Theories Of The Theatre

Beginning with Aristotle and the Greeks and ending with semiotics and post-structuralism, Theories of the Theatre is the first comprehensive survey of Western dramatic theory. In this expanded edition the author has updated the book and added a new concluding chapter that focuses on theoretical developments since 1980, emphasizing the impact of feminist theory.

Beginning with Aristotle and the Greeks and ending with semiotics and post-structuralism, Theories of the Theatre is the first comprehensive survey of Western dramatic theory. In this expanded edition the author has updated the book and added a new concluding chapter that focuses on theoretical developments since 1980, emphasizing the impact of feminist theory.

World Theories of Theatre expands the horizons of theatrical theory beyond the West, providing the tools essential for a truly global approach to theatre. Identifying major debates in theatrical theory from around the world, combining discussions of the key theoretical questions facing theatre studies with extended excerpts from primary materials, specific primary materials, case studies and coverage of Southern Africa, the Caribbean, North Africa and the Middle East, Oceania, Latin America, East Asia, and India. The volume is divided into three sections: Theoretical questions, which applies cross-cultural perspectives to key issues from aesthetics to postcolonialism, interculturalism, and globalization. Cultural and literary theory, which is organised by region, presenting a range of theatrical theories in their historical and cultural context. Practical exercises, which provides a brief series of suggestions for physical exploration of these theoretical concepts. World Theories of Theatre presents fresh, vital ways of thinking about the theatre, highlighting the extraordinary diversity of approaches available to scholars and students of theatre studies. This volume includes theoretical excerpts from: Zeami Motokiyo Bharata Muni Wole Soyinka Femi Osofisan Uptal Dutt Saadallah Wannous Enrique Buenaventura Derek Walcott Werewere Liking Maryrose Casey Augusto Boal Tadashi Suzuki Jiao Juyin Oriza Hirata Gao Xingjian Roma Potiki Poile Sengupta

Reprinted with a new postscript

The volume presents perspectives in the theory of drama and theatre that are new for the following reasons: 1) the contributions reflect the international cooperation in developing drama and theatre as well as its theories; 2) this collection is the first attempt of presenting papers within the context of (Analytical) Theory of Science; 3) it is the first consistent set of papers starting from semiotics a s a meta-theory. The volume is divided into four sections: I Fundamental of Theatre Research, II Theory of Drama and Theatre, III Descriptive Theatre Research, IV Applied Theatre Research. The fifth and final section offers a selective bibliography of analytical approaches to drama and theatre.

The topic of the origins of theatre is one of the most controversial in theatre studies, with a long history of heated discussions and strongly held positions. In The Roots of Theatre, Eli Rozik enters the debate in a feisty way, offering not just another challenge to those who place theatre’s origins in ritual and religion but also an alternative theory of roots based on the cultural and psychological conditions that made the advent of theatre possible. Rozik grounds his study in a comprehensive review and criticism of each of the leading historical and anthropological theories. He believes that the quest for origins is essentially misleading because it does not provide any significant insight for our understanding of theatre. Instead, he argues that theatre, like music or dance, is a sui generis kind of human creativity—a form of thinking and communication whose roots lie in the spontaneous image-making faculty of the human psyche. Rozik’s broad approach to research lies within the boundaries of structuralism and semiotics, but he also utilizes additional disciplines such as psychoanalysis, neurology, sociology, play and game theory, science of religion, mythology, poetics, philosophy of language, and linguistics. In seeking the roots of theatre, what he ultimately defines is something substantial about the nature of creative thought—a rudimentary system of imagistic thinking and communication that lies in the set of biological, primitive, and infantile phenomena such as daydreaming, imaginative play, children’s drawing, imitation, mockery (caricature, parody), storytelling, and mythmaking.

Mark Fortier lucidly examines current theoretical approaches, from semiotics and poststructuralism to cultural materialism, postcolonial studies and feminist theories as they relate to theatre and performance.