Theatrical Tradition Research Articles

The heritage of Tyneham as a living memorial: between complex historical narratives and suggestive performing traditions

Tyneham was a farming and fishing village in Dorset, with a history extending over nine centuries, and human habitation dating back 2,500 years. However, in 1943 the village, and its wider surrounding area, was transformed after being requisitioned to serve as a training ground for tank soldiers during the Second World War. Consequently, Tyenham’s landscape evolved, but the remaining structures still describe the life of this pre-industrial community. While the village is now a major tourist destination attracting thousands of visitors, it remains within a live tank-firing range. Tyneham is a living memorial, relevant to current discourses of heritage preservation and community engagement. To reveal its dynamic nature a mixed methodology was used: literature and historic archives’ review, observations by visitors, the Tyneham village group posts review and students’ engagement to understand the value of Tyneham as a palimpsest of identity, conflict, memory and universal narratives – personal, communal and imagined. The historic transformation of the site’s ownership and its shifting narratives sometimes strongly contrast with each other. At present, the site is owned by the military but displayed narratives exclude its perspective. Can inclusive performing practices transform the site from a place of conflict to a place of reconciliation and education? Parallels with the historic performative traditions of ancient Greece and Japanese Noh theatre are noted to suggest a dynamic heritage space. This article highlights how a contested site could become a living memorial by encouraging visitors’ imaginations to engage in aspects of a story that are constantly being reinvented.

‘Repeat Play’: Repetition and Truth-telling in Play, Faith Healer, and Irish Monologic Theatre

This essay argues that the critical consensus concerning Brian Friel’s Faith Healer (1979) as the origin play for an Irish tradition of monologue theatre overlooks the indebtedness of Friel’s first monologue drama to Samuel Beckett’s Play (1963) and, in so doing, obfuscates Beckett’s influence in the evolution of Irish monologic theatre. Tracing the reliance of Play and Faith Healer on musical structures of variation and recurrence, the essay discerns the reach of their interrogation of dramatic storytelling and argues that the subversion of truth-telling in these key plays has exercised a profound influence on the approach to the monologue form in contemporary Irish theatre. The essay examines how Play operates a comprehensive critique of the aesthetic and epistemological traditions upon which western theatre has developed and how through its compulsion to repeat itself reduces theatre to a visceral demand for judgment. The complex forms of duplication in Faith Healer are similarly read in relation to an audience’s desire for narrative coherence and, reading the play against its Beckettian precursor, the essay demonstrates how these dramas not only problematise dramatic narrative but, more fundamentally, disrupt an audience’s relationship with theatrical presence. The essay concludes with a consideration of Play and Faith Healer as predecessors to the monologic turn in Irish theatre, arguing that the Irish monologue not only speaks back to socio-political narratives but contests theatre’s claim to truth-tell.

From self-sacrifice to self-awakening: G. G. Alexander’s translation and adaptation of the story of Diaochan from Sanguo yanyi

ABSTRACT In the 1860s, George Gardner Alexander translated the story of Diaochan from the Chinese classical novel Sanguo yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and then adapted it into a five-act play, Teaou-shin. This adaptation is the most typical example of textual transformation in the English transmission history of the novel over the past two centuries, showcasing how textual intervention can reflect and engage with contemporary social issues of the recipient society. Through an art form that was popular with the British audience at the time, the play made effective use of the British theatrical tradition. On the basis of adopting the general plot of the story of Diaochan, the play adapted to the social realities of Victorian England and remodeled the characters. By manipulating the theme of the story, Alexander showed solidarity with the women’s rights movement of the time. Through changes in form and content, the story adapted to the literary tradition of England and the gender ideology of the time, catered to the tastes and expectations of Victorian readers and audiences, and conveyed Alexander’s stance on the “woman question”.

