For many reasons in Roman theatres, both large and small, you always have to wait at least 20 minutes beyond the announced curtain time. These are vaguely anguishing waits, in which one is forced to stay in the company of strangers in foyers, corridors, and hallways that come to resemble doctors’ waiting rooms. One of these Beckett-like waits became an organic part of Itinerario-Corpo (“Body-Itinerary”), presented by the Teatro Autonomo di Roma from March through June, 1979, on the two upper floors of a private apartment building on Via degli Scialoia.

Via degli Scialoia is neither a street of theatres nor of artists, like Via Margutta, nor is it a loft area such as is found in New York City. It is one of a group of streets located north of Piazza del Popolo between the Tiber and the Villa Borghese park.