Theatre Work Research Articles

‘The pinnacle of our era’: comedy in Stan Lai’s realism play ‘The Village’

In 2008, Chinese playwright, director Stan Lai, and producer Wang Weizhong created the play ‘The Village’ based on over a hundred oral history stories. This play is a work of realist theatre that incorporates many comedic elements and has been hailed by the Beijing News as the ‘pinnacle of our era’. However, current academic attention to this play is primarily limited to studies focusing on nostalgia and historical context, with insufficient emphasis on its comedic aspects. This study aims to analyze the comedy in ‘The Village’ using Kant’s comedic theory and Chekhov’s comedic techniques, examining the comedic aspects through the play’s comedy plots. It intends to confirm its comedic nature and fill a gap in the existing comedy research on this work. This study also explores Stan Lai’s unique comedic style in ‘The Village’, enhancing the understanding of its comedic elements. Furthermore, the findings will contribute to the existing body of knowledge on Stan Lai’s work and expand the application of Kant’s Theory of Comedy.

Theatre Work: Reimagining the Labor of Theatrical Production by Brídín Clements Cotton and Natalie Robin (review)

Theatre Work: Reimagining the Labor of Theatrical Production by Brídín Clements Cotton and Natalie Robin (review)

“Built on the Money”: The Financialization of Capitalism and the Sense of History in Josie Rourke’s Stage Production of Shaw’s Saint Joan

ABSTRACT In a bold move, Josie Rourke reimagined Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan for the 2016 audience at the Donmar Warehouse, setting it against the backdrop of today’s financial world. She transported Joan from the medieval battlefield to a modern corporate boardroom, turning historical drama into a commentary on financialization. Through this lens, Rourke’s production responds with Shaw’s paradoxical sense of history, characterized by a skepticism toward short-term trends, yet with an underlying optimism for long-term human progress driven by imagination. By examining egg futures and stock markets, this article adopts an interdisciplinary approach to position theatrical work within the realm of economics, an endeavor that may offer a literary framework of humanity when contemplating our current economic landscape.

The Promised Novelty of Mussorgsky's Folk Dramas

Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina are folk dramas, for the composition of which the composer prepared as for the main creative achievements, exploring the artistic style and honing his skills on previous and simultaneously created works. The goal was "new shores <…> of boundless art". M. Mussorgsky's decisive call "to new shores!" is unforgettable in the memory of descendants. However, not everyone knows the full statement of the composer, who strived to "seek these shores, seek tirelessly, without fear and embarrassment", to seek in order to "stand firmly on the promised land" [5]! Referring the reader to the biblical story, the image of the "promised land" can in no way be interpreted as having appeared for the sake of a "catchphrase", since the outlines of the "new shores" are associated with the "deification of the word" in Mussorgsky’s creative work. The composer treated verbal speech in an evangelical manner so responsibly that he considered it to be the source of truth in creativity and in life; he was able to reproduce it on stage as it was not only in external events but also in the internal spiritual dimension. Wemean the divine principle by spirituality. Mussorgsky’s operatic works continue the process of “catechism” of the opera genre started by M. Glinka [11]. In the history of the arts, the secular genre of opera, conciliar in terms of expressive means, occupies a position exceptionally close to the aims of worship. Opera owes its birth to such a situation in the cultural life of “man and humanity”, in which a strong spiritual and educational impact on the listener and viewer was sought. In our Fatherland, the formation of the genre was completed in Glinka’s works with the opera’s acquisition of a meaning-forming for Russian culture faith-centredness. The content of Glinka’s theatrical works is aimed at educating the public according to the evangelical understanding of love. It is what “catechism” of the genre consisted of. A. Dargomyzhsky, M. Mussorgsky, and P. Tchaikovsky were the continuers of Glinka’s work. The works of the 19th century geniuses of Russian opera can be assessed as belonging to the style of “spiritual realism” [14]. Today, despite the still-existing inertial obstacle of the last century to cancel the spiritual principle as the fundamental source of culture, there is a need to return the full content laid down by the authors to opera classics. It also concerns the masterpieces of Mussorgsky, whose personality is associated with the protest novelty of creative work. In relation to the means of musical expression, the composer can truly be called a revolutionary. However, the semantic content of his works belongs firstly to the evangelical character traditional for Russian culture. This “promised” component of Modest Mussorgsky's work is still waiting for its researchers and performers, on whom musical and theatrical life depends, as well as listeners, since opera is a genre that requires preparation of perception. Opera is the art of recognition, which is all the more impressive, the more the listener understands the content of the musical performance. In Mussorgsky's work, it is associated with the evangelical meaning - the "new shores <...> of the promised land".