Dive Into the Past: Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Represented in Chinese Mobile Games

This study delves into the representation of intangible Chinese cultural heritage in Chinese mobile games. Nowadays, even with huge economic potential, Chinese mobile games are still faced with negative comments, especially from parents. To develop their reputation, Chinese mobile games have portrayed considerate Chinese intangible cultural heritage (ICH). The representation of cultural heritage in video games has been a subject of discussion for a long time, while console and computer games and tangible cultural heritage have been at the centre of academic studies. Hence, we strived to investigate how Chinese ICH is depicted in Chinese mobile games. A thematic analysis was conducted on data collected through analytical gameplay of 30 Chinese mobile games selected from Apple’s App Store and the Chinese TapTap platform. Our analysis indicates that Chinese ICH is represented in Chinese mobile games to fulfil the persona of game characters, to create a more engaging and immersive game world experience, to provide more intense combat moments, to offer visually enjoyable virtual goods, and to deliver culturally driven updates during traditional festivals. Among the various forms of Chinese ICH, Chinese traditional craftsmanship is found to be used most frequently because of the huge effort it requires to be mastered, which could be educational to players. Theatrical traditions were found to be depicted in most game elements because they combine visual, audio, and motional elements. Lastly, folk and classical literature is portrayed in Chinese mobile games to provide a narrative resource that culturally resonates with players.

Towards an Egyptian Theatre: Syncretic Aesthetics in the Works of Tawfiq al-Hakim and Yousuf Idris

Tawfiq al-Ḥakīm (1898-1987) and Yūsuf Idrīs (1927-1991) are two towering figures in Egyptian and Arabic theatre, not only for their poignant social commentary but also for their bold theoretical and theatrical innovations. Their contributions served to decolonize the Egyptian stage and paved the way for subsequent generations to reclaim an Egyptian identity. The objective of the current research paper is to investigate how the two playwrights syncretized elements from Western and Eastern theatrical traditions that created unique and impactful theatrical experiences which are neither Western nor indigenous but amalgamation of both. Moreover, the paper delves into the dramatic world of al-Ḥakīm and Idrīs, specifically al-Ḥakīm’s Agamemnon (as revisited and reworked in Qālibunā al-masraḥī [Our Theatrical Mold (1967) and Idrīs’s al-Farāfīr (1964). Through an examination of these plays, the analysis explores the playwrights' experimentation with dramatic form, which draws upon the rich tapestry of Egyptian folk culture, while simultaneously engaging with the universality of content found within the Western dramatic canon. The research paper is grounded in a multifaceted theoretical framework that integrates several theoretical concepts. Deploying Christopher Balme’s “syncretism,” along with Homi Bhabha’s “third space” and Erika Fischer-Lichte’s “interweaving” as analytical framework, this paper examines the transaction between indigenous and colonial theatrical productions that led to the emergence of new dramaturgies by al-Ḥakīm and Idrīs that bridge the precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial paradigms. The paper concludes that the playwrights’ incorporation of syncretic forms in their plays represents the recognition of multifaceted cultural heritage.

Aesthetic Grounds and Practice of Screen Adaptations of Theatrical Productions in the Light of Film and Television Language in the 1970s

The aesthetic grounds and methods of screen adaptation of theatrical performances in the context of film and television art in the USSR in the 1970s are investigated in the article as well as the influence of film and television technologies on the theatrical genre, the peculiarities of the adaptation of stage performances to the cinematographic and television environment. Attention is also paid to the revealing the peculiarities of cinematographic art as a synthetic phenomenon and its interaction with the theatrical tradition. These issues are considered in the context of the cultural and political realities of the USSR of that period, highlighting the relationship between aesthetic searches and ideological attitudes of the era. In general, a deep and systematic understanding of the process of film adaptation of theatrical performances within the framework of Soviet cinema and television art of the 1970s is submitted in the article. Since the films of this period become a time of development of existential problems of human life. The typical life of a Soviet person recedes into the background, instead, the basis of the plot becomes the search for peace of the soul, its urges for freedom, which usually unfolds against the background of something insignificant. Unlike the adaptations of literary works, when ”current ideological content” is imposed on classical original sources, adaptations of the best plays of leading Ukrainian theaters have offered perfect art, introduced a wide audience to the achievements of stage masters. But the screen adaptation of the performance is a fixation of one staging, which, of course, is shown unchanged on movie screens. The play cannot remain as it is conceived from the very beginning, and therefore gradually it has started to transform itself according to the requirements of television. However, such transformations are not always successful either. This is the beginning of the creation of a kind of the average genre between cinema and theater, which wished for better, because the aesthetic content of such a specific genre has remained opened.

