Representation Of Life Research Articles

Opera House in the social communication system of modern Italy

Relevance of the study. Communication processes in the organization of modern cultural projects are becoming increasingly important. In the new economic and sociocultural conditions, various types of communication, in particular in the Italian opera house, are carried out not only in traditional forms, they are undergoing major changes, require new management decisions, significantly transforming its established organizational structure. This issue has been little studied, although, in our opinion, it is important and relevant for characterizing the functioning of the opera house in the social communication system of modern Italy.
 The main objectives of the study are to consider the activities of the Teatro San Carlo in the social communication system of the city of Naples. It is expedient to reveal the connection of the theater with the history of the city, to identify special periods of creative life, to clarify not only the influence of external events on the theatrical life, but the opposite effects in this interaction. It is interesting to trace how the opera house operates, what role it plays, how it functions in the modern cultural environment.
 The methodology of the research is based on the application of an interdisciplinary method, which, in order to characterize the modern activities of the Italian opera house in the context of social communication, allows using a set of complementary methods — historical-systemic, empirical and sociocultural. The historical-systemic method contributed to the understanding of the communication strategy for promoting the theatrical brand, which influenced the formation and development of the opera house in the musical life of Italy, the appeal to empirical and sociocultural methods made it possible to consider the features of the existence of the opera house as a sociocultural institution in the context of communication relations, the media, financial funds, potential partners (sponsors), as well as with the public. Content analysis of the texts of scientific publications, organizational documents, programs, as well as a survey of Italian specialists and their own observations of projects — all this became the basis for theoretical generalizations and practical developments.
 Results and conclusions. The modern Italian opera house is a social institution whose activity in the context of social communication is determined by the formation, support and promotion of the theater's image. The existence of an opera house in the modern market is impossible without a well-established communication strategy for promoting a theatrical brand, taking into account its specifics. In this process, an important role is played by the establishment of relations with the state authorities, the organized public and the media. To support projects and programs, it is necessary to attract monetary, industrial, commercial capital. In order to be interested in the events of theatrical life, the communication work of the theater is mainly aimed at attracting spectators who need to constantly maintain interest in the events taking place in the theater. Thus, the modern opera house provides an opportunity for all partners to form and promote their image and reputation, influences the social life and activities of people, and therefore, the mechanism of this mutual need is communication.

Using Wearable Sensors to Measure Interpersonal Synchrony in Actors and Audience Members During a Live Theatre Performance

Studying social interaction in real-world settings is of increasing importance to social cognitive researchers. Theatre provides an ideal opportunity to study rich face-to-face interactions in a controlled, yet natural setting. Here we collaborated with Flute Theatre to investigate interpersonal synchrony between actors-actors, actors-audience and audience-audience within a live theatrical setting. Our 28 participants consisted of 6 actors and 22 audience members, with 5 of these audience members being audience participants in the show. The performance was a compilation of acting, popular science talks and demonstrations, and an audience participation period. Interpersonal synchrony was measured using inertial measurement unit (IMU) wearable accelerometers worn on the heads of participants, whilst audio-visual data recorded everything that occurred on the stage. Participants also completed post-show self-report questionnaires on their engagement with the overall scientists and actors performance. Cross Wavelet Transform (XWT) and Wavelet Coherence Transform (WCT) analysis were conducted to extract synchrony at different frequencies, pairing with audio-visual data. Findings revealed that XWT and WCT analysis are useful methods in extracting the multiple types of synchronous activity that occurs when people perform or watch a live performance together. We also found that audience members with higher ratings on questionnaire items such as the strength of their emotional response to the performance, or how empowered they felt by the performance, showed a high degree of interpersonal synchrony with actors during the acting segments of performance. We further found that audience members rated the scientists performance higher than the actors performance on questions related to their emotional response to the performance as well as, how uplifted, empowered, and connected to social issues they felt. This shows the types of potent connections audience members can have with live performances. Additionally, our findings highlight the importance of the performance context for audience engagement, in our case a theatre performance as part of public engagement with science rather than a stand-alone theatre performance. In sum we conclude that interdisciplinary real-world paradigms are an important and understudied route to understanding in-person social interactions.

