The Director's Chair
This French director, founder of Théâtre du Soleil, is known for intercultural theatre that incorporates Kathakali and Chinese influences into Western texts.
Who is Ariane Mnouchkine?
Gatherings that showcase theatre styles from around the world. An effect of globalization. Sometimes difficulty arises because of dislocation of performance.
What are International Theatre Festivals?
Tristan Tzara is associated with this WWI-era movement that embraced anarchy, nonsense, and "anti-art" in reaction to the war.
What is Dadaism?
In Angels in America, the characters grapple with personal challenges and identity amidst this specific 1980s epidemic.
What is the AIDS epidemic?
Edward Gordon Craig proposed replacing the live actor, whom he felt was too emotional and imperfect, with this lifeless figure.
What is the Übermarionette?
A Polish director who developed "Poor Theatre," stripping away elaborate production elements to focus on the actor's relationship with the spectator.
Who is Jerzy Grotowski?
This South African playwright wrote Master Harold...and the Boys and is associated with "Theatre of Witnessing" against Apartheid.
Who is Athol Fugard?
This feminist theatre troupe, founded by Peter Schumann, uses giant puppets in street protests and is famous for its anti-war demonstrations.
What is Bread and Puppet Theatre?
This one-act play features the blind and crippled master Hamm and his servant Clov, who cannot sit down. The title is a play on a term in the game of chess.
What is Endgame?
This theorist and director is known for his emphasis on nude bodies on stage. He is also known as the Father of the field of Performance Studies.
Who is Richard Schechner?
This American director is known for "Theatre of Images," creating slow, dream-like, surreal operas like Einstein on the Beach.
Who is Robert Wilson?
The Mahabharata, a massive nine-hour production that retold an ancient Indian epic for Western audiences, was directed by this British auteur.
Who is Peter Brook?
A movement in the 1960s-70s United States involving groups like The Living Theatre and The Performance Group, where performances were often political and eliminated the actor/audience separation.
What is Environmental Theatre?
Amidst unrequited love, creative aspirations, jealousy, and unfulfilled dreams, the characters of this play grapple with their desires for recognition and affection, leading to a series of tumultuous events that culminate in tragic consequences. And yet…the playwright considered it a comedy.
What is The Seagull?
A term for the socio-political process by which traditions are turned into treasures of cultural heritage (often by UNESCO or governments).
What is Patrimonialization?
He founded the RSC and later the National Theatre; he is known for "heightened realism" and directing the first English production of Waiting for Godot.
Who is Peter Hall?
Often small and experimental troupes that perform in the same cities hosting major international theatre events, but are not on the official program. The most famous sites for fringe theatre are the Edinburgh and Avignon festivals.
What is Fringe Theatre.
This futuristic/technological style is the subject of Heddatron, where a woman is abducted by robots to perform Ibsen.
What is Cyborg Theatre?
This immersive theatre production by Punchdrunk allows audience members to wander through a warehouse experiencing a silent retelling of Macbeth.
What is Sleep No More?
Used by Brecht, this term refers to a physical attitude or gesture by an actor that reveals the social position of the character.
What is Gestus?
This director of the early 20th century was known for eclecticism, staging shows in non-traditional spaces like cathedrals, and directing The Miracle.
Who is Max Reinhardt?
An extreme form of nationalism that emerged in Europe after the First World War. This ideology rejected Enlightenment universalism and liberal democracy in favor of racial purity and violent authoritarian rule.
What is Fascism?
Founded by Luis Valdez in 1965, this theatre group dramatized the exploitation of Mexican farm workers.
What is El Teatro Campesino?
The Protagonist of She Kills Monsters desperately searches for closure and understanding after this tragic event.
What is Tilly's Death?
This theory/philosophy, stating "existence precedes essence," heavily influenced Theatre of the Absurd and writers like Sartre and Beckett.
What is Existentialism?