Theatrical Form Research Articles

Performing Literature and Staged Readings

In 2005, on the initiative of playwright Simona Semenič and in close collaboration with performing arts theorist Rok Vevar, a group of playwrights and dramaturgs founded PreGlej within the Glej Theatre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The group confronted the issues of playwriting and, within a few years, established a platform for the creation, development and international exchange of dramatic writing. Their work was committed to establishing the conditions necessary for creating dramatic texts. To this end, they used the form of staged readings – not only as a public presentation of dramatic plays but as a method for developing drama, bringing drama as a work in progress. The article shows that this kind of playwriting practice on Slovenian stages has its precursors in the experimental theatre practices of the 1960s and 1970s (as applied by the neo-avant-garde groups of poets 441/442/443, Nomenklatura and LKB – Literarni klub Branik, as well as in the performances of writers presenting their literary works at the Pekarna Theatre). Poets and writers staged their works, which were not primarily intended to be performed, creating theatrical forms of writing for the stage, which fit neither the conventions of drama nor the tradition of theatre. The staging of literature and staged readings are discussed in the context of performance writing, which characterises the multiple relationships between writing and performance, focusing on the process of writing as a performative act.

Performing Literature and Staged Readings

In 2005, on the initiative of playwright Simona Semenič and in close collaboration with performing arts theorist Rok Vevar, a group of playwrights and dramaturgs founded PreGlej within the Glej Theatre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The group confronted the issues of playwriting and, within a few years, established a platform for the creation, development and international exchange of dramatic writing. Their work was committed to establishing the conditions necessary for creating dramatic texts. To this end, they used the form of staged readings – not only as a public presentation of dramatic plays but as a method for developing drama, bringing drama as a work in progress. The article shows that this kind of playwriting practice on Slovenian stages has its precursors in the experimental theatre practices of the 1960s and 1970s (as applied by the neo-avant-garde groups of poets 441/442/443, Nomenklatura and LKB – Literarni klub Branik, as well as in the performances of writers presenting their literary works at the Pekarna Theatre). Poets and writers staged their works, which were not primarily intended to be performed, creating theatrical forms of writing for the stage, which fit neither the conventions of drama nor the tradition of theatre. The staging of literature and staged readings are discussed in the context of performance writing, which characterises the multiple relationships between writing and performance, focusing on the process of writing as a performative act.

Performing Literature and Staged Readings

In 2005, on the initiative of playwright Simona Semenič and in close collaboration with performing arts theorist Rok Vevar, a group of playwrights and dramaturgs founded PreGlej within the Glej Theatre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The group confronted the issues of playwriting and, within a few years, established a platform for the creation, development and international exchange of dramatic writing. Their work was committed to establishing the conditions necessary for creating dramatic texts. To this end, they used the form of staged readings – not only as a public presentation of dramatic plays but as a method for developing drama, bringing drama as a work in progress. The article shows that this kind of playwriting practice on Slovenian stages has its precursors in the experimental theatre practices of the 1960s and 1970s (as applied by the neo-avant-garde groups of poets 441/442/443, Nomenklatura and LKB – Literarni klub Branik, as well as in the performances of writers presenting their literary works at the Pekarna Theatre). Poets and writers staged their works, which were not primarily intended to be performed, creating theatrical forms of writing for the stage, which fit neither the conventions of drama nor the tradition of theatre. The staging of literature and staged readings are discussed in the context of performance writing, which characterises the multiple relationships between writing and performance, focusing on the process of writing as a performative act.

Contentious Politics, State Repression and Civil Dissidence: The Discourse of Resistance in Utpal Dutt’s Nightmare City

In the Post-Independence era, the prolific playwrights of India started using the aesthetic form of theater to contest authoritarian structures, and to voice their anti-establishment dissent. Utpal Dutt, a pioneering figure in Modern Indian Theater, used the medium of drama for propaganda and political conscientization of the oppressed. The indefatigable thespian contributed significantly towards the formation of modern Bengali theater, as his plays voiced his intransigent protest against the authoritarian government and concurrently, showed his impressive experimentation with different dramatic techniques, theatrical devices and theatrical genres. Dutt’s anti-establishment play, Nightmare City presents a fastidious account of the turbulent years of late-1960s and early-1970s Bengal gripped by Naxalite violence and police brutalism. Set against the backdrop of Naxalite insurgency, the play savagely exposes the ideological hypocrisy of the autocratic government leaders of the time and their violent hooliganism. However, the playwright, in sync with his earlier plays, has not only portrayed the tumultuous socio-political ambiance of the 70s Calcutta, but has also constructed a soul-shattering voice of resistance to the political oppressions perpetuated by the state apparatuses. The objective of this paper is to study the revolutionary propaganda of Dutt and redefine his concept of “political theater” with special reference to his intricately structured political satire, Nightmare City.