Aspects contributing to live theater ticket purchases of South African teenagers: Perspectives of participants in a national drama competition

Seeking alternative strategies to attract new theater attendee markets in South Africa have become a priority for live theater providers to keep the arts alive. Teenagers have become one of the biggest consumer markets, with various industries competing for their attention, and the live theater industry is no exception. However, the teenager market is complex, and research is crucial to understand the aspects influencing their purchase behavior. This study aimed to determine the aspects influencing live theater ticket purchases of South African teenagers focusing on teenagers who are already actively involved in live theater. Applying a convenient sample technique, a total of three hundred and twenty-one (321) self-administered questionnaires were collected from a majority of Afrikaans and English-speaking teenagers participating in a national drama competition between 23 July and 28 September 2019. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and t-tests were done to reach the study’s goal. The EFA yielded four (4) factors Marketing, Theater lover, External influencers, and Theater & show compilation. Through these results, recommendations are made to live theater providers and marketers to effectively attract and retain teenagers who valready have exposure to live theater productions.

A Child-Robot Musical Theater Afterschool Program for Promoting STEAM Education: A Case Study and Guidelines

With the advancements of machine learning and AI technologies, robots have been more widely used in our everyday life and they have also been used in education. The present study introduces a 12-week child-robot theater afterschool program designed to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education with art elements (STEAM) for elementary students using social robots. Four modules were designed to introduce robot mechanisms as well as arts: Acting (anthropomorphism), Dance (robot movements), Music and Sounds (music composition), and Drawing (robot art). These modules provided children with basic knowledge about robotics and STEM and guided children to create a live robot theater play. A total of 16 students participated in the program, and 11 of them were involved in completing questionnaires and interviews regarding their perceptions towards robots, STEAM, and the afterschool program. Four afterschool program teachers participated in interviews, reflecting their perceptions of the program and observations of children’s experiences during the program. Our findings suggest that the present program effectively maintained children’s engagement and improved their interest in STEAM by connecting social robots and theater production. We conclude with design guidelines and recommendations for future research and programs.

Mediation and the PandeTheatre:

One of the negative impacts of the pandemic on creative culture is new limitations imposed on interactive performance in theatrical production. Producers resorted to digitality to explore the potentials of smart staging. A new play titled Brilliant Mind is a case in point for its innovative use of digital alternatives to maintain interactive performativity in what the producers describe as “live theatre in digital landscapes”. The play was digitally performed online in 2021, and members of the audience were allowed to digitally explore parts of the set and interact with characters. This paper examines the play’s use of digital performativity as a form of mediation for pandemic-era theatre by unpacking its digital interactive strategies. The authors offer a close textual and visual analysis of their experience as audience members in addition to employing theatrical principles of psychodrama, as well as concepts of affect theory as an approach to visual communication.

THEATRE IN THE DIGITAL AGE: CHALLENGES AND AUDIENCE VIEWING EXPERIENCES

A digital native audience may find it more difficult to be captivated by a theatrical performance in the age of technology, yet theater has evolved and survived every technological advancement. The popularity of the plays in Shakespeare's day appears to have been largely dependent on audience behavior, much as it was in the times of Aristophanes and Plautus. In our local Pakistani context, the study investigates whether theater can survive in the present digital media landscape and addresses the key elements that can affect a viewer's decision to see theater in a live setting. A good play, production, and performance are evaluated by audiences who are highly "theatre-literate. Despite the latest developments in technology, there are audiences who are essentially motivated by human interaction and insight, who yearn for the live experience, who appreciate being live in the room with the entertainer and that audience is the reason for the survival of theatre in a digital age. A survey method is utilized to collect data from 200 theater-savvy audiences in order to glean the most pertinent information and enhance the analysis of the information gathered. The results will demonstrate that regular theatergoers choose to attend theater live rather than for free online in order to experience a sense of relationship with the performers and other audience members. The majority of theatergoers said that attending live theater in an era of digital technology was still very much worthwhile. Because theater is a global cultural phenomenon that exists in all societies, the study is important on both a national and international level. Keywords: Theatre, Digital culture, Technology, Audience, Liveness, Brecht Theatre.

