тази музикална практика и да установи нейните основни характеристики като социален и културен феномен. Изследването разкрива няколко фактора за популярността на мандолинните оркестри в столицата през миналия век, за техния широк социален профил и устойчивост във времето. Първият фактор е спецификата на мандолината като музикален инструмент, вторият е широкият репертоар, използван от мандолинните оркестри, трети фактор е тяхното включване в политическата пропаганда, друг основен фактор е насъщната човешка потребност от култура, от артистично себеизразяване и общуване, от принадлежност към една духовна общност.

This article presents the results of a historical research of the mandolin orchestras in Sofia as a cultural tradition of the capital. It aims at depicting a true, clear, and precise picture of this musical practice and to establish its basic features as a social and cultural phenomenon. The study reveals several factors for mandolin orchestras’ popularity in the capital during the last century, for their broad social profile and sustainability over time. The first factor is the specifics of the mandolin as musical instrument, the second one is the extensive repertoir used by the mandolin orchestras, a third factor is their inclusion in the political propaganda, and another main factor is the basic human necessity of culture, of artistic self-expression and communication, of being in a spiritual community.

Оперетите на Панайот Пипков за деца са поставяни нееднократно в различни градове в България в периода от 1910 г. до края на 30-те години на миналия век, като се радват на успех пред публиката. Днес обаче те отсъстват почти напълно както от концертния, така и от училищния живот. Въпросите, които поставя статията, са: актуални ли са произведенията на Пипков днес и имат ли място на родната музикална сцена; могат ли да докоснат детската и младежката публика, израснала в условията на  електронна и мултимедийна среда; могат ли героите на „Деца и птички“ и „Щурец и мравки“ и техните музикални характеристики отново да вълнуват и възпитават? Настоящата публикация е опит за нов музикално-драматургичен анализ на двете оперетки, като фокусът е насочен към композиционния замисъл на композитора, но проблемът е разгледан през призмата на поставените въпроси.

The paper analyzes the stage director’s position and his/her role in the creation
of the theatrical event today – in the beginning of the new millennium, after the “golden
century” of the director (the modern theatre between the 1870s and the late 1960s) and after the era of postmodern deconstructions and games with fragments and quotations.
The new functions of the director in the working team and in the creative process are examined in the text. They outline the broad spectrum from the traditional conceptual creator of the performance to the team’s facilitator and to an equal participant in the collaborative work. These new functions go beyond the dramatic and postdramatic theatre as well as beyond the modern and postmodern director’s strategies.

The study analyzes the long and productive collaboration between the famous
Bulgarian stage director Galin Stoev, who works mainly in Belgium and France
and recently he became the head of Toulouse’s Theatre, and Russian playwright
Ivan Viripaev, who also gained European reputation over the last two decades.
The research focuses on the four theatre shows made by them – their first collaborative performance Archaeology of Dreaming (2002), Galin Stoev’s production
after Viripaev’s Oxigen (2003, Theatre 199, Sofia), the original project Genesis
2, which was presented in the main programme of Avignon Festival in 2007 and
their latest production Delhi Dance (2017) at the National Theatre in Sofia. In
the text are examined the similar ideas and theatre aesthetics of the director and
the playwright and highlighted the differences between them.

Текстът разглежда дългото и продуктивно сътрудничество
между известния български режисьор Галин Стоев, който работи основно
в Белгия и Франция и наскоро пое директорския пост в театъра в Тулуза,
и руския драматург Иван Вирипаев, също добил европейска известност
през последните две десетилетия. Обект на анализ в него са четири техни
съвместни театрални продукции – първата им обща работа „Археология на
сънуването“ (2002), постановката на Галин Стоев по „Кислород“ на Вирипаев
в Театър 199 (2003 г.), оригиналният им проект „Битие 2“, показан в основната
програма на фестивала в Авиньон през 2007 г., и най-новият им спектакъл
„Танцът Делхи“ (2017) в Народния театър в София. В текста са проследени
сходните идеи и театрални естетики на режисьора и драматурга, отразени
в съвместните им продукции, и са откроени различията между тях