‘PLAY AND PLAYING’- CROSS-READING THE EAST-COAST BAJAU’S RITUAL PERFORMANCES AS A TRADITIONAL THEATER PERFORMANCE

The East-Coast Bajau ethnic group is clustered into the Bajau Laut ethnic division. Having a sea centered belief, the spirits of ancestor (Keombo’an) and the spirits of nature - these formerly pagan ethnic groups have achieved a syncretism of beliefs since the emergence of Islam. These changes in beliefs have been a factor in the occurrence of liminal processes; in their practice and beliefs of the sacred traditional healing ritual performances to the more secular form of traditional theater. The terms of 'play and playing' is a familiar term and a common practice of the traditional theater performances in which instead of acting, the performers play the role in accordance with its spontaneous and improvisational features. The playing skills of the traditional theater players (instead of performers) are always tested with their ability to develop performances based only on a given storyline. The elements of ‘play and playing’ are also an important part to the performance structure of the Bajau Laut’s healing ritual, most of which consist of secular elements in the ritual performances. The ‘play and playing’ element in the ritual performance is seen as the aesthetic potential of the Sabah’s indigenous traditional theater. This paper aims to synthesize the liminal performance of the Bajau’s traditional ritual as a traditional theater performance text. Through the cross-reading towards ‘Victor Turner’s-ritual theory’ and ‘Richard Schechner-performance theory’, the discourse analysis on the elements of ‘play and playing’ was carried out to obtain and to unfold the traditional theatrical features of the Bajau.

Migration and Opera Old and New

This article uses Eva Noer Kondrup’s chamber opera Den Rejsende (Copenhagen 2018) to examine the challenges and opportunities provoked by the operatic form when attempting to create socially responsible theatre. Focusing on how opera reflects and contributes to contemporary discourse on migration, it examines how opera’s unusual performance and reception demands differentiate it from, for example, spoken verbatim theatre. The article first considers the most common way opera companies today engage with migration – through productions of existing operas – in which socially responsible decisions are primarily in the hands of directors and designers and relate mostly to interpretation, and it explores some of the risks and opportunities of engaging with migration in recent revivals of repertoire works. It then analyses how questions of social responsibility in new operas extend to structural issues that are the field of the composer and librettist. The article examines Kondrup’s decisions as librettist-composer of Den Rejsende, demonstrating the potential for opera to use non-realist operatic techniques to engage with some of the issues with which spoken verbatim theatre has wrestled, including questions of authority, authenticity and authorship, and of empathy, engagement, and identification. The production, performed by two Swedish singers from non-refugee backgrounds in multiple roles, favoured distanciation techniques over “authenticity effects” and avoided tensions between giving voice to and speaking for contemporary refugees that can arise in spoken verbatim theatre. While the libretto contained found text, this was from historical refugee situations, and from the words of Inger Støjberg in her role as Danish Minister for Immigration, Integration and Housing. By throwing a spotlight on the words of an elected representative, Den Rejsende indicated an area in which audience members of what is often thought of as an affective theatrical form might have some influence in effecting practical change.

The mechanisms of the actor's work between performance and directing style in the contemporary theater show (Western) as a model

The actor has mechanisms that were applied in the performance، as it formed a style in the theatrical form (weird)، and the researcher deliberately studied these mechanisms and divided them into four chapters. The researcher divided it into two sections، the first is the actor's performance requirements، and the second is the boring performance methods in the directors' theater، and then the researcher concluded the second chapter with the most important indicators. As for the third chapter، the researcher determined the society of his research and the method of selecting the sample (strange) and analyzing the sample and concluded with the most important results of the sample analysis.

Shadow Performance in Iran

Abstract This study argues, contrary to some opinions, that shadow performance existed in Iran from at least the tenth to the twentieth century. Through a textual analysis of newly discovered ancient texts, two plays specifically, this study shows how shadow performance originated in the Indian subcontinent, was transported from Iran to the historical region now known as Iraq, and then spread to Egypt, developing over time through its historical progression. This study also looks at the reasons for the decline of shadow performance in Iran, including the centuries-old Iranian Sufi criticism of the form and the establishment of the Safavid dynasty, which introduced Shiism as the official religion of Iran in the sixteenth century. Certain Iranian Sufisms considered shadow performance debaucherous until the fifteenth century. After the sixteenth century, influenced by the Turkish Karagöz, shadow performance was considered a theatrical form associated with Sunni infidels. Consequently, shadow performance was replaced with Muharram mourning rituals, ritualistic forms that reflect Shia identity.

