Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Postdramatic theatre has become an essential category for discussing contemporary performances that challenge classical elements of drama, including the centrality of plot and character. As conversations about postdramatic theatre have proliferated, however, so too have the term's meanings and the practices it is presumed to describe. Where scholars once welcomed 'postdramatic' for its specificity in comparison to categories like 'experimental' or 'postmodern, ' today the term postdramatic theatre is at risk of becoming meaningless by encompassing seemingly limitless performance practices.
This collection of essays brings together scholars, critics and artists to examine the stakes of continuing to use postdramatic theatre as a lens for studying contemporary performance. In addition to introducing key debates in contemporary performance and documenting recent developments in European and North American theatre making, this collection insists that postdramatic theatre is a formal category of performance. Contributors draw on literary studies, art history, film studies and philosophy to interrogate the aesthetic outputs of theatre as much as its material conditions such as funding. By focusing on artists and theatre makers ranging from established figures like Tadeusz Kantor and J r me Bel to newer groups including Nature Theatre of Oklahoma and Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch, this book takes postdramatic theatre as an occasion to think more closely about how theatrical form relates to interdisciplinary performance forms.
A timely investigation of both the aesthetic structures and material conditions of contemporary performance, Postdramatic Theatre and Form refines what we mean, and what we don't, when we speak of postdramatic theatre.
Synopsis
Postdramatic theatre is an essential category of performance that challenges classical elements of drama, including the centrality of plot and character. Tracking key developments in contemporary European and North American performance, this collection redirects ongoing debates about postdramatic theatre, turning attention to the overlooked issue on which they hinge: form.
Contributors draw on literary studies, film studies and critical theory to reimagine the formal aspects of theatre, such as space, media and text. The volume expands how scholars think of theatrical form, insisting that formalist analysis can be useful for studying the ways theatre is produced and consumed, and how theatre makers engage with other forms like dance and visual art. Chapters focus on a range of interdisciplinary artists including Tadeusz Kantor, Ann Liv Young and Ryan Trecartin and Lizzie Fitch, as well as theatre's enmeshment within institutional formations like funding agencies, festivals, real estate and healthcare.
A timely investigation of the aesthetic structures and material conditions of contemporary performance, this collection refines what we mean, and what we don't, when we speak of postdramatic theatre.