[CONSTANTINOU H., A. (2007). «The contribution of the stage director Socrates karantinos in the establishment of THOC”. Anev, 18, 53-57].
Ανακοίνωση στην ημερίδα «Η συμβολή του Σωκράτη Καραντινού στο νεοελληνικό θέατρο», που διοργάνωσε το Τμήμα Θεατρικών Σπουδών του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών, Αθήνα, 18 Φεβρουαρίου 2002 (αρχικός τίτλος: «Σωκράτης Καραντινός, ένας δάσκαλος για το κυπριακό θέατρο»).
Paper presented during the conference "The contribution of Socrates Karantinos in Modern-Greek Theatre”, organised by Theatre Studies Department of the University of Athens, Athens, 18th February 2002 (original title: "Socrates Karantinos, an instructor for Cypriot theatre”.

Le théâtre est si universel qu'il ne saurait être réduit au théâtre antique grec. Le théâtre est si cosmique qu'il ne saurait être réduit à une Europe christianisée depuis si peu de temps et en une seule couleur avec deux ou trois teintes de gris. Triste. Le Théâtre est si éternel que l'on ne peut lui trouver aucunes limites. La mise en scène  a commencée bien avant les peintures rupestres dans les grottes et cavernes du monde entier et dont ils nous reste quelques beaux dessins en couleur datant d'il y a au moins 50 000 ans dans tous les continents. Mais le théâtre c'est la dimension humaine parfaite d'une vision d'avenir dans un présent oppresseur et pourtant stimulant. La mise en scène est ce qui a donné à Homo Sapiens la force de conquérir la planète et maitenant d'essayer de bloquer sa destruction.

English text follows. Το αρχαίο δράμα παρουσιάζεται στην Κύπρο από το τέλος του 19ου αιώνα σε μαθητικές παραστάσεις και σπανιότερα από ερασιτεχνικούς θιάσους. Κατά τη δεκαετία του 1960 επαγγελματικοί θίασοι αρχίζουν να καταπιάνονται με τον Αριστοφάνη. Οι πρώτες απόπειρες του Θεατρικού Οργανισμού Κύπρου (ΘΟΚ) στην αρχαία τραγωδία είχαν ακαδημαϊκή διάθεση (Αγαμέμνων, Αίας), αλλά η καθιέρωση του Οργανισμού στο χώρο του αρχαίου δράματος γίνεται κατά τη δεκαετία του 1980 με τη συμμετοχή του στο φεστιβάλ Επιδαύρου, χαρακτηρίζεται δε από πειραματισμό και ευρύτητα αναζητήσεων. Αυτό οφείλεται εν πολλοίς στις προσωπικότητες των Νίκου Χαραλάμπους (στην τραγωδία κυρίως) και Εύη Γαβριηλίδη (στην κωμωδία). Ο ΘΟΚ εμφανίζεται για πρώτη φορά στο θέατρο της Επιδαύρου με τις Ικέτιδες του Ευριπίδη το 1980, σε σκηνοθεσία Νίκου Χαραλάμπους. Η παράσταση αποτέλεσε δυναμική είσοδο του κυπριακού κρατικού θεάτρου στο χώρο της ερμηνείας της τραγωδίας και μια σημαντική σκηνοθετική πρόταση. Από τις παραστάσεις του Γαβριηλίδη ξεχωρίζει η Σαμία του Μενάνδρου, που έγινε δεκτή με ενθουσιασμό, ως μια από τις πιο συνεπείς υφολογικά και ευφρόσυνες παραστάσεις του ΘΟΚ αλλά και μια από τις ξεχωριστές στιγμές του Φεστιβάλ Επιδαύρου. Η συνεισφορά του κυπριακού κρατικού θεάτρου στα Επιδαύρια είναι αφενός η παρουσία ενός συνεπούς και συντονισμένου θιάσου, που εργάζεται με ομαδικό πνεύμα και αίσθηση ευθύνης και αφετέρου οι τολμηρές σκηνικές αναγνώσεις των Χαραλάμπους και Γαβριηλίδη, οι οποίοι εργάστηκαν συστηματικά –ο καθένας στο δικό του πεδίο και με το ιδιαίτερό του ύφος και μέθοδο δουλειάς– και εξέλιξαν τον ερμηνευτικό τους προβληματισμό, ανεβάζοντας παραστάσεις που σημείωσαν μεγάλη επιτυχία όπως και παραστάσεις που αντιμετωπίστηκαν με επιφύλαξη αλλά πάντα με σεβασμό, ως έγκυρες προτάσεις. / Ancient Greek drama is performed in Cyprus from the end of the 19th century, from high school pupils and scarcely from groups of amateurs. In the 1960’s professionals start to work on Aristophanes’ comedies. The first attempts from the state theatre Cyprus Theatre Organisation (THOC) on ancient Greek tragedy (Agamemnon, Ajax) were rather academic in style. However, THOC gained of a place in the ground of ancient drama performing in the 1980’s; its participation in Epidaurus Festival is dynamic and with broad horizons of artistic quest. This is mainly due to the strong artistic personalities of Nikos Charalambous (who directed mainly tragedies) and Evis Gabrielides (who directed comedies). THOC appears for the first time in Epidaurus Festival in 1980 with Euripides’ Suppliants, directed by Charalambous. The performance was a dynamic entrance of the Cypriot state theatre in the ground of interpretation of ancient drama and an important artistic proposal. Menander’s Samia, directed by Gabrielides, was also a distinguished show, received by reviewers and audience with enthusiasm, and acclaimed as one of the most consistent in style and pleasant moments of Epidaurus Festival. The contribution of the Cypriot state theatre in the Festival consists, on one hand, in the presence of a consistent and coordinated group, working with team spirit and responsibility. On the other hand, it lies on the daring proposals of Charalambous and Gabrielides who both worked systematically –each one following his own specific style and method of work– and developed their prospects.