Kratkij obzor istorii stanovleniya zapadnogo baleta v Kitae

Dance as a part of human culture gives rise to different forms of dance theatre in the cultural contexts of different countries. And the development of ballet as a dance genre is also inextricably linked to the society, culture and aesthetics of Western countries. During this process, Western ballet has undergone three localizations in China.

Цифровизация театра. Осмысление феномена

An overview of the main trends in understanding the digital forms of theatre existence is made on the basis of scientific publications of recent years in Europe and the United States. It demonstrates the breadth of the subject field and author’s approaches, and the diversity of theoretical concepts and methods of studying digital hypostases of theatrical life. There are no immutable truths or taboos in the social sciences today, and interpretations of empirical facts are often polemical, depending on the author’s beliefs and attitude to social justice and inequality — social, racial, gender — or other problems of society. Nevertheless, despite disagreements, most researchers agree that it is extremely important today to reflect on the challenges posed in recent years by the rapid development of digital forms of theatrical offerings. Here everything acquires a new sounding: from existential questions of the adequacy of the existence of performing art in the digital environment, the impact of this environment on the market prospects of theatre and its relationship with the audience, to practical steps to comprehend and disseminate the experience of mastering the digital space. Most scientists consider the opposition of live and digital forms of theatre to be unproductive. Analysis of the evidence shows that digitalization is neither the death nor the salvation of theatre: rather, it represents an opportunity to use rapidly evolving technology and audience expectations to expand the reach of theatre. Following the public, the academic community accepts this type of theatre as an element of the cultural life of society and the ever-evolving relationship between theatre and the audience.

Pingju (Ping Opera) and the Politics of Celebrity in 1930s Shanghai

Abstracts: Between 1935 and 1937, pingju (ping opera), a folk-based theatrical form from northern China, enjoyed a sensational two-year run in Shanghai. It was welcomed by both the lower class, who enjoyed its focus on the daily lives of the average folks and less convention-bound performance routines, and the literati, who did not share their northern counterpart's class-based bias toward the form as lower-class entertainment. Using concepts from celebrity studies while challenging the field's Eurocentric tendencies, this essay analyzes the popular xiaobao (tabloid) media's role in making the star actress Bai Yushuang a celebrity. It then focuses on two areas of pingju 's evolution that sustained its popularity through two star actresses: Bai Yushuang's antifeudal plays with transgressive heroines created in cooperation with leftist intellectuals and Zhu Baoxia's adaptions of jingju (Beijing opera) plays that formally elevated pingju toward the supposedly more advanced genre.

BULGARIAN MUSICAL ART AS A SYNTHESIS OF FOREIGN-NATION CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS

This article studies the effect of achievements of proto-Bulgarian, Thracian, Ancient Greek and Byzantine cultures on formation of the Bulgarian nation. The main scientific concepts concerning the origins of Bulgarians, etymology of name, and matters concerning linguistic and ethnic affiliation have been analyzed. The most important historical events that bore upon formation of the Bulgarian nation have been reviewed; in particular, attention was focused upon development of religious views of Bulgarians starting from the archaic eras. Materials concerning the influence which achievements of proto-Bulgarians had on Bulgarian music and culture in general have been studied. An analysis of historical materials concerning the life of Turkish and Irano-Indian peoples, archeological cultural discoveries and accounts of various historians suggest the conclusion that archaic layers of Bulgarian folklore have relation to Irano- Indian, Turkish and Irano-Semite origins of monodic melodic culture, which were in organic contact with proto-Christian and early Christian artistic layers, thus facilitating flexible contacts with other Southern European cultural phenomena. This relation manifests itself in common features of Turkish and Bulgarian rhythms, the structure of folk music modes and the use of a quartertone system in music of these countries. One subsection systemizes historical information regarding Thracians, and offers an overview of the works of historians and scholars studying origins of the Thracian language that influenced morphological and syntactical linguistic system of Bulgarians, and religious legacy. A conclusion was drawn that Bulgaria preserved the orphic cult of Ancient Thrace no less than Greece and Byzantium did, where vocal basis of music defined exceptional originality of rhythmic structures, in particular, in instrumentalism. Accounts of Greek historians concerning secular and folk music of Thrace, rites, pantomimic scenes, etc. have been analyzed as well. The discovered sources allow to assume that practicing musicians of Ancient Thrace were prohibited from not only writing about music but even talking about it, although the myths, religious beliefs and ritual practices indicate the authoritativeness of Thracians in this particular area. Bulgaria’s inheritance of Ancient Greece’s cultural legacy, including via Byzantine Orthodoxy of the 4 th to 6 th and 9 th to 11 th centuries, as proved by numerous examples of architecture, painting art and music (and especially its rhythmical side) has been analyzed. Based on theoretical works by V. Kholopova, D. Hristov, V. Stoin and A. Stoyanov, particularities of Bulgarian “irregular rhythmics” (which have, first of all, antique metrics at its core) and the problems of their fixing have been described. Attention was also given to the hereditary features existing between Bulgaria and Byzantium, especially in religious Christian culture. The commonness manifests itself not only in the structure of Divine Service and the octoechos system but also in the monody of drone (ison) singing that remains contemporaneous in Bulgaria, in dissemination of the tradition of bass singing of psalms, in melisma which was not just an “adornment” but has retained the original rhetoric in the function of sacral mode of singing, and in the importance of ritual theatrical forms.

