Eroticism and death in theatre and performance / edited by Karoline Gritzner.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gritzner, Karoline.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Drama--History and criticism.

Drama.

Eroticism in literature.

Death in the theater.

Theater--History.

Theater.

Desire in art.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (282 p.)

Place of Publication:

Hatfield, Hertfordshire : University of Hertfordshire Press, 2010.

Summary:

Eros and Death are the two central drives and compulsions of the human psyche, and their dynamic interconnectedness has been pervasive in the formation of Western thought and culture. The essays brought together in this collection offer new perspectives on the eros/death relation in a wide selection of dramatic texts, theatrical practices and cultural performances. Topics explored range from Greek tragedy, Shakespearean theatre, the work of Georg Büchner, Bertolt Brecht, the kiss of death in opera, the theatricality of Parisian culture, to the performance of conjuring, contemporary British drama, body art, the live performances of Nick Cave and erotic encounters in One to One performances. Many of the essays locate their discussions of erotic desire and death as conflicting and entwining passions in specific cultural-historical contexts and provide a sense of how drama and theatre reflect and influence changing attitudes towards sexuality and death. As well as offering particular historical perspectives, the collection contains essays that engage with contemporary dramatic writing and experimental theatre/performance practice, such as the drama of Howard Barker, the performance work of La Fura dels Baus, and the explicit body performances of Ron Athey. Various ways of eroticising death in theatre and through performance are addressed, as well as the question of whether there is something intrinsically theatrical about our encounters with the ultimately unknowable nature of sexual desire and our relation to death. The book combines theoretically informed criticism (drawing on psychoanalytical and philosophical models by Freud, Bataille, Lacan, Zizek, Lingis and others) with detailed text and performance analyses, giving a sense of the powerful appeal which death and the erotic exert on the human imagination. The collection also includes essay

contributions by dramatists David Rudkin, Dic Edwards, David Ian Rabey and an Afterword by Howard Barker.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Figures

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Introduction by Karoline Gritzner

1 Some Eros-Thanatos interfaces in Attic Tragedy by David Rudkin

2 Dying for love: the tragicomedy of Shakespeare's Cleopatra by Robert Wilcher

3 Desire and destruction in the drama of Georg Büchner by Karoline Gritzner

4 Labyrinths of the taboo: theatrical journeys of eroticism and death in Parisian culture by Richard J. Hand

5 The kiss of love and death: Eros and Thanatos in the opera by Dieter Borchmeyer

6 Eros/sex, death/murder: sensuality, homicide and culture in Musil, Brecht and the Neue Sachlichkeit by George Hunka

7 The living corpse: a metaphysic for theatre by Dic Edwards

8 Flirting with disaster by David Ian Rabey

9 Howard Barker's 'monstrous assaults': eroticism, death and the antique text by Graham Saunders

10 'Welcome to the house of fun': Eros, Thanatos, and the uncanny in grand illusions by Michael Mangan

11 Visions of Xs: experiencing La Fura dels Baus's XXX and Ron Athey's Solar Anus by Roberta Mock

12 La petite mort: erotic encounters in One to One performance by Rachel Zerihan

13 Saint Nick: a parallax view of Nick Cave by David Pattie

14 Afterword: The corpse and its sexuality by Howard Barker

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-907396-05-5

OCLC:

731690635