Theatricality, Playtexts and Society

This Element is a study of theatricality in playtexts that offers a concrete definition of and approach to identifying theatricality.

David Barnett (Author)

9781009506298, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 June 2024

82 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 1 cm, 0.27 kg

This Element proposes a novel way of defining, understanding and approaching theatricality, a term that exists both in the theatre and, more broadly, in everyday life. It argues that four foundational, material processes of theatre-making manifest themselves in all playtexts in both overt and covert forms. Each of the four sections defines a different theatrical process, explores its functions in two chosen playtexts and examines its implications for the wider experience of the spectators outside the theatre. The Element concludes with a supplementary reflection on performance to show how even seemingly untheatrical playtexts can be analysed and staged to reveal their unspoken theatricality. It also argues that this new understanding of theatricality has a politics, that the artifice of any theatre and the constructedness of any society are analogous and that both, consequently, can be fundamentally changed. This Element is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

An Introduction to Theatricality
1. Actors play roles
2. Actors speak the words of others
3. Actors are given instructions by others
4. Actors perform to live audiences
5. Conclusion
References.

Subject Areas: Theatre studies [AN]