Ceng Jing Ru Shi (Ago) by Stan Lai

Reviewed by: Ceng Jing Ru Shi (Ago) by Stan Lai Chiayi Seetoo CENG JING RU SHI (AGO). Text and direction by Stan Lai. Theatre Above, Shanghai, China. 9–22 December 2019. Ceng Jing Ru Shi 曾經如是(Ago) is the latest work written and directed by Stan Lai, which was premiered in Shanghai in December, 2019. The play lasted for more than five hours with more than forty speaking characters (including Tibetans, Chinese Han people, Americans, all kinds of animals, a mythical sacred beast, Time, and Chance), stretching the timespan of twenty-five years in the play’s setting. It was presented in a “circular staging” configuration pioneered by Lai in which the stage is built surrounding the audience who would then experience dramatic actions circling around them.1 Alongside playacting were the semi-panoramic backdrop projection and enchanting live singing, creating a feast for the senses as an unusual metropolitan theatre-ritual, which also marked the grand finale of the year for Lai’s own theatre venue, Theatre Above, in Shanghai. The devastating COVID-19 that soon followed, however, caught everyone in shock and halted live theatre for a long time. The pandemic that has resulted in millions of deaths became ominously reminiscent of the major phenomenon featured in Ago—deadly disasters—as if theatrical illusion should foreshadow reality. While the swift spreading of the disease has reminded us of our deeply interconnected conditions, the post-pandemic moment allows us to further contemplate, with renewed hindsight, the eco-cosmopolitan concerns embedded in Ago—present in the cross-cultural and even cross-species backgrounds of its characters and large-scale geographical movements (across a mountain village of China’s southwest, New York, and the Kanchenjunga mountain of the Himalayas). Ago unfolds by way of storytelling. The narrator JJ, also one of the characters, studied history at Beijing University. A disillusioned angry youth, she abandons herself to faraway lands and ends up in a mountain village of Yunnan Province in China, where she befriends the Tibetan residents, among them the principal characters Pema, Dorje, and Tashi. Then, a fatal earthquake changes everyone’s life. Ten years later, these survivors end up in New York, where they are hit once again by the September 11 attack. The first two acts of the play are set in the Yunnan village and New York respectively, with Pema’s noodle shop, a homelike gathering place in both locales, standing unchanged at the same spot onstage. With skillful staging highlighting key repetitions onstage, Lai transmits the feeling of life, recurring almost like mirror images, “as it used to be” (the literal translation of Ceng Jing Ru Shi), be it acts of survival such as Pema’s running of the noodle shop, or unexpected lethal blows preceded by people scurrying about in horror [End Page 200] followed by post-disaster distress and devastation. Along the way, various vignettes of encounters become increasingly entangled and, as if drawn into a centripetal swirl, evolve toward a singular goal in the third act. It involves a group of nine people embarking on a collective journey to the Kanchenjunga mountain in search of the legendary Pure Land (jingtu 淨土a reference to the utopic realm in the Buddhist tradition), only to end in yet another disaster, a snow avalanche from which only JJ and Pema survive. They go back to New York and continue with their lives. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Pema (Hao Lei) in Ago. (Photo by Wang Kai) Punctuated by the deadly disasters and the anti-climax of not finding the Pure Land, the play is structured like an experimental symphony while exuding a fable-like quality. The impossible journey to the Pure Land is itself a powerful metaphor, while interspersed in the play are also dry-humored quasi-philosophical remarks made by personifications of Time and Chance, who would begin to circle on the stage before the arrival of disasters. The surreal is fused in the realistic plane of action and acting style on Lai’s stage. And as in Aesop’s fables or Zhuangzi’s Daoist fables, the surreal dimensions of Ago resonate with much of the longstanding ways in which moral or philosophical teachings...

