Description
Book SynopsisTheatre in Theory is the most complete anthology documenting 20th-century dramatic and performance theory to date, offering a rich variety of perspectives from the century's most prominent playwrights, directors, scholars, and philosophers.
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- Includes major theoretical and critical manifestos, hypotheses, and theories from the field
- Wide-ranging and broadly constructed, this text has both interdisciplinary and global appeal
- Includes a thematic index, section introductions, and supporting commentary
- Helps students, teachers, and practitioners to think critically about the nature of theatre
Trade Review"This book presents perspectives from the era's major playwrights, directors, scholars and philosophers."
Times Higher Education Supplement “At once comprehensive and original, this collection assembles for the first time an impressive body of theory drawn from a wide range of disciplines and traditions. This will be an indispensable sourcebook for anyone who enjoys not only going to the theatre, but also thinking about it afterwards.”
Martin Puchner, Columbia University
“An eclectic anthology of writings on theatre, many made accessible here for the first time. The often bracing juxtaposition of viewpoints from practitioners, playwrights, scholars, and theoreticians reminds us how rich the collective discourse of theatre has been since the beginning of the twentieth century. Bridging the divides that have so often characterized this field, Theatre in Theory offers a resounding testament to theatre’s urgency in the modern world.”
Stanton B. Garner, Jr., University of Tennessee
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Part I 1900–1920 35
Introduction to Part I 35
1 August Strindberg (1849–1912) 37
Preface to Miss Julie (1888) 38
2 Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) 46
The Decay of Lying: An Observation (1889) 47
3 Henri Bergson (1859–1941) 51
Laughter (Le Rire, 1900) 52
4 Valery Bryusov (1873–1924) 55
Against Naturalism in the Theatre (from ‘‘Unnecessary Truth’’) (1902) 56
5 Romain Rolland (1866–1944) 61
The People’s Theatre (1903) 61
6 Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949) 64
The Modern Drama (1904) 65
7 Aida Overton Walker (1880–1914) 71
Colored Men and Women on the Stage (1905) 71
8 Vsevolod Vaslov Meyerhold (1874–1940) 75
The Naturalistic Theatre and the Theatre of Mood (1908) 76
9 Edward Gordon Craig (1872–1966) 88
The Actor and the Über-marionette (1908) 88
10 William Butler Yeats (1865–1939) 99
The Tragic Theatre (1910) 100
11 George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) 104
Against the Well-Made Play (1911) 105
12 F. T. Marinetti (1876–1944) 110
Futurism and the Theatre (1913) 111
13 Georg Lukács (1885–1971) 116
The Sociology of Modern Drama (1914) 117
14 Emma Goldman (1869–1940) 131
Foreword to The Social Significance of Modern Drama (1917) 131
Part II 1920–1940 135
Introduction to Part II 135
15 Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) 139
On Comedy (1920) 139
16 Stanislaw Witkiewicz (1885–1939) 144
On a New Type of Play (1920) 145
17 Adolphe Appia (1862–1928) 149
Organic Unity (1921) 150
18 Georg Kaiser (1878–1945) 155
Man in the Tunnel, or: The Poet and the Play (1923) 156
19 Alain Locke (1886–1954) 158
The Negro and the American Stage (1926) 159
The Drama of Negro Life (1926) 161
20 W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) 164
‘‘Krigwa Players Little Negro Theatre’’: The Story of a Little Theatre Movement (1926) 165
Criteria of Negro Art (1926) 165
21 Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) 169
The Modern Theatre is the Epic Theatre (1930) 171
Theatre for Pleasure or Theatre for Instruction (ca. 1936) 173
Alienation Effect in Chinese Acting (1936) 178
22 Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953) 185
Memoranda on Masks (1932) 185
Second Thoughts (1932) 187
A Dramatist’s Notebook (1933) 188
23 Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) 190
Plays (1934) 191
24 Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960) 195
Characteristics of Negro Expression (1934) 196
25 Federico García Lorca (1899–1936) 203
The Prophecy of Lorca (1934) 203
26 Antonin Artaud (1896–1949) 206
On the Balinese Theatre (1938) 207
No More Masterpieces (1938) 216
27 Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) 222
What is Epic Theatre? (1939) 223
28 Maxwell Anderson (1888–1959) 228
The Essence of Tragedy (1939) 228
