Preface: The Laboratory Dimension. I. Recalling a strange discussion: the first questions and the first definitions. Leszeck Kolankiewicz introduces the themes of Grotowski and alchemy. II. Conflicts within the 'collective mind'. Discussion on Decroux and the theatre as a non-religious abode. Also discussion on body language, on the value of the laboratory for self-knowledge and on its importance in the creation of performances. III.1. In the first half of the century. A closer look at Konstantin Stanislavski's Opera-Dramatic Studio (by Franco Ruffini) and Vsevolod Meyerhold's Studios and Workshops (By Beatrice Picon-vallin). III.2 In the second half of the century. Jerzy Grotowski's and Ludwig Flaszen's Teatr Laboratorium (by Zbigniew Osinski and Ugo Volli) and Eugenio Barba's Odin Teatret (by Nando Taviani). IV. The relationship between Studios in the first half of the twentieth and theatre laboratories in the second. The apparence of the Red Queen and her race. V. Five pieces from different mosaics with views of vanished landscapes. Index of Names and Places.