Bernice

In 1919 the Provincetown Players debuted Susan Glaspell’s first full-length play, Bernice. Over 100 years later, Genoveva Productions, a small Manhattan-based production company, revived the play as part of their 2021–22 season. It is heartening to see this rarity revived.Readers of Jeff Kennedy’s website provincetownplayers.com will be familiar with Bernice’s plot and setting. To paraphrase: the play is set in the living room of the home belonging to Bernice and her father and takes place over twenty-four hours, beginning in the late afternoon of an October day. Bernice—an absent main character in the manner of Mrs. Wright in Trifles—has died. At rise, Bernice’s father, Mr. Allen, and the maid, Abbie, both of whom had lived with Bernice, await the arrival of Bernice’s husband Craig, her best friend Margaret, and her sister-in-law Laura. This group will plan the funeral. Abbie declares that Bernice has killed herself, and we learn that Craig has been having an affair, which Craig assumes accounts for her alleged suicide. As the play progresses, however, we come to understand that Bernice has died of a sudden illness. Craig remains ignorant of this fact and continues to believe that she died because of her love for him. The second and third acts find the characters figuring out whether or not to tell Craig the truth about Bernice’s death. In the final act, they decide to restore the living room to Bernice’s preference to honor her legacy. Margaret, who throughout the play is unable to go into the adjoining room to view Bernice’s body, finally musters the courage to visit her.Performed midtown in a room the size of many New York City studio apartments, this humble production was shaped by COVID-era protocols. Audience members were required to sit six feet apart, wear masks, and show proof of vaccination. While waiting to enter the studio, I overheard guests in the hallway and stairwell discussing their trepidation about attending a live theater production for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. For many, every sneeze and cough during the performance caused anxiety. This production was staged before AEA (Actors Equity Association) announced Coronavirus guidelines for showcase codes (microbudget and independent productions); so much credit is given to the producers, creative team, and cast for determining and upholding safety guidelines while still providing a space for nonunion artists to work.Even on a shoestring budget, Genoveva Productions was able to create the mood and tone of a rural visitation with simple area lighting and set design choices. Upon entering the studio, audiences were met with a sparse living room set consisting of two chairs, a coffee table, and a piano, on which perched a photograph of Bernice. The intimacy of the space informed the spectators’ relationship to Bernice, making us feel the characters’ responses to the death all the more acutely. While we never saw Bernice’s body, her spirit haunted the space.This production featured several strong performances, most notably Kathleen Regan as Laura Kirby, Bernice’s sister-in-law. She brought powerful energy and humor to all her scenes, with a strong presence that radiated through the room each time she entered. I look forward to seeing more of her work. Jack Coogins also stood out in the role of Bernice’s grieving father. He created an authentic character with which audiences could immediately empathize. Both actors made strong and successful physical choices such as adjusting their posture and gait. The cast was rounded out by Misti Tindiglia (Abbie), Gus Ferrari (Craig Norris), and Julia Genoveva (Margaret Pierce), who also directed and produced.Like other audience members in the space that day, I appreciated being introduced to this gem of a play. For me it really shed light on the status of women in the early twentieth century, both in terms of what society thought their place was and how they viewed themselves. Particularly notable in this respect is the second-act disagreement between Margaret, a single activist, and Laura, a traditional upper-class woman, regarding Bernice’s life choices. This scene speaks to the ever-relevant social and personal pressures placed on women, and particularly the likelihood that the choices a woman makes for herself will always seem wrong to someone else. I am grateful that Genoveva Productions resurrected this play.

Musical and creative life in the Tarsky Priirtyshie in the second half of the 20th century: periods, communities, personalities

The author examines the theatrical life in a small town on the example of the city of Tara, Omsk region. The theatrical life of the second half of the XX century is studied in dynamics, the key creative associations, personalities, periods are identified. In this article, we rely on such concepts as "local history" (meaning the consideration of the theatrical life of a separate locus - the Tarsky Priirtyshie region through the influence of individuals, associations and processes on the cultural process, referring both to written sources and historical memory), "cultural nest", "cultural environment" (as a complex of social and cultural characteristics, preferences, connections in the territory under consideration, in the local space). Three main stages of the development of the theatrical life of the Tarsky Priirtyshie region are identified. The first stage of the 1940s - 1950s, the time of work in the Container of the theater under the direction of Evgeny Prosvetov. It is characterized by the appearance of a professional theater troupe in a small provincial town, involving residents of Tara in theatrical life; the second stage - the 1960s - 1990s – the time of the functioning of the people's theater in Tara, the wide involvement of city residents in the creative environment, the emergence of theatrical traditions and connections with professional theater figures from the regional center. The third stage - since the beginning of the 2000s - is the time of the appearance of a professional theater in Tara and its development, taking into account the theatrical traditions of the city. The cultural life of the Tarsky Priirtyshie region is considered through the study of the interaction of creative associations, cultural institutions and individual ascetics.

