Real theatre : essays in experience / Paul Rae.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rae, Paul, author.

Series:

Theatre and performance theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater and society.

Theater--Psychological aspects.

Theater.

Theater--Philosophy.

Theater audiences--Psychology.

Theater audiences.

Reality in literature.

Physical Description:

xiv, 235 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Summary:

"Theatre is often said to offer unique insights into the nature of reality, but this obscures the reality of theatre itself. In Real Theatre, Paul Rae takes a joined-up approach to the realities of theatre to explain why performances take the forms they do, and what effects they have. Drawing on examples ranging from Phantom of the Opera and Danny Boyle's Frankenstein, to the performances of the Wooster Group and arthouse director Tsai Ming-liang, he shows how apparently discrete theatrical events emerge from dynamic and often unpredictable social, technical and institutional assemblages. These events then enter a process of cultural circulation that, as Rae explains, takes many forms: fleeting conversations, the mercurial careers of theatrical characters and the composite personae of actors, and high-profile products like Hollywood movie Birdman. The result is a real theatre that speaks of and to the idiosyncratic and cumulative experience of every theatre participant"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: the reality of theatre

Realtheatrick: material theatres adn ordinary magic

That's entertainment: theatre and experience

Theatre talk: the poetics of theatre at a distance

Peak performance and the construction of theatrical truths

Infratheatre: what theatre is when it's not quite theatre

The theatre assembled: technical theatre in performance

Theatre people: the actor and the unaccommodated man

Conclusion: real theatre studies?

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781107186590

1107186595

9781316637340

1316637344

OCLC:

1079352927