“TECTONICS OF FEELINGS” E.-E. SCHMITT IN THE “CONVERSATIONAL THEATRE” PARADIGM

The article analyzes the play by E.-E. Schmitt’s “Tectonics of Feelings” in the paradigm of “conversational theater”, which has become quite popular in France since the 80s of the 20th century. “Conversational Theater” continued the traditions of absurdist and avant-garde theater, with a tendency to turn to linguistic experimentation, changing the language of the stage, which is still relevant in our time. The dialogue in the talking theater is actually an action, a new way of understanding reality, where the space of action is expanded thanks to the language experiment, illusions and reality are mixed, the conflict is based on a remark that further explains the break in the relationship between the characters, it is also resolved in the dialogue. The psychological portrait of the characters is revealed not in situations and actions, but in speech, which gives the play theatricality.

Euphrase Kezilahabi’s Kaptula la Marx as a site of cold war contestation and communitas making

This article analyzes Euphrase Kezilahabi’s Kiswahili play Kaptula la Marx, examining its explicit engagement with Cold War politics, ideologies, and aesthetics. Kezilahabi blends the satirical and revolutionary, making the play a site for Cold War contestations and community-building. It is a work of postcolonial disillusionment but also a call to arms. By focusing on the portrayal of the African dictator, particularly his ill-fitting clothes as symbols of power, Kezilahabi satirizes and undermines the dictator’s authority. The play’s rich Cold War references reveal Kezilahabi’s global visions, addressing African politics’ entanglement in the global Cold War and a growing North/South divide. Additionally, the play draws on radical theater traditions, featuring a revolutionary leader figure and interactive elements with the audience that inspire oppressed groups to unite for change.

Performer vs. Actor?: Grotowski and the Tradition of Italian Theatre

This article is devoted to the provocative proposal of a plausible relationship between Grotowski’s last season (above all his idea of the Performer) and a certain tradition of the Italian actor’s theatre. We understand this relationship and this provocation essentially in terms of micro-theatricality and intra-theatricality. By intra-theatricality we mean that method of composition which is inscribed in the tranches de vie of layered, multi-generational actors, in their ability to reuse existential sequences and to reproduce on stage the complex relational routine that the company represents as a community. Apart from the fact that the distance between the twentieth-century Performer and the traditional Italian actor has often been emphasized, there is something in the traditional profile of the Italian actor that, in the mid-twentieth century, paradoxically coincides with the mission that Grotowski assigns to the Performer. The purpose of this article is to explore these analogies.

Study on the Historical Development of Folk Songs in Shanbei

Northern Shanbei folk songs are famous traditional music in China. This study focuses on the origin and historical development of northern Shanbei folk songs, as well as its characteristics and ways of expression. The origin and development of northern Shanbei folk songs have not only incorporated ancient farming culture and theatre traditions, but also combined them with modern music to form a unique musical style and mode of expression. This has made northern Shanbei folk songs retain their ancient characteristics in their inheritance, while also advancing with the times and adapting to the needs of modern society. As an important part of Chinese folk songs, northern Shanbei folk songs are of great significance to the study of Chinese music culture and social history.

Features of the Genre and Style of the Historical and Heroic Opera “Jiang Jie”

Being internationally recognised and having received many state awards, the historical and heroic opera “Jiang Jie”, or “Sister Jiang”, is considered as one of the peaks of national Chinese music. The work is little studied in the Russian scientifi c literature. The music of the opera is based on Sichuan folk songs and their characteristic pentatonic mode, elements of Sichuan and other types of opera, including Beijing, Yu, Yue, Hang Tang, Yang Qin and others. The score includes spoken dialogue, mass and domestic scenes, as in folk Chinese drama, as well as vocal forms, choral and symphonic pieces, as in Western European opera, which gave “Sister Jiang” the features of the genre and style of modern Chinese opera in the Western European style. All this speaks of the development of the national musical theatre traditions in the conditions of a new musical language of the 20th century. The study of this process seems relevant in the context of the problem of preserving national identity in the musical art of China. The article presents the results of an analysis of the features of the genre and style of “Sister Jiang” as a historical and heroic opera in Chinese in the Western European style, which crowns one of the most fruitful periods in the development of modern Chinese musical drama.

RADHA SHYAM NARRATOR'S VISION OF THEATRE AND PARSI THEATRE ART

When the Indian acting tradition and acting style are combined, the Parsi acting method emerges in its unique form. It is during this period of change that many famous actors and actresses emerge. India has had a rich tradition of folk theatre for a long time, but its slavery suppressed this tradition to a great extent and limited the scope of folk theatre. The natural craftsmanship that this folk theatre gave to India, combined with the craftsmanship of the English theatre, was born again in a new form in the middle of the nineteenth century. The presentation process and plot of the Parsi theatre are determined by the political, economic, social and cultural conditions of its era. The actors, playwrights of the Parsi theatre were dependent on those directors and the owners of the company; Radheshyam Kathavachak had a clear vision about acting and character. Acting is unique in itself, all that deficiency can be fulfilled by acting but selection of characters according to character is necessary.