Dickens and Shakespeare and Longfellow, Oh My!: Staging the Fan Canon at the Nineteenth-Century Authors’ Carnivals

Abstract Beginning in the 1870s, the short-lived fad of “Authors’ Carnivals” swept through American cities. At each carnival, hundreds of locals costumed themselves as famous literary characters, performing amateur theatricals and tableaux vivants based on their favorite books. Unexpected character combinations frequently appeared on the same stage. Shakespeare’s Falstaff stood beside Dickens’s Little Nell; Longfellow’s Hiawatha rubbed shoulders with Old Mother Goose. For attendees, these events offered peculiar thrills. Similar to today’s fan conventions and cosplay events, participants engaged their cherished texts anew through physical enactment. Meanwhile, spectators could witness the totality of their reading experiences within a single shared space. Amateur play suddenly brought so many literary works to three-dimensional life—and all at once. Despite their amusements, however, the carnivals also fell short of loftier goals. First, organizers sought to advance a definitive literary canon in America, but they only affirmed Eurocentric texts that no longer dominated the marketplace. Second, the events might have produced an innovative form of theater, yet clumsy staging and spectatorial disorientation stymied these efforts. Thus, the authors’ carnivals left behind not only a legacy of spectacular fandom but also one of squandered cultural potential.US authors’ carnivals finally demonstrate[d] both the possibilities and the shortcomings of the nineteenth-century cultural imagination. . . . [D]espite their estimable amusements . . . the carnivals ultimately proved resistant to the literary and theatrical cultures they intended to bolster.

Technical Design and Production of Special Effects in Musical Theatre Performances

In contrast to the other theatre form, which requires a more predominately dominant combination of acting, singing, music, and choreography, a musical theatre performance is a sophisticated piece of art. Similarly, paying greater attention to the technical special effects design is essential, especially throughout its production process. In order to clarify their requirements and design objectives, this study explores the features of the technical special effects used in the selected case studies. The result shows how well the entire musical theatre production includes customisation requirements and solutions in developing the technical design of special effects production.

Maria Irene Fornes and Samuel Beckett: ‘Different and the Same’

Maria Irene Fornes is one of the most revered American playwrights. Dramatists she influenced, actors she directed in her plays, students she mentored in her playwriting workshops, as well as academics who taught and published essays and books on her diverse output – over 40 plays in her 40-year career – share Tony Kushner’s assessment that ‘‘America has produced no dramatist of greater importance’. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1930, Fornes came to New York in 1945, and by the early 1960s, she was a central force in the establishment of the Off-Off Broadway avant-garde movement in Greenwich Village. In 1953 she saw the original production of En attendant Godot in Paris and was inspired to become a playwright. Over the years, critics have cited Beckett’s impact on Fornes; however, this is the first essay to provide a detailed study of the specific ways Beckett’s plays influenced Fornes' dramas, particularly Tango Palace, Dr. Kheal, Fefu and her Friends, and Mud. Following Beckett, she jettisoned cohesive plots, traditional themes, outworn theatrical tropes, predictable endings, familiar settings, and identifiable characters declaiming to audiences where a play is heading and why. Most importantly, Beckett illustrated that different theatre forms were possible. This essay illustrates how Fornes, inspired by, but not imitating Beckett, made her own assault on conventional drama, The essay is also the first to delineate the ways in which Fornes' first play, Tango Palace, derives from her three-year love affair with Susan Sontag.

