COLLECTIVE MIND 2027 – OPEN FOR APPICATIONS
Yellow: Vincent’s Sister
Directed by Eugenio Barba
🎭 January 14–22, 2027 | Ferrara
with Yalan Lin (Taiwan), and Lorenzo Gleijeses, Mirto Baliani and Manolo Muoio (Italy), assisted by Lorenzo Gallo, Arianne Wang, Marco Luciano and Veronica Ragusa.
COLLECTIVE MIND 2027
Yellow: Vincent’s Sister
Active participation in the second rehearsal session for the creation of a new production directed by Eugenio Barba
January 14 – 22, 2027
At ARTIFICIO/Cantieri Culturali Permanenti, Via Ravenna 669, Ferrara, Italy.
Organised by Odin Teatret in collaboration with Centro Artistico CARPA, ARTI Teatro, Centro Teatrale Universitario di Ferrara and the Department of Humanities of Ferrara University
An interactive residency led by Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley, with the participation of Yalan Lin (Taiwan), and Lorenzo Gleijeses, Mirto Baliani and Manolo Muoio (Italy), assisted by Lorenzo Gallo (Colombia), Arianne Wang (China), and Marco Luciano and Veronica Ragusa (Italy).
Working language: English, with Italian translation.
The “Collective Mind 2027” programme is open to 25 selected participants and includes seven days of rehearsals for a new production directed by Eugenio Barba, featuring artists who have previously collaborated with Odin Teatret and ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology). Participants will engage in daily physical and vocal training sessions, observe rehearsals, and take part in the staging process through daily meetings with Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley contributing ideas, offering feedback and suggestions, asking questions, exchanging opinions and seeing films.
In theatre, we can speak of a “Collective Mind” when a group of motivated individuals engages in a creative process that is not aimed at the realisation of a pre-defined project. Participants will follow the rehearsals for a new production, with the temporary title Yellow: Vincent’s Sister which draws inspiration from the relationship between Vincent Van Gogh and his sister, Willemien. An initial week of rehearsals took place in Denmark in August 2026, resulting in a preliminary dramaturgical structure.
Each day, at the end of the rehearsals, the participants gather to discuss the work and pose questions to Eugenio Barba. They engage in dialogue with him, pointing out unclear elements, unexpected possibilities, and new perspectives regarding a specific score, scene, or situation.
Throughout the rehearsals, new narrative threads emerge, intertwine, and transform. The Collective Mind seeks to deepen and develop the material already created, along with its inherent potential. It envisions further themes and proposes new solutions, uncovering hidden facets and unforeseen stories within the context of an ever-evolving dramaturgical structure.
A Collective Mind integrates diverse areas of expertise, varying levels of experience, and distinct responsibilities into a compositional process akin to what occurs within an individual mind during the act of invention: sudden shifts in direction, digressions, the incorporation of chance effects and outcomes, and leaps between different levels of organisation (the pre-expressive level, organic dramaturgy, narrative dramaturgy, spatial modelling, the musical universe, etc.).
A “Collective Mind” simultaneously addresses all the various layers of the performance organism – rhythmic, musical, sonic, dynamic, spatial, and narrative – shifting its focus from one layer to another in a non-predetermined way.
Those involved in this process are searching both for the specific form of the creative endeavour and for a secret, unexpected meaning of the story. By observing the rehearsals, the participants in the Collective Mind are granted access to the intimate workings of a theatrical practice that is delicate, elusive, and, at times, repetitive. Observers are expected to exercise a specific form of self-discipline, a capacity for observation and concentration in order to support the actors, the director and the other collaborators. This ensures that the rehearsals are not trivialised or disrupted by an indifferent, detached presence.
The Collective Mind operates with the same energy whether it is building the work or dismantling its own established plans.
It is not possible to set a rigid schedule in advance, as the process itself dictates the rhythm.
TITLE: Yellow: Vincent’s Sister
Eugenio Barba, director, Odin Teatret (Denmark)
Mirto Baliani, actor, dramaturgical collaborator, musician, soundscape (Italy)
Lorenzo Gleijeses, actor/dancer/dramaturgical collaborator (Italy)
Yalan Lin, actress/dancer, choreographic composition, vocal composition (Taiwan)
Manolo Muoio, actor, dramaturgical collaborator, musician (Italy)
Julia Varley, actress, Odin Teatret, assistant director (Denmark)
Lorenzo Gallo, assistant, researcher (Colombia/Italy)
Arianne Wang, assistant director (China/France)
and
Marco Luciano, director and actor, ARTI Teatro (Italy)
Veronica Ragusa, director and actress, ARTI Teatro (Italy)
Cost: 800 (eight hundred) euros, including board and lodging in shared rooms.
Registration deadline: November 30, 2026. Priority will be given to participants based on the order in which they register.
Payment deadline: December 15, 2026.
Participants are required to read the book by Willem Jan Verlinden: “Vincent Van Gogh: Letters to My Sister”. English edition: Van Gogh Museum and Huygens Museum, Amsterdam, 2009. Italian edition: “Van Gogh: Lettere a mia sorella”, Donzelli Ed., Rome, 2025.
Participants of the COLLECTIVE MIND 2027 are required to arrive in Ferrara by 5:00 PM on January 14, and to depart on the morning of January 22, 2027.
Programme
Jan 14 Arrival
7:00 PM: Welcome performance, “STILL LIFE / Still Life in the Mind of a Genius,” by ARTI Teatro
8:30 PM: Supper and Introduction
Jan 15–21 8:00 AM–9:30 AM: Physical and vocal training with the artists.
10:00 AM–5:00 PM: Rehearsals for Yellow. Vincent’s Sister.
5:00 PM–6:00 PM: Meeting with Eugenio Barba and Julia Varley
9:00 PM–10:00 PM: Film screenings and discussions among participants, coordinated by Lorenzo Gallo
REGISTRATION FORM
Collective Mind 14–22 January, 2027
Please send your application to odin@odinteatret.org
Participation fee: 800 (eight hundred) euros, including board and lodging in shared rooms.
Registration deadline: November 15, 2026. Priority will be given to participants based on the order in which they register. Deadline for payment: December 15, 2026.
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