Deconstructing the Politics of Linguistic Mutation in Tom Stoppard’s Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth

Tom Stoppard’s theatrical works, Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth, serve as a significant exemplification of linguistic and political power dynamics. These plays represent a transformative shift that depicts the workings of hegemony in Czechoslovakia during the Cold War era. Stoppard, a Czechoslovakian native, crafted these satirical works in response to the brutal persecution of critical intellectuals and censorship of their dissident works. The plays voice the intellectual restlessness of the time, resisting the status quo, and illustrating the tensions that led to the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Stoppard’s innovative linguistic experimentation transforms Shakespeare’s plays, Hamlet and Macbeth, into an entirely novel linguistic system, named “Doggspeak,” which derives inspiration from Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations. This new linguistic transformation acts as a catalyst for social and political change, resisting surveillance and censorship of free speech. Stoppard’s plays, therefore, use language to alter power relations, creating space for political defiance. This paper delves into two key questions: How does Stoppard modify language in the dramatic setting, and how does this linguistic transformation shift power relations within the plays? By creating a new linguistic system, Stoppard outmanoeuvres oppressors and wittingly turns language into an instrument for political rebellion. He stages a truncated, mutant version of Shakespeare’s plays where they are banned, giving voice to the intellectual restlessness of Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. Stoppard’s plays posit that language is not merely a tool for communication, but also a vehicle for social and political transformation. Through linguistic mutation, Stoppard subverts the existing power structures and challenges the hegemony of the oppressors. This essay argues that Stoppard’s plays showcase the crucial significance of language in the struggle for political and social change, emphasizing the crucial role that language plays in shaping our perceptions and understanding of the world.

On Fragments: A Piece of Art and the “I” – or Not

This essay explores the philosophical implications inherent in Samuel Beckett’s most enigmatic and metonymic late theater work, Not I, even as he frequently abjured any interest in philosophy, which he claimed neither to read nor to understand. The play is profoundly ontological, however, and its metonymic stage image engages the classical philosophical conundrum of the relationship of the part, a piece or fragment, say, to the whole, an issue with which Beckett has at least been intrigued for most of his creative life.

An Analysis of How the Literary Features of The Teahouse Reflect the Tragic Core of the Play

The Teahouse is a play written by Lao She in 1956, included in the magazine Harvest in July 1957 by Bakin and published in June 1958 by the China Drama Publishing House. The play presents three chaotic historical periods in modern China: the Hundred Days' Reform, the Warlords' War, and the eve of the founding of New China. The play has a high literary status and high literary attainments, and it has become a classic work of contemporary Chinese theatre mainly because of its characteristic dialect language features and special artistic presentation form. The use of language in the original play reflects the regional characteristics, and the portrayal of the characters suggests the tragedy of the historical destiny of the time from the side. The main body of the play, "Yutai Teahouse", serves as a clue to expose how the modern Chinese society is a dark and corrupt world that eats away at all human beings. Moreover, his literary works with its unique style of writing reflects the tragic colour of drama literature, with the tragic fate of the nobody suggesting the tragic colour of the whole era.