A Fruitful Two Way Relationship: Arthur Miller and Irish Theatre

The essay investigates the mutual relationship between Miller and Irish theatre life under a title that takes its cue from Two Way Mirror, attempting to highlight the number of ways in which the two sides, mirror-like, reflect on each other. I believe that considering them together may illuminate certain, not so obvious aspects or components of both while suggesting new paths for research

A comparative analysis of aspects influencing live theatre ticket purchases of teenagers and students in South Africa

A decline in live theatre ticket sales and, more recently, the impact of Covid-19 on the live theatre industry, are forcing live theatre providers and marketers to seek alternative ways to keep theatre alive. One strategy is to investigate and attract a new market to attract to live theatre productions. Generation Z (also known as Gen Z) is currently the largest consumer market worldwide and has become a key focus market to attract to the theatre. Although Gen Z is classified as one cohort, sub-categories within this cohort exist, including teenagers (aged 14–18) and students (aged 18–24). It is well known that each sub-category is in a different phase of their lives and their purchase behaviour is in most cases not similar either. Therefore, this study aims to compare aspects influencing teenagers’ and students’ live theatre ticket purchases. Through a non-probability sampling method (purposive sampling), 321 responses from teenagers and 579 responses from students, all exposed to live theatre, were collected. The same 28 aspects were tested among the two groups, and the results indicated both similarities and differences between the tested influential aspects. Through the results, live theatre providers and marketers can re-evaluate and adapt their current live theatre productions and marketing campaigns for each specific sub-category within this generational cohort. This will not only enable a more focused approach to live theatre offerings but can also ensure the sustainability of the arts.

Имперская окраина. Опера на Дальнем Востоке в период между двух войн: 1906–1914 годы

The period between 1906–1914 in the history of the development of music theatre in the Far East is distinguished due to a change in the functioning conditions of one of its important branches — opera. Regional art history does not consider the issues of periodization of pre-revolutionary music theatre, which emphasizes the relevance and novelty of this work. An additional criterion for periodization was an immanent process in the field of regional music theatre. Based on a systematic approach, taking the opera as one of the genre subsystems, the author considers changes in its internal elements: the dynamics and characteristics of production activities and forms of organization of theatre business, repertoire trends, accompanying art journalism, the training of vocal personnel and the touring and concert practice of opera performers. Thus, the author concludes that during the specified period only touring activities of opera enterprises were practiced, which was connected with the economic and logistical difficulties of organizing opera seasons in remote territories. The most important event in the music and theatre life was the tour of the Russian Opera of M. Maksakov in 1913; amateur and united troupes were increasingly turning to the opera genre. There was a significant increase in the amount of Russian operas performed. The changes in the art-critical sphere were connected with the large-scale analytical articles, and the introduction of elements of enlightenment into the reviews. The opening of a vocal class and an opera studio at the music school of the local branch of the Imperial Russian Musical Society diversified the concert activity and theatre playbill of the region, while the repertoire of guest vocalists acquainted the Far East with unknown items in the opera.

ТЕАТРИ НАДАЗОВ’Я В РОКИ ДРУГОЇ СВІТОВОЇ ВІЙНИ

The article highlights the peculiarities of the theaters of Nadazov during the Second World War. The path of actors who became direct participants in military operations is outlined. The influence of the Mariupol Society «Prosvita» on the development of theatrical art in the region is analyzed. The repertoire, creative searches of the director and the cast during the Nazi occupation are covered. In particular, the activity of the Mariupol Music and Drama Theater named after T. Shevchenko. The repertoire of theaters, which consisted mainly of Ukrainian plays, the activities of the children's puppet theater and the holding of evenings in memory of Ukrainian writers, poets, and composers served to relieve the psychological stress of the residents of the region. If for the occupation regime the theater had a propaganda value, then for the residents of the region it served as a widespread practice of survival, was able to revive Ukrainian culture, and satisfied the basic needs of the population for information and artistic impressions. The dramatic section of the Mariupol «Prosvita» had a considerable influence on the development of theatrical art in the region. Director of the Mariupol Theater named after T. Shevchenko and Sofya Zavyalova, head of the drama section "Prosvity", actively worked on the issue of training professional drama personnel. It is emphasized that theatrical life in the liberated Northern Azov region in 1943–1945 had its own peculiarities. After the liberation of the region from the German invaders, the Mariupol Drama Theater resumed its activities, successfully holding concerts and performances for wounded soldiers, workers of the rebuilt city, and officers who went to the front. Despite the difficult conditions in which the Mariupol Drama Theater worked, the actors, thanks to their rich repertoire, contributed to the preservation of the spiritual and moral values of the audience and carried out active charitable activities for wounded soldiers and officers. The place of the theater in the cultural life of the residents of the region is defined. The scientific novelty of the article is due to the inclusion of new factual material from the history of Ukrainian theater into the scientific circulation. Key words: theater, Nadazovya, German occupation, audience, repertoire, Ukrainian culture, "Enlightenment".

