Publication details
A Constant Replay? American Avant-garde Theatre in the Context of 21st Century Post-dramaticality
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The history of the American avant-garde theatre is inseparable from a discussion of a relationship between the text and the performance. The Wooster Group is a theatre company that has prioritized the theatrical over the dramatic to an extreme point. For example, the 1990 Brace Up! production (a version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters) broke most conventions of realist dramatic theatre and its 2003 revival amplified this anti-realist mode by a number of reworkings of and references to the original production. The Wooster Group’s latest production The Pink Chair (2018) develops post-dramatic modes of expression in the theatre and explores a potential of replay and reiteration in a performance. Further examples will be drawn from works by The Elevator Repair Service (New York City) and Rude Mechanicals (Austin, Texas). My paper aims to develop a discussion of “a central paradigm for the twenty-first century theatre,” as proposed in the seminar description, with a perspective of contemporary American avant-garde theatre productions. These may serve as a case in point when studying trends relating to, for example, the power of theatre to address current social, political and artistic issues; and the fluidity of categories such as characters and plot in a live performance. |
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