ЧЕТВЕРТЬ ВЕКА БЕЗ ЧЕХОВА: ПЕРЕОЦЕНКА ЦЕННОСТЕЙ

The article examines the reaction of the literary and theatre criticism in the USSR and Russian Diaspora on 25th Chekhov's commemoration. In the country, where socialism was being constructed, classical tradition was under attack, as well as Chekhov, who exerted his influence on the aesthetic system of dramaturgy in particular and theatre in general. In those conditions the play “The Weirdo” (1929) by Alexander Afinogenov, nurtured by the Revolution and seduced by the highest power, and his appearances and speeches at various disputes and in press, supporting “psychological realism” and best theatrical tradition of the Moscow Art Theatre, were perceived ambiguously. Key words: Chekhov, chekhovism, twenty-five years, criticism, new drama, classical traditions, MAT, Afinogenov, “The Weirdo”, revolutionary theatre

Рубежность и сущностные характеристики театрального танца в России конца XIX – начала ХХ века

Innovation and experiment as sources that expand and deepen the space of theatrical dance in Russia in the late 19th – early 20th centuries had a complex connection: from “traditional” and “local modern” to “systemic” and “natural”. Unlike Western European ballet theater, in Russia the aesthetic concepts of expressionism, constructivism and abstractionism were the first poetic experiments “with” choreography and “in” choreography, which received reinterpretation not only at the level of off-dance plans and free formative laws of movement, but also at the level of artistic coordinates of space and the semantics of academic ballet art. The paper aims to substantiate the position that after the era of romantic ballets by Marius Ivanovich Petipa (1818-1910), a milestone of the choreographic system begins in Russia, associated with the tasks of rethinking the language of theatrical dance, its architectonic structures (scenic and bodily), as well as the essential characteristics of the content and form of the ballet text. The study is novel in that it develops the following hypothesis: the architectonic space of the stage and architectonic bodily forms become figuratively and expressively evidence-based. The connection between the lexical potential and the creation of tectonic tasks in the system of academic movement is revealed, the verbal, temporal and visual continuum of space is correlated. As a result, the paper systematizes European and Asian theatrical traditions in the study of artistic and physiological processes of movement in order to determine the specifics of the architectonic bodily structures of the period under consideration.

The Influence of the Bertolt Brecht System on Traditional Chinese Theater

Introduction. The article is devoted to the phenomenon of modern Chinese theater and aims to explore the ways of its evolution – from imitation of European avant-garde forms of theatrical art to the formation of an original artistic language. An important goal is also to identify the factors that have determined the unique aesthetic and meaningful characteristics of modern Chinese theater.Methodology and sources. As a result of the application of the comparative analysis method, the article compares the theatrical concepts of Ibsen, Stanislavsky and Brecht, which influenced the image of modern Chinese theater.Result and discussion. The special role of the European theatrical avant-garde is shown, namely, the concept of Brecht's dialectical drama, which became widespread in China at the end of the XX century. Over a twenty-year period (from 1959 to 1979), three so-called «Brecht booms» took place in China, radically transforming Chinese traditional theater. However, despite the high popularity of Brecht's ideas, the Chinese Theater did not turn into a literal translator of the European avant-garde, but formed its own artistic style based on traditional structures of audience perception. The key role in this process was played by the national cultural context – socio-political and mental – which determined the specific forms of adaptation of the cultural meanings of the European theater. The history of Chinese avant-garde theater lasts for more than forty years and began in the early 1980s. After experiencing a period of direct borrowing, Chinese theatrical figures came to rethink the European heritage in the context of their own culture. As a result, it was the middle path of Chinese theater development that turned out to be the most productive – a path that absorbed the outstanding artistic ideas of Stanislavsky and Brecht, the modern Western avant-garde, but also without rejecting traditional artistic principles. This is how Chinese theatrical culture has developed with its own unique style.Conclusion. The 20th century became the era of the interchange of Eastern and Western theatrical traditions, which largely shaped the world cultural landscape, in which the interaction of Brecht's theory and traditional Chinese culture forms a special topos.