Literary Stylistics Features in the Musical Drama NURBAYA by Indonesia Kaya

This study examines the literary stylistic features in NURBAYA, a contemporary Indonesian musical drama produced by Indonesia Kaya. Employing Leech and Short's (1981) framework, the research focuses on sound patterns and figures of speech, investigating how these elements enhance narrative cohesion and emotional impact while reflecting cultural values. Using qualitative content analysis, the study systematically categorizes and interprets stylistic features in conversation utterances and song lyrics. The analysis reveals a prevalence of sound patterns, particularly rhyme, which contributes to the musical's rhythmic quality and cohesion. Figures of speech, notably litotes, are employed to reflect cultural values of politeness and subtlety. For instance, the frequent use of litotes (found in 35% of character dialogues) underscores adherence to traditional norms, enhancing the play's cultural resonance. NURBAYA, as a bridge between traditional and contemporary Indonesian theatre, offers a unique lens for examining the evolution of literary style in performance art. This study demonstrates how specific literary devices enrich artistic expression and reinforce cultural themes in contemporary Indonesian theatre. These findings contribute to our understanding of the interplay between linguistics, literature, and cultural expression in performing arts, offering insights into how stylistic analysis can illuminate broader sociocultural dynamics in theatrical works.

From ‘musique concrète’ and Acousmatic Art to the ‘New Music Theater’. The Austrian Composer Dieter Kaufmann

This article follows the way the Austrian composer Dieter Kaufmann has gone with his conceptions taken from musical and extra-musical domains, as literature, visual arts, religion and politics, describing some of his theatrical works. For him the function of music is to improve the society and therefore his works are a critic to politics or to religion. Having studied in Paris by Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Schaeffer, François Bayle and René Leibowitz, he contributed to the development of the electronic music in Austria with his creation and his teaching of electroacoustic composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He went further than the Parisian ‘musique concrète’, which worked with sound objects, and consciously selected and worked with objects of sound ambient in order to manage the sound environment, to musically shape it. The acousmatic art deals with sound objects, which are recorded and projected in another space, the theatre scene being an ideal space of it. A large part of his works are included in the genre of New Music Theater of the 20th and 21st century, where sound (tone and word) and movement come together, each of them having the same weight. Keywords: musique concrète, sound object, acousmatic art, multimedia, electroacoustic composition

Inquisitive racialization or race after secularization: a critical phenomenological approach

ABSTRACT In this article, we develop the notion of ‘inquisitive racialization’, to elaborate a critical phenomenological perspective on how the expectation that religion should be privatized and/or made invisible under secularization can enable, and even stimulate, a specific form of racialization. We show that this is specifically relevant for understanding antisemitism and Islamophobia, discussing two literary and theatrical works: a fragment from the novel In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (written between 1909–1922) and Rachida Lamrabet’s five-minute play Projet deburkanisation. We try to make plausible that a critical phenomenological approach enables us to bring into focus structural and everyday interpersonal, social, bodily, and affective dimensions of religion-related securitization and racialization. We discuss the influential notion of the ‘lived experience’ (l’expérience vécue), introduced by Frantz Fanon, trying to adapt it to contexts in which the racialization has an important religious component, discussing notions of proteophobia (Zygmunt Bauman) and opacity (Édouard Glissant) in connection to phenomenological works by, among others Alia Al-Saji, Gail Weiss and Sara Ahmed.

Intertextuality in the Palestinian Theatre (1948-1975) Between Choice and Compulsion: Eight Witnesses of Theatrical Samples

