STUDY MATERIAL on Generic Elective (ENGLISH) Paper
TEXT AND PERFORMANCE
“I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” – Oscar Wilde
1. Introduction
- Introduction to theories of Performance
The theoretical discussion of drama and theatre practice has a long and illustrious history, reaching back to Aristotle’s Poetics. This history of thinking and writing about drama has centrally shaped our contemporary understanding of performance, theatre and the cultural significance of dramatic practice. Here are some of the most significant developments in the history of dramatic theory from ancient Greece to the present day:
Aristotle and Greek Theatre: The Birth of Dramatic Theory
Aristotle’s Poetics is generally regarded as the founding text of dramatic criticism, and regularly cited by subsequent scholars despite its much‐debated connection to the dramatic practice of ancient Greece.
Bharata’s Theory of Dramatic Performance
The Natyasastra holds a centrality in central Asian theatre similar to that of Aristotle’s Poetics in Europe, but it is far more extensive in scope, covering not only dramatic structure, but acting, costuming, staging, and theatre architecture. The place for performance described in the Natyasastra is far closer to a modern Western idea than to that of classical Greece or Rome. Unlike the great public theatres of Greece and Rome, the classical Indian theatres were sponsored by royal courts and were clearly for an elite audience, of at most about 500.
Shakespeare: Theorising Early English Theatre
In Shakespeare’s England, the status of drama was a matter of much debate. Authors such as Sir Philip Sidney (Apology for Poetry) compared the native tradition unfavourably with the classical theories outlined in Aristotle’s Poetics, while contemporary dramatists defended the qualities of their art. Classical philosophical theories about the theatre and dramatic practice came to be challenged and reshaped during perhaps the single most influential period in the history of English dramatic writing; given the prominence Shakespeare has subsequently enjoyed as a touchstone for nineteenth‐ and twentieth‐century schools of critical thought, the theories of drama expressed by his contemporaries remain deeply significant.
Stanislavski and Nineteenth-Century Naturalism
One of the most influential figures in the history of modern drama is Konstantin Stanislavski. Although Stanislavski was an actor and theatre director rather than a literary theorist, his work with the Moscow Art Theatre and the advice outlined in his published books had a profound impact on the subsequent performance history of modern drama: in particular, the influential American school of method acting developed out of a limited application of his ideas by former students. Stanislavski himself developed and applied ideas about performance and acting technique by exploring his writings alongside the plays of the Moscow Art Theatre’s most famous writer, Anton Chekhov: works which Stanislavski acted in and directed.
Brecht’s Political Theatre
A reaction against the naturalism of the nineteenth century arrived in the twentieth century with the German director and playwright Bertolt Brecht. Like Stanislavski, Brecht has long been an influential figure in the history of modern drama, and his ideas continue to resonate strongly for many contemporary writers. Brecht’s emphasis on the theatre as a political medium, an idea shaped by his lifelong commitment to Marxism, and the techniques he introduced to establish the political efficacy of performed drama have had profound effect on the modern drama.
Later 20th Century Drama
In the mid‐twentieth century playwrights, directors and theorists began to call for a newly expressive theatre. Drawing on the idea that theatrical performance could be traced back to the religious rites of ancient Greece, these writers began to argue for a ritualised theatrical experience. Such ideas led to the development of physical theatre, writings of the influential theatre director Antonin Artaud alongside the work of physical theatre practitioners such as Jerzy Grotowski and Peter Brook.
Contemporary Drama
Jacques Derrida famously professed his inability to deconstruct the works of Samuel Beckett, those writings that ‘make the limits of our language tremble’. Yet critics have often subsequently argued that Derrida’s theoretical writings owe a strong debt to Beckett’s prose and dramatic work. Beckett experimented with language and signs in his plays.