Etienne Decroux And His Theatre Laboratory

Etienne Decroux and His Theatre Laboratory is based on the long-awaited translation of Marco De Marinis' monumental work on mime in the twentieth century: Mimo e teatro nel Novecento (1993). Now revised and updated, the volume focuses specifically on the seminal role played by French mime artist and pedagogue Etienne Decroux. Mime is a theatrical form of ancient tradition. In the nineteenth century, it saw both apogee and crisis in the west with the realistic and gesticulating 'white pantomime'. In the twentieth century, it underwent a radical overhaul, transforming into an 'abstract' corporeal art that shunned imitation and narrative, and which instead tended towards the plastic, elliptic, allusive, and symbolic transposition of actions and situations. This book is the result of detailed investigations, based on contemporary accounts and obscure or unpublished materials. Through the examination of the creative, pedagogical, and theoretical work of the 'inventor' of the new mime art, Etienne Decroux, De Marinis focuses on the different assumptions underlying the various modes of the problematic presence of mime in the theatre of the twentieth century: from the utopia of a 'pure' theatre, attributed to the sole essence of the actor, to its decline into a closed poetic genre often nostalgically stuck in the past; from mime as a pedagogical tool for the actor to mime as an expressive and virtuosic means in the hands of the director.

These compact, well-illustrated and clearly written books unravel the contribution of modern theatre's most charismatic innovators and are unbeatable value for today's student.

The Decroux Sourcebook is the first point of reference for any student of the ‘hidden master’ of twentieth century theatre. This book collates a wealth of key material on Etienne Decroux, including: an English translation of Patrice Pezin’s ‘Imaginary Interview’, in which Decroux discusses mime’s place in the theatre. previously unpublished articles by Decroux from France’s Bibiothèque Nationale. essays from Decroux’s fellow innovators Eugenio Barba and Edward Gordon Craig, explaining the synthesis of theory and practice in his work. Etienne Decroux’s pioneering work in physical theatre is here richly illustrated not only by a library of source material, but also with a gallery of images following his life, work and influences. The Decroux Sourcebook is an ideal companion to Thomas Leabhart’s Etienne Decroux in the Routledge Performance Practitioners series, offering key primary and secondary resources to those conducting research at all levels.

In this series of essays, Thomas Leabhart presents a thorough overview and analysis of Etienne Decroux’s artistic genealogy. After four years’ apprenticeship with Decroux, Thomas Leabhart began to research and discover how forebears and contemporaries might have influenced Decroux’s project. Decades of digging revealed striking correspondences that often led to adjacent fields—art history, philosophy, and anthropology—forays wherein Leabhart’s appreciation of Decroux and his "kinsfolk," who themselves transgressed traditional frontiers, increased. The following essays, composed over a 30-year period, find a common source in a darkened Prague cinema where people gasped at a wooden doll’s sudden reversal of fortune. These essays: investigate the source of that astonishment; continue Leabhart's examination of Decroux’s "family tree"; consider how Copeau's and Decroux's keen observation of animal movement influenced their actor training; record the challenging and paradoxical improvisations chez Decroux; and recall Decroux’s debt to sculpture, poster art, sport and masks. These essays will be of great interest to students, scholars and practitioners in theatre and performance studies.

Etienne Decroux is the primary creator of Corporeal Mime and one of modern theatre’s most charismatic innovators, known for his ground-breaking use of the body as the principal means of expression on stage. This second edition combines: an overview of Decroux’s life and work an analysis of Decroux’s Words on Mime, the first book to be written about this art a series of practical exercises offering an introduction to Corporeal Mime technique. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners are unbeatable value for today’s student.

"The Decroux Sourcebook is the first point of reference for any student of the 'hidden master' of twentieth-century theatre." "This book collates a wealth of key material on Etienne Decroux, including: an English translation of Patrice Pezin's 'imaginary interview', in which Decroux discusses mime's place in the theatre; previously unpublished articles by Decroux from France's Bibliotheque Nationale; and essays from Decroux's fellow innovators Eugenio Barba and Edward Gordon Craig, explaining the synthesis of theory and practice in his work." "Etienne Decroux's pioneering work in physical theatre is here richly illustrated not only by a library of source material, but also with a gallery of images following his life, work and influences." --Book Jacket.

The Routledge Companion to Performance Practitioners collects the outstanding biographical and production overviews of key theatre practitioners first featured in the popular Routledge Performance Practitioners series of guidebooks. Each of the chapters is written by an expert on a particular figure, from Stanislavsky and Brecht to Laban and Decroux, and places their work in its social and historical context. Summaries and analyses of their key productions indicate how each practitioner's theoretical approaches to performance and the performer were manifested in practice. All 22 practitioners from the original series are represented, with this volume covering those born before the end of the First World War. This is the definitive first step for students, scholars and practitioners hoping to acquaint themselves with the leading names in performance, or deepen their knowledge of these seminal figures.