Theatre art: Conceptual and categorical problems

Theatre art is a fundamental component of modern culture and requires a detailed analysis of the problems of a set of interrelated concepts, which will reflect the key substantive and functional aspects concerning theatre art. The research relevance is determined by the description of the problems of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of theatrical art for the first time is subjected to a complex structural and semantic analysis, which is necessary to determine the study of ways of forming new terms, which will make it possible to present the system of modern theatrical terminology in a holistic form. The study aims to analyse and describe the contemporary problems of the conceptual and categorical apparatus of theatrical art. General scientific methods of art history were used: method of analysis, comparative analysis, synthesis, analogy, and classification. The article investigates the whole stage space as one of the components in the context of the conceptual categorical apparatus of modern art history. Contemporary theatre art is undergoing an active evolution, with artists striving for innovation, using interactive elements, multimedia technology and art installations to create a deep and rich experience for the audience. An important aspect is to involve the viewer in the experience, where the traditional boundaries between actors and audience are blurred and the viewer becomes an active participant. Theatres also emphasise diversity, aiming to reflect different cultures and identities on stage. However, there are problems with the conceptual and categorical apparatus, requiring the development of new terms to accurately describe contemporary phenomena in theatre. Sarcasm and irony prevail, artists seek new directions, and all this happens in the context of the diversity of theatre traditions, creating challenges in the exchange of experiences between cultures. The materials discussed in this article can be applied by both theorists and practitioners of contemporary art history in their writings and as material for teaching in the educational process when training specialists in the field of contemporary art

Protest through Theatre: Analysing Humour and Fantasy as Resistance Tropes in Badal Sircar’s Scandal in Fairyland and Beyond the Land of Hattamala

Theatre has long served as a powerful medium for registering dissent against injustice and oppression. This paper explores how Badal Sircar, a pioneering figure in modern Indian theatre, utilised humour and fantasy as resistance tropes in his "Third Theatre" concept. Focusing on two of Sircar's notable works, Scandal in Fairyland and Beyond the Land of Hattamala, this study examines how these elements function within the framework of protest theatre. The paper argues that Sircar's innovative approach, blending humour and fantasy with social critique, allowed him to address pressing societal issues while maintaining accessibility to a wide audience. By analysing these plays, we demonstrate how Sircar's theatrical techniques serve as a form of protest, challenging societal norms and power structures. This research contributes to the broader understanding of using art as a tool for social change and highlights Sircar's unique contribution to the tradition of protest theatre in India and globally.

Decolonizing Performance: Wole Soyinka’s Synthesis of Theatrical Traditions in Death and the King’s Horseman

Decolonizing Performance: Wole Soyinka’s Synthesis of Theatrical Traditions in Death and the King’s Horseman

Devising in Hawaiʻi: The Efficacy of a Eurocentric Methodology With BIPOC Students

Devised theatre has been praised for celebrating cultural differences as assets, and boasts a flexibility and adaptability of form that suggest a formidable tool for creative expression and education in an increasingly shifting and unpredictable world. However, the reality is that devising comes from a Eurocentric theatre tradition and most professional devised theatre companies in the United States today are made up of a majority of White practitioners. In this article, I discuss my experience devising with Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Asian American students on O’ahu, and based on the gathered data, I make the argument that a devised theatre process aimed at giving its participants as much control as possible can benefit BIPOC communities under the right circumstances.

Unveiling the Aesthetic Charms of 'Khabar Mati': A Deep Dive into Text Folk Performance on the Southern Coastal Shores

This research delves into the aesthetic elements of 'Khabar Mati,' a renowned folk theater performance in the Southern Coastal region. The study employs qualitative analysis with a descriptive method to decipher this traditional theatrical expression's intricate artistic and cultural dimensions. The research meticulously examines the narrative and performance aspects of 'Khabar Mati,' providing a comprehensive analysis of the text and its enactment on the stage. Through this in-depth investigation, the study aims to provide valuable insights into the rich aesthetics embedded within 'Khabar Mati.' The findings promise to shed light on the profound artistic heritage of the Southern Coastal communities, offering a deeper understanding of the cultural and aesthetic significance of this captivating folk theater tradition. By scrutinizing the textual and performative aspects, this research provides a holistic exploration of 'Khabar Mati,' contributing to a more comprehensive appreciation of its artistic and cultural merits.