Virus as Metaphor in the Age of Catastrophe

Virus as Metaphor in the Age of Catastrophe

A. Arbuzov's play "My Poor Marat" on the modern Chinese stage: the problem of reception

The author examines in detail the reception of Arbuzov's play "My Poor Marat" on the Chinese stage since 2000, analyzes the opinions of critics and audience reactions, as well as other types of responses to this dramatic text in modern Chinese culture. The problem of perception of the Russian dramaturgy of the twentieth century in China is raised on the material of the modern Chinese artistic and critical reception of Alexey Arbuzov's play "My Poor Marat" (1964). The work of Alexey Arbuzov, one of the most sought-after Soviet playwrights on the world stage, is the main subject of research. The play of this playwright "My Poor Marat" has been repeatedly staged in Chinese theaters, and in 2021 it again proved to be in demand by theatrical figures and the audience, which indicates the relevance of this study. The scientific novelty of the research consists in the fact that the work has studied the most popular performances of "My Poor Marat" in China since 2000, as well as an art exhibition based on the play. The practical significance of the results obtained is that their analysis reflects the dynamics of the development of Chinese society, changes in mentality, dominant themes of the time, dialogue with other cultures and various aesthetic systems, the specifics of theatrical life and the theatrical market in the country. The conclusion is made that the stage reception of Russian drama in China is closely connected with the socio-political aspect of the country's life and national mentality, affects the official ideology and individual consciousness, reflects the dialogue of foreign cultural factors and traditional forms of national culture.

Prilozi Đorđa Maletića estetici glume

The paper examines the contribution of Đorđe Maletić to the aesthetics of acting. Maletić was a prominent figure in Serbian theater life in the second half of the 19th century, but recently he has been unjustifiably relegated to the margins of domestic theater historiography and theatrology. First, his general aesthetic views are presented, in which he relied eclectically on various sources, mainly on Lessing, Schiller, and Hegel. Subsequently, his thoughts on acting and acting creativity, present in various writings published in the period from 1847 to 1884, are presented and interpreted. Considering these findings, it emerges that Maletić was not only a transmitter of European theatrical achievements into the cultural environment of Serbia but also that he showed a high level of independence in thinking about theater and dramatic art, especially in thinking about the phenomenon of acting. His characterization of the actor as "incarnated beauty, the idea of the beautiful, assumed physicality", who manifests the idea of beauty "on himself, so that he is both a thought and a material for the expression of thoughts, he both acts and is acted upon" - represents the most complete aesthetic interpretation of acting and acting creativity that we can find in the history of Serbian theater thought of the 19th century.

ГАЗЕТА «НОВИЙ ЧАС» (1923–1939 рр.) ПРО ТЕАТРАЛЬНЕ ЖИТТЯ ГАЛИЧИНИ

The article examines the peculiarity of the coverage of theatrical life in Galicia in the «Novyi Chas» newspaper (Lviv, 1923–1939). The subject of the materials offered to readers is analyzed, and determines their genre affiliation, among which, in particular, with articles and reviews prevailing among them. Newspaper publications dedicated to the activities of theaters and organizations involved in the development of theatrical art in Galicia during the 1920s and 1930s are considered. These included: the «Ukrainskyi Teatr» cooperative (Lviv) and the «Prosvitianskyi Teatr» society (Sokal). The articles are mentioned, particularly those that raised topical issues of the theater sphere at the time, such as the lack of a repertoire that would contribute to the national development of society and limited funding. The circle of authors of «Novyi Chas» are outlined, wich consisted of publicists, theater critics, and cultural figures who have made a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian theater and actively popularized it among the public, particularly A. Budzynovskyi, P. Lysiak, S. Chernetskyi. Keywords: Theater subjects, performance, the audience, «Novyi Chas» newspaper, «Ruska Besida» society, article, review.

