European Travels

Impressions of the Psychodrama Conference: which is the reason we are here. Eva gave her workshop for 50+ people on 'roles not played.' The Conference theme was 'The Garden of Roles'. In keeping with this, Eva led the group in a inner meditation of two personal 'gardens'. One of reality...your present family and professional role..who you are in it. And a garden of possibility..wherein might be treasures, opportunities. She induced a very satisfactory reverie followed by sharing in groups of four. One amazing challenge for an international conference: the languages are German, English, Romanian, Russian, Polish (of course, the host country). If only one language is used, it is English..but in groups where experiental exercises are done, the language groups each have a translator. Eva walked around the large room giving directions in English and German, while there was a distracting buzz of Russian, Polish and Romanian translations. A young Romanian woman became the protagonist. Soon she had a 'red planet' that would emit light if touched as her possibility that was opposite to a stern castle with an everlasting spring at its base. Her theme, as is with many here, particularly with so many professional women, was of feeling responsibilty for family and profession at the expense of individual development. In a delightful way, the spring discovered it could fly, fly all the way to the red planet where loving touches awakened the inner light...

The night before there was an extraordinary performance of "Tristan and Isolde" done as a play performed by recovering schizophrenics directed by a director who has worked with the psychodramatists for the past 20 years. The casting was compelling, the staging dramatic and extremely well composed (Grotosky comes to mind). I couldn't really pick up the 'diagnostic' aspect of the players history, but Eva noted that some were unable to project their voices out into the audience. Great effects with light, sound, simple draping..the women particularly expressive with feeling and movement.

Today is Sunday and with great ambivalence we have decided to take the visit to Auschwitz offered by the conference. The banquet was give at a museum devoted to the fate of the Galican Jews...felt so ironic. The exhibits:a huge collection of holocaust literature. The walls covered with paintings and photos: all of them covered from view as being too disturbing or inappropriate for a festive dinner. Loud Jazz and over amped singer. A real Polish joke: a dinner where people who like to talk can't because they can't hear, in a place with paintings that aren't to be seen.

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