29 Karel Brušák (1913–2004) 234
Signs in the Chinese Theatre (1939) 235
Part III 1940–1960 245
Introduction to Part III 245
30 Jindřich Honzl (1894–1953) 249
Dynamics of the Sign in the Theatre (1940) 249
31 Thornton Wilder (1897–1975) 258
Some Thoughts on Playwrighting (1941) 258
32 Arthur Miller (1915–2005) 266
Tragedy and the Common Man (1949) 267
33 T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) 270
Poetry and Drama (1950) 270
34 Tennessee Williams (1911–1983) 274
The Timeless World of the Play (1951) 274
35 John Gassner (1903–1967) 278
‘‘Enlightenment’’ and Modern Drama (1954) 278
36 Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990) 287
Problems of the Theatre (1955) 287
37 Sean O’Casey (1880–1964) 293
Green Goddess of Realism (1956) 293
38 Eric Bentley (b. 1916) 298
What is Theatre? A Point of View (1956) 298
39 Northrop Frye (1912–1991) 302
Specific Forms of Drama (1957) 302
40 Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994) 309
The Avant-Garde Theatre (1960) 309
41 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) 317
Beyond Bourgeois Theatre (1960) 318
Part IV 1960–1980 325
Introduction to Part IV 325
42 Martin Esslin (1918–2002) 329
The Theatre of the Absurd (1961) 329
43 George Steiner (b. 1929) 333
The Death of Tragedy (1961) 333
44 Roland Barthes (1915–1980) 336
The Task of Brechtian Criticism (1956) 336
Theatre and Signification (1963) 340
45 Lionel Abel (1910–2001) 342
Of Bert Brecht – Not Simple but Simplified (1963) 343
46 Francis Fergusson (1904–1986) 345
The Notion of ‘‘Action’’ (1964) 345
47 Peter Szondi (1929–1971) 348
The Drama (1965) 349
48 Kenneth Burke (1897–1993) 352
Dramatic Form – And: Tracking Down Implications (1966) 352
49 Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) 360
Theatre of Cruelty and the Closure of Representation (1966) 361
50 Jerzy Grotowski (1933–1999) 366
Towards the Poor Theatre (1967) 367
51 Raymond Williams (1921–1988) 373
Drama from Ibsen to Brecht (1968) 373
52 Peter Brook (b. 1925) 378
The Immediate Theatre (1968) 378
53 Peter Weiss (1916–1982) 381
Notes on the Contemporary Theatre (1971) 381
54 Joyce Carol Oates (b. 1938) 387
The Edge of Impossibility: Tragic Forms in Literature (1972) 387
55 Luis Valdez (b. 1940) 390
Notes on Chicano Theater (1973) 390
56 Augusto Boal (b. 1931) 394
‘‘Empathy or What? Emotion or Reason?’’ and ‘‘Experiments with the People’s Theatre in Peru’’ (1974) 394
57 Charles Ludlam (1943–1987) 397
Ridiculous Theatre, Scourge of Human Folly (1975) 397
58 Michael Kirby (b. 1931) 399
Manifesto of Structuralism (1975) 400
59 Wole Soyinka (b. 1934) 402
Drama and the African World-View (1976) 402
60 Robert Wilson (b. 1941) 408
‘‘. . . I thought I was hallucinating hallucinating’’ (1977) 408
61 Patrice Pavis (b. 1947) 411
Languages of the Stage (1978) 411
62 Heiner Müller (1929–1995) 419
Reflections on Post-Modernism (1979) 419
63 Ntozake Shange (b. 1948) 423
unrecovered losses/black theater traditions (1979) 423
Part V 1980–2000 427
Introduction to Part V 427
64 Tadeusz Kantor (1915–1990) 431
Theatre Happening 1967 (1982) 431
65 Jeffrey E. Huntsman 434
Native American Theatre (1983) 434
66 Bert O. States (b. 1929) 441
The World On Stage (1985) 441
67 Victor Turner (1920–1983) 448
Images and Reflections: Ritual, Drama, Carnival, Film, and Spectacle in Cultural Performance (1987) 448
68 Eugenio Barba (b. 1936) 455
Eurasian Theatre (1988) 455
69 Megumi Sata 460
Aristotle’s Poetics and Zeami’s Teachings on Style and the Flower (1989) 460
70 Jill Dolan 469
Desire Cloaked in a Trenchcoat (1989) 470
71 Judith Butler (b. 1956) 476
From Parody to Politics (1990) 477
72 Reza Abdoh (1963–1995) 483
Los Angeles (1992) 483
73 Richard Foreman (b. 1937) 489
Foundations for a Theater (1992) 489
74 Suzan-Lori Parks (b. 1964) 494
Elements of Style (1994) 494
75 Rebecca Schneider (b. 1959) 500
The Explicit Body in Performance (1997) 500
76 Peggy Phelan (b. 1959) 505
Mourning Sex: Performing Public Memories (1997) 505
77 Erika Fischer-Lichte 509
Written Drama/Oral Performance (1997) 509
78 Richard Schechner (b. 1934) 517
What is Performance Studies Anyway? (1998) 518
79 Alina Troyano 523
I, Carmelita Tropicana (2000) 523
80 Herbert Blau 533
Limits of Performance: The Insane Root (2001) 533
81 Mitsuya Mori 539
The Structure of Theater: A Japanese View of Theatricality (2002) 539
82 Heisnam Kanhailal (b. 1941) 549
Ritual Theatre (Theatre of Transition) (2004) 550
Theatre in Theory: Working Units 555
Selected Bibliography 557
Index 558