문둥과장의 존재론적 의미 연구

This paper examines the Dongrae Yaryu and Goseong Ogwangdae acts of mundung(lepers)-gwajang. It can be said that leper theater contains modern consciousness and is the theater form where comprehensive performing arts began. It can also be said that there are elements of anti-realism in the performance of the lepers, and there is a point of making folk plays into art. The content of sublimating the pain and trials of life into spirits also appears in the acts of the mundung(lepers)-gwajang.
 In the Talchum, the acts of the mundung(lepers)-gwajang are at the center of the deity. It is not an existence that corresponds to a minority. It is necessary to re-recognize the ontological meaning of lepers. The perception that lepers are beings who have the power to advance into a new world, rather than collapse in front of human limits and the power of fate, should be spread.

The possibility of using psychotherapeutic elements of traditional Chinese drama in modern theatrical culture

The article is devoted to the study of the history of theatrical therapy in the no-si ritual drama. It is shown that, in general, the ritual elements of the no-si drama can be used in modern drama therapy. In addition, dramatic therapy, which is implied by the author in this article, is somewhat different from the modern concept of psychodrama, since it covers large areas of the human psyche. The author believes that it is not necessary to completely ignore this complex area of human culture, because regardless of function or form, dramatic therapy is closely related to the shamanic ritual of healing. The formation of the Chinese national drama took place in the context of the historical development of China. Having originated in the most ancient forms of shamanic rituals, the theatrical performance has evolved into a unique stage genre. Along with other earliest theatrical forms such as ancient Greek theater and ancient Indian drama, Chinese opera originated several centuries before our era, but unlike them it has survived to this day almost unchanged. Now Chinese traditional opera occupies an important place in the list of intangible heritage not only of China itself, but also of the whole world. One of the most important milestones in the development of theatrical art in China was the ritual drama "no-si", which today the ritual drama no-si in China is called a real "living fossil", because it is the oldest cultural form that has come down to us through the centuries. Archaic religious rituals, reflected in modern theatrical performances, testify to the mixing and syncretization of various religious traditions, including no-rituals and no-si drama, and modernity. The current generation is successfully modernizing the tradition of its ancestors in accordance with the times, preserving it in the centuries-old cultural memory of its people.

ЗАМАНАУИ «ҚЫЗ ЖІБЕК» ҚОЙЫЛЫМЫНДАҒЫ ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ

Theatrical development is, first of all, performances that satisfy the audience's sympathies. The main task of the works firmly included in the repertoire of the theater is to make a deep impression on the audience and leave an instructive thought. Calling for good, honesty, aversion to evil. Propaganda of virtue, mercilessly criticizing social, everyday and global problems occurring in society. The article examines the repertoire of theaters in Astana, including the youth theater. In this regard, it can be noted that classical works that have remained out of sight of the people for some time are beginning to be shown in a new version. Each period and time will have its own pressing problems. The performance of modern physical theatrical forms in the space of Kazakh synthesis art, the extensive performance of modern stage models in the field of Kazakh synthesis art, we tried to reveal the essence of the musical «Zhibek», staged under the direction of director N.Zhakypbai.

Pendampingan Pelatihan Tari Sandur Manduro Pada Generasi Muda Desa Manduro Kabuh Jombang Untuk Membangun Kemandirian

Sandur Manduro is a performing art in the form of traditional theater which is rooted in or sourced from the people's way of life, born from the spontaneous life of the people of Manduro Village, Kabuh District, Jombang Regency. Sandur Manduro contains various elements of art, such as Fine Arts, Literary Arts, Music Arts and Dance Arts. Sandur Manduro's art has a ritual function, currently experiencing a decline in staging. There is no regeneration, because the Sandur Manduro players are old enough to be one of the problems. Through the Community Partnership Program (PKM) it is hoped that Sandur Manduro will be independent. One of the methods used is to provide training assistance for the Sandur Manduro dance for the younger generation of Manduro Village.

Staging LGBTQ Protest in the United States: Exploring the Politics of Theatricality

This paper considers the physical, verbal, and visual aspects of how LGBTQ protest and rebellion are and have been staged in the United States. It examines whether “staging” should be taken literally or figuratively, and explores the interactions between performers and audiences, whether the performance is explicit or subtle, possibly involuntary. A heuristic angle is that of audiences and stages: just as staging should be addressed differently depending on whether the audience is internal or external to the LGBTQ community, audiences are not inherently internal or external, but the boundary may fluctuate. Likewise, the stages on which LGBTQ protest is performed are not given or fixed, but contingent on larger social, political, cultural, and economic factors. The article examines examples that are illustrative and telling of the ways in which LGBTQ protest and rebellion may take on a theatrical form, or the staging itself may endow some practices with a degree of politicity.