This research aims to investigate the special methods relied upon by Palestinian writers - from 1948 until 1975 - to avoid censorship, prosecution and harassment, with a specific focus on the method of intertextuality, which has become a basic code through which Palestinian writers have created their bold and sharp ideas, which imitated their reality in all its details, by displaying witness models from eight theatrical works, namely: - Tariq al-Khalaṣ (1950), a prose-play by Jamil Mohammad Abu Maizer (1922-1993), and Jamal al-Din Ḥijazi ( (1991-1923 - al-Adl Asas al-Mulk (1952), a prose-play by Nasri al-Jozi (1908-1996) - Jalsa Kamilat al-Niṣab (1955), a prose-play by Hadiya ʿAbd al-Hadi (1919-1969) - Sirr Shahrazad (1958), a prose-play by Najwa Qaʿwar Farah (1923-2015) - Qadar al-Donia (1962), a prose-play, by Emile Ḥabibi (1921-1996) - Bayt al-Junūn (1965), a prose-play by Tawfiq Fayyad (1938- ) - Shamshon and Dalilah/ Samson and Delila (1971), a poetic-play by Muʿin Basiso (1927-1984) - al-Ibn (1974), a prose-play by Samih al-Qasim (1939-2014) The choice of the plays was not random, but rather came to cover the "period" of the total central-political events in Palestine, (Nakba 1948), the 1967 War (Setback/ Naksa) and the 1973 War (October War) – dealing with the issues addressed by these plays, and the techniques used by their writers, illustrating the differences and innovations between each stage. The order of the contents in the first and second stages (until the Setback in 1967), is based on the contents of the past, but in the third phase (in the 1970s) the theatrical works were centered around political issues, homeland, and social life.This study is also an attempt to demonstrate the impact of political events and social vagaries on Palestinian poets and writers, in terms of the use of intertextuality, which has become characteristic in the Palestinian theatre as a highly approved technique in most Palestinian plays, especially heritage intertextuality, and religious intertextuality. The nature of the Palestinian theatre, which is busy with various political events and social fluctuations, offers it a special characteristic. These elements have helped strengthen the dramatic aspect, the ease of the structure of the play, and increase of voices and their interconnection in the play, which enriched the theatrical text, propelled its aesthetic and artistic level, and multiplied its messages.The Palestinian theatre started from the center of its suffering, and its difficult conditions that it lived with at all levels, in addition to its being clearly influenced by the experience of Western theatre, and its keeping pace with the techniques used in it, which helped the development of the Palestinian theatre and observed a qualitative leap at the theatrical level. Here, it is necessary to point out something very exciting, which seemed clear in our current study of selected plays, which is the success of the writers in making the form and content work together to create a clear idea, indicates the importance of resistance to the occupation. Thus, the plays turned into brave cries and enduring attitudes that challenged their reality, with exciting techniques and innovations, in some of which the writers exceeded the stereotypes of the Palestinian play at home.

Notes on Voice and Tempo in Anglophone Caribbean Literatures

This article outlines a historic panorama of the dynamic relationship between written and oral forms of expression in the Anglophone Caribbean, focusing on key literary works of poetry, the novel, and theater, as well as musical genres like calypso and reggae. The aim is to identify trends, and the relationships between them, that expand beyond territorial and temporal limits, in order to better understand how the scribal and oral spheres have interacted under the pressures of colonialism and its residual effects. The article begins with a contextualization of the vernacular’s place in literary works in the Anglophone Caribbean during the colonial period and discusses several concepts that have been key in debates on language as a form of cultural resistance. The second section focuses on the growing anticolonial sentiment that began to sweep through the region in the 1930s and the literary, intellectual, and musical developments that sought to articulate these political inclinations. The third and final section examines reggae aesthetics as a driving force of cultural expression since the 1970s, considering the influence of Rastafarianism and reggae’s impact on various forms of literary production.

El cuento como estrategia innovadora para el fomento de la creatividad en los estudiantes de educación primaria

The research was carried out under the modality of a feasible project based on a descriptive fieldwork. The population and sample of the study consisted of teaching staff (20) and students (60). The data collection utilized the survey technique through a questionnaire instrument, validated in content through expert judgment. Reliability was determined, resulting in 0.81 for students and 0.82 for teachers, considered very high according to the criteria established by Ruiz (2002). The diagnostic results indicate that the teacher promotes little the realization of theater works or the performance of dramatic games combining body expressions with the narration of a specific story. Likewise, they rarely engage in reading activities using various sounds, noises, and gestures to develop the faculty of imitation in their students. Similarly, it was found that students are interested in practicing recreational reading of stories to enhance their creativity; they are willing to take on recreational reading of stories as an opportunity for personal growth.

The Hermeneutics of Iberian Identity: Reassessing the Stability of Signs in the Theatrical Works of Juan del Encina

The end of the fifteenth century was a charged moment in Iberia as authors grappled with shifting social categories in the decades leading up to and following the Expulsion of the Jews. Two of Juan del Encina short theatrical églogas are quite suggestive for reassessing the hermeneutics of Iberian identities. The humour serves to reassure the audience that self-transformation is a ridiculous prospect confined to the stage. Nevertheless, the exploration of themes of identity shifts underscores the collective anxiety that social transformations might indeed be occurring in contemporary Castilian society and need to be dismissed with humour.