""Άγρια σκυλιά επιτίθενται στον σκηνοθέτη, ένας άντρας αναρριχάται στους τοίχους του ανακτόρου, παραπέμποντας στον Άνθρωπο του Βιτρούβιου, ένα πιάνο με ουρά τυλίγεται στις φλόγες, ένα αγέρωχο άλογο περιδιαβαίνει τη σκηνή, οθόνες τηλεόρασης πέφτουν από ψηλά, ένα λευκό ύφασμα καλύπτει τους θεατές...

Οι εικόνες αυτές ανήκουν στην παράσταση Κόλαση, το πρώτο μέρος από την τριλογία της "Θείας Κωμωδίας" του Δάντη, που ανέβασε η Societas Raffaello Sanzio στην απαιτητική σκηνή της Cour d'honneur du Palais des Papes, στο πλαίσιο του διεθνούς Φεστιβάλ της Αβινιόν στη Γαλλία, το καλοκαίρι του 2008. Το θέαμα μαγεύει το μεγαλύτερο μέρος του κοινού και της κριτικής".

Το βιβλίο της Έλενας Παπαλεξίου αποτελείται από τέσσερα μέρη. Στο πρώτο μέρος, "Εικονοπλασίες", παρουσιάζεται η μέθοδος με την οποία ο Romeo Castellucci και η ομάδα του επεξεργάζεται το κείμενο και ανασυνθέτει το υλικό της παράστασης. Στο δεύτερο μέρος, "Οργανική ύλη", γίνεται αναφορά στο έμψυχο υλικό της παράστασης και στη σχέση που αναπτύσσεται ανάμεσα στα οργανικά στοιχεία και τις ανάγκες της σκηνής. Στο τρίτο μέρος, "Τράγων ωδές", διερευνάται η σχέση της Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio με την τραγωδία. Η ενότητα αυτή εστιάζει στην "Ορέστεια", ως αντισυμβατική πρόταση για την αναπαράσταση της αρχαίας τραγωδίας και στην "Tragedia Endogonidia".

Τέλος, στο τέταρτο μέρος υπάρχει μια εκτενής συνέντευξη του Romeo Castellucci στη συγγραφέα.
Η μελέτη της Έλενας Παπαλεξίου ολοκληρώνεται με την παράθεση αναλυτικής παραστασιογραφίας, φιλμογραφίας και βιβλιογραφίας."