‘Curtains, music and stages’ in Zoom theatre: framing devices in Coney’s Telephone

ABSTRACT Coney’s interactive digital piece Telephone, created and performed by Tassos Stevens, was premiered in April 2020 amidst the first lockdown in England. Performed via the videoconferencing platform Zoom, it employs conventional framing devices such as a prologue, opening music, a surrogate stage curtain and a virtual theatre bar. This paper intends to examine the functions of these theatrical conventions in the Zoom production. The author argues that these devices are used not only for their usual dramatic purposes, but are also adapted with new functions for digital media and the special circumstances of the pandemic. They inform the spectators of the dramatic situation and the contextual situation of lockdown, in order to provide crucial technical instructions, to frame the performance within familiar domestic spaces and cyberspace, and to seek their understanding of the unusual form in which the piece is made. By the explicit and emphatic use of these conventional framing devices, the production activates the audience’s consciousness of the theatrical dual orders of presence and representation, so as to construct a live theatre experience and senses of co-presence and togetherness, which are all the more significant during a time of theatre closure and social distancing.

Mythologizing of Ukrainian Drama during the Soviet Era (1920s) as a Way of Theatre Institutionalising

The purpose of the work is to reveal the peculiarities of the Ukrainian drama mythologizing at the beginning of the Soviet era (1920s). The research methodology consists in the application of a number of methods: analytical to understand the literature on the topic of the article; interdisciplinary – to comprehensively study factual material and acquire new knowledge; systematic with the use of a range of methods (biographical, semiotic, cultural, hermeneutic, historical, and theoretical generalisation) – to comprehend the stated purpose of the research. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the interrelationship of mythologizing and the development of Ukrainian drama as a means of theatre institutionalising in the beginning of the Soviet era is systematically studied. Conclusions. The publication proves the statement: A myth in the theatrical sphere can be any message in the language of drama due to the fact that the myth itself has no substantial boundaries. This is directly related to the fact that the myth is a phenomenon embedded in the primary sign system, that is, in the natural language of the theatre. The characteristics of a myth in drama include intentionality, naturalisation, aggressiveness, formality, and historicity. Myth in the theatrical sphere has an imperative, motivating character. It imposes its own aggressive, motivatingambiguity. A theatrical myth and symbol of the Soviet government, nurtured in Ukraine in the 20s of the 20th century, enabled the creation of a unique theatrical organism that made art popular (in a positive sense). It can be argued that the striving for the ideal created by the new government, on the one hand, and its discrediting, on the other hand, became the tendencies, the collision of which created the phenomenon of the «Ukrainian Soviet theatre». In general, the logic of mythologizing theatrical life was connected with a number of key interrelationships: myth – transformation of meaning into form – replacement of language with myth. Key words: theatre, myth, mythologizing, manipulation, ideology, Soviet regime.

Sounding the polyphonic cacophony of Macbeth with a young Jozi ensemble

Digital theatre-making initiatives that had emerged during Covid-19 lockdowns urged an interrogation of the languages of live theatre when, in South Africa, as the public arena reopened and social interaction resumed, reconfigured notions of theatre-making seemed apt. Reformulating and reimagining the operations of the medium, and the processes through which stage productions evolve, not only applied aspects of successful digital theatre but also aligned with the ideological imperatives of decolonisation. The Joburg Theatre Youth Development Programme production of Macbeth (2021) offered an opportunity to explore soundscape through the interplay of spoken word and non-semantic avian and animal calls. As a point of entry to staging the play, ensemble-based improvisation around developing a soundscape led to a more considered mapping of ornithological images, their connotations and theatrical efficacy. Extended play in generating birdcalls was instrumental in building performers’ confidence in transposition and spontaneous translation from English to vernacular languages to give this rendition of Macbeth an edgy, contemporary, local tone. This article documents and addresses the rehearsal processes and some outcomes of the approach that was adopted.