Real disclosure of contemporary politics - "Vikramacharit Aakhyan"

Prof. born in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh. Radhavallabh Tripathi is the outgoing Chancellor of the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan (New Delhi). The works written by him include Adi Kavi Valmiki: (1976), Lokdharmi Tradition of Sanskrit Poetry (1976, 1999), Poetics and Poetry (1987), Lectures on Drama (1992), Drama and World Theatre (1988), Drama Encyclopedia (Chaturshu Khandeshu, 1999), etc., critical and poetic works. The text is important. In the field of literature, his major works are Rotikalahari (poetry), Abhinavasuk Saptati (collection of stories), Prekshanam Saptakam (street plays), Karuna (short novels), Anyachya (novel), Vikramcharitam (narratives). Due to your vast work of excellence, you have been honoured with many famous awards. Your composition 'Vikramcharitam' is a narrative divided into nine chapters, which, though written in mythological style, is a depiction of the political issues of the modern era through its subject matter. And it appears to express social problems.

Analysis of Grotowskis Body Action Method from the Perspective of Zhuangzi

Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999, hereinafter referred to as Grotowski) was a renowned theater practitioner in the 20th century, dedicating his life to the study of theatrical performance. His theatrical works shook the world in the 20th century, and he was well-known in the theater communities of Europe and America. Unfortunately, he passed away prematurely, leaving behind profound and abstruse writings for future generations. His late-life creation, the Art of Vehicle in body action methods, holds profound significance for the study of states in various artistic performances. Based on this, researchers, drawing on Grotowskis lifelong learning and research background, interpret and analyze Grotowskis study of art of vehicle through the Zhuangzis concept of body in the philosophy of Swiss philosopher Jean Franois Billeters dynamic mechanism. This paper is based on the research theory of Professor Mingder Chung from Taipei National University of the Arts on Grotowskis MPA, aiming to elucidate Grotowskis interpretation of body through Zhuangzis body view, and further clarify the conceptual framework of MPA. The purpose is to contribute theoretical foundations to the study of Grotowskis Art of Vehicle.

Ambient conditions of the operating theatre and its correlation with fatigue and sleep quality of operating room workers: a cross-sectional survey.

Anesthesia providers face numerous occupational hazards, including exposure to anesthesia gases, which can lead to fatigue. These professionals face challenges such as night shifts, OR stress, limited mobility and sunlight access, high workload, inadequate rest breaks. Health-related sociodemographic variables, such as smoking, sleep patterns, and obesity. Our research aims to explore various risk factors associated with fatigue among operating theatre workers including sleep quality. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 227 of operating room healthcare professionals from five tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia, for a period of 6 months, between January 1, 2023 to June 1, 2023. The study used a five-point Likert scale sheet and the FSS "fatigue severity scale" to analyze and measure fatigue and sleep quality. The questionnaire included all socio-demographic variables, work conditions, and fatigue severity scale items. The major findings revealed a significant correlation between fatigue severity scores and exposure to anesthesia gases. Socio-demographic variables such as smoking have showed major relevance to fatigue in the sample size, as (76.6%) of the participants that answered as regular smokers have showed result of positive correlation to fatigue and with a significant of (0.034). Out of the total sample, 76.1% were exposed to anesthesia gases once daily, showing a positive association with fatigue severity scores. Work-related factors like job experience and position also had a lower association with fatigue severity. p (0.031) Univariate logistic regression p (0.035). The study found that the work-related conditions like workload on Anesthesia technicians and technologists over 44 h per week and gas exposure is directly linked to fatigue severity and sleep quality so is the socio-demographic considerations. With poor sleep quality in younger staff which is documented in the study result a large-scale prospective analysis to understand the factors affecting OR staff's sleep quality and fatigue severity and what can be done to regulate working hours and break time and incorporate naps in to enhance patient safety and well-being for anesthesia providers in Saudi Arabia.

