The Fair Ground Booth Theatre Manifesto of 1984- by Sven-Erik Olsson

Our Time is the Era of Intonation. Transmission of Meaning is contingent upon the MODE of recital. There is unanimous Talk about Freedom and Peace. There remains but One Question: HOW?
The essential dimension is pure Form. Public speech has resumed the costume of the Dreamplay. Through the Intervention of Dreamanalysis and Modern Physics the Space that We occupy has lost its theoretical Obviousness. Medical Chemistry has pinpointed the Dreampictures of the Brain as the result of Bloodflow and electrical Outbursts and Mathemathics has labelled Chaos a Produce of the rulebound. Mental diseases are traced by sampling fluid from the coxis. But this is no Advance when compared with Yoga Foundations.
Traditional life is dissolving. Movements, Attitudes are transformed into a Language of Signs, that can be taught, trained and marketed. That is when We salute uncomfortable Ideas, denominate temptation, humoor, poetry beyond romanticism. By resorting to pointing at the objective, descriptive and outbound universe as well as to human methaphysics and inner being We aim at the possible Space between Dreams and Events.
Words as well as Objects, should when Theatre is concerned be lent a hieroglyphical Status. Their Everyday Existence should be peeled of and then They should be handed over to the Translator. It is not necessary to understand a Language in order to sing. But even the native Language should be made distant and strange to the Actor in Order for Presentation to be realised.
In a Way similar to the Dancer the Actor must learn to count. Also in a Sense touched upon by Brecht she must separate from the Character in Order to demonstrate What has already happened, that is Repetition. While it seems inevitable that Time will pass this must not be used as an Incentive for Theatre to personate natural Events. That is why the Actor cannot be Psychologically plausible. Her Game is Illustration. So We are Against Method.
However We believe with the Diseased Monsieur Artaud that Theatre still has something to learn from the East.This is why We build Drama through choreographical organizing gestures into a coded Tale, enigmatic Theatre. We are not inclined to the Use traditional Codes as in Kathakali.
The Body of the Actor is understod as a collective Entity, not belonging. In this Our understanding of the Position of the Actor approaches Butoh. We aspire this result thru Denunciation of Casting and the Leading Actor. The Star of Our Theatre is the Event. These are some of Our Impulses as We undertake the Project of a Theatre beyond the Poor, Third, Fourth, Rich or Dead in a World approaching One/Zero.
First WWW-publication Oct 1996. Modified Dec,01 1996. Version 2