Europe is a continent in a state of rapid-- and frequently unsettling, transition. In the past five years, a total of twelve new states have emerged in a continent in which only five countries can boast of having had stable borders for more than a hundred years.
Accompanied by in-depth articles and interviews discussing European performance today, "Letters from Europe" uses the framing device of the letter-- letters from theater makers, artists and critics-- to present an intensive, up-to-date survey of the performance forms of the new Europe, the relationship of the old and the new, the minority theaters in Europe and the place of dissident theaters in fin-de-siecle Europe.

Performance Research: On Ritual will examine a range of ritual practices bordering on or intended to be seen as theatre. It will explore both historical and systematic connections between ritual and theatre, present the work of contemporary artists, and reflect on the role and meaning of ritual for theatrical purposes in the late 20th century.

This issue of performance Research is a response to the powerful presence in contemporary culture of aesthetic forms and political strategies derived from North America. Counterpointing Letters from Europe, the book addresses the use and abuse of images of and from North America, the deconstruction in performance theory and practice of North American art, film and performance, and the presentation of America as genre and fiction.

The question of illusion and reality--the relation of lived experience and representation to the arts and to broader philosophical considerations--continues to be a central issue in contemporary performance. "On Illusion" will address this question in relation to a variety of topics. Contents: 5 Microlectures on Performance Writing and Illusion Texts "Matthew Ghoulish and Goat Island;" On Rose English "Lynn MacRitchie" Hotel Pro Forma "Exe Christofferson;" Truthful Trickery: Shamanism, Performance, and Reality "Etzel Cardena"

This issue explores risk taken and encountered in a variety of disciplines. The primary focus here is on the perception of risk: its relationship to the artist's work in performance, and the physical, cultural and political contexts in which the work takes place.
Contributors: Lynn MacRitchie, Chrissie Iles, Jan Linders, Heiner Muller and Robert Wilson, Tracey Warr, Ato Quayson.

Performance Research: On Ritual will examine a range of ritual practices bordering on or intended to be seen as theatre. It will explore both historical and systematic connections between ritual and theatre, present the work of contemporary artists, and reflect on the role and meaning of ritual for theatrical purposes in the late 20th century.

On America will respond to the powerful presence in contemporary culture of aesthetic forms and political strategies derived from North America. Counterpointing Letters from Europe, this book will address the use and abuse of images of and from North America, the deconstruction in performance theory and practice of North American art, film and performance, and the presentation of America as genre and fiction.

The question of illusion and reality - the relationship of representation and lived experience to the arts and to broader philosophical considerations - continues to be a central issue in contemporary performance.

Europe is a continent in a state of rapid - and frequently unsettling, transition. In the past five years, a total of twelve new states have emerged in a continent in which only five countries can boast of having had stable borders for more than a hundred years. Accompanied by in-depth articles and interviews discussing European performance today, Letters From Europe uses the framing device of the letter - letters from theatre makers, artists and critics - to present an intensive, up-to-date survey of the performance forms of the new Europe and their relationship with the past.

In a room in the middle of nowhere, a man and a woman dream up spectacular worlds: a decaying city, a lush and crumbling garden, a train journey across a drowned landscape. Darkly humorous, absurd and surreal, these are plays for a theatre in which time and space, character and setting are as uncertain as the maps this man and this woman draw. A co-founder of the legendary 1980s performance theatre company Impact Theatre Co-op, Claire MacDonald composed Utopia, a sequence of commissioned playtexts, between 1987 and 2008. This edition brings together both the plays and the story of how the plays came to be made and written. With a compelling introduction by the author, and including additional material by Tim Etchells, Deirdre Heddon, and Lenora Champagne, this book provides a range of historical and critical materials that put the plays in the context of MacDonald's career as writer and collaborator, and show how visual practices and poetics, theories of real and imagined space, and new approaches to language itself have profoundly shaped the development of performance writing in the UK.

Acclaimed cookery writer Claire Macdonald turns her attention to food for free in this selection of recipes using a huge variety of produce that can be found growing wild in fields, forests, hedgerows and along the seashore. Featuring blackcurrants, brambles, crabapples, dandelions, elderflower, funghi, hazelnuts, wild garlic, meadowsweet, nettles, sorrel, kelp, razorfish, mussels, and much more, Claire includes over 40 recipes for soups, mousses, salads, accompaniments, jams and jellies, cordials, cakes and biscuits as well as main courses and puddings.

Contents:
* Open Transmission - Krzysztof Wodiczko
* Against Ontology - Philip Auslander
* Stepping Into the Light - Claire MacDonald
* No Hiding Place - Alan Read
* The Oresteia of the Societas Rafaello Sanzio - Valentina Valentini