Concert performance of operas in the educational process: goals, examples, innovations, perspectives

Statement of the problem. A pianist-concertmaster is a well-trained, technically equipped, multidisciplinary, comprehensively developed musician. Accordingly, teachers of concertmaster departments in institutions of higher education are entrusted with a great responsibility for the training of highly professional and competitive specialists. In this context, the study of entire opera works, not individual numbers or scenes, the result of which can be a concert performance of operas, deserves special attention. This is an extremely important area of training for future concertmasters, which allows young performers to acquire the complex of knowledge and skills necessary for further work in the musical theatre. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. Various aspects of concertmaster skill are studied in numerous scientific works (Borovytska, 2018; Zub, 2021; Iniutochkina, 2010; Kretov, Novik-Kretova, 2017; Molchanova, 2015, 2017; Pidporinova, 2023). The tasks of this article are to determine the goals of performing operas in the concert version by students of the class of accompanist mastery; to put together methodical instructions regarding the concertmasters’ work on the opera as a whole; to outline the prospects of a special project that has been carried out for many years at the Department of Concertmaster Skill of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts under the leadership of its head Ye. Nikitska. For the first time, on the basis of the application of genre and performing research approaches, methodical guidelines for the work of a student-concertmaster on a concert performance of an opera have been systematized. Research results and conclusion. The purpose of concert performance of operas by student pianists of the class of accompanist skills is to make them ready for future professional activities as concertmasters of musical theatres. That is why concert performances of operas as entire works play an important role in the system of teaching concertmaster skill. In the process of preparatory work on complete opera compositions, practical situations that pianists-concertmasters face in their further professional activities are modelled and reproduced. This allows one to develop a set of knowledge, abilities, skills and competencies that are necessary for a concertmaster in a musical theatre. The work on a concert performance of a complete opera requires a certain algorithm of actions, a teaching method, the components of which are: 1) a careful choice of the opera; 2) selection of soloists; 3) drawing up the compositional and dramaturgical plan-scheme of the opera and, accordingly, making decisions regarding the edition / cut out of the choral and choreographic (mass) scenes and the removal of minor characters; 4) if necessary, compiling the literary basis; 5) work with students on the piano part of the opera in its integrity in various aspects (interaction between concertmaster and vocalist; overcoming pianistic technical difficulties; achieving an “orchestral” sound; supporting the temporhythm of the performance as a whole). The practical worth and viability of the educational and creative project in question has been confirmed by time and numerous successful concert performances of opera works in the halls of the Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts and on the concert stages of the country; and its life-giving force will be the expansion of the repertoire and the appeal to world and Ukrainian opera art of the 20th–21st centuries.

Navigating the Future Landscape: Probing the Mechanism and Feeding Model of AI within Theatrical Arts

This scholarly article explores the application and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of theatrical art creation, providing an analysis of the current state, challenges, and future development of the integration of AI and theatre. Through comprehensive case studies of various theatrical works both domestically and abroad, the article delineates four major “feeding” models of AI in theatre creation, discussing the specific applications and effects of these modes within the sphere of artistic creation. The symbiotic relationship between human creators and AI during the creative process is emphasized, envisioning the potential of AI as an innovative collaborator advancing theatrical artsalongside human creators. Despite present challenges confronting AI in theatrical creation, such as emotional depth and data dependency, the potential demonstrated in enhancing creative efficiency and expanding the scope of artistic expression is noteworthy.

Everting the Theatrical Sphere Like Terayama

<p>This essay attempts to understand humanistic performances through STEM fields, specifically engaging with Terayama Shūji’s 1970s avant-garde theatre and film through the study of topology. The mathematical transformation called eversion is posited as frame for Terayama’s multiple radical reversals, moving toward residual effects, a process that holds the potential for radically other performance to alter the experience of time and space. Performances of bodily intervention evert the form of theatre and elicit frustration and other affective states that generate a “transformation of theatricalized space.” The essay studies Terayama Shūji’s interest in mathematical models of eversion, or turning the inside out, and how these have influenced his work in avant-garde theatre and film, positioning the audience beyond the mere notion of “revolution” into something more complex and evocative, in which the highly scripted expectation of normative everyday life comes into question. Bodily and spatial interventions bring together viewers and performers with the purpose of transforming social life through the affects—the everting—of the particular feelings generated by the experience of the artwork.</p>