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'This is a provocative, illuminating and stimulating book that will undoubtedly become as essential a text in English theatre scholarship as it already has in continental Europe.' – Marvin Carlson, Theatre Research International
'This groundbreaking study [is] an inventive response to the emergence of new technologies.' - International Theatre Informations
'This is an important book, already elbowing its way into the forefront of English-language critical discourse on theatre...' --TDR
Product Description
Newly adapted for the Anglophone reader, this is an excellent translation of Hans-Thies Lehmann’s groundbreaking study of the new theatre forms that have developed since the late 1960s, which has become a key reference point in international discussions of contemporary theatre.
In looking at the developments since the late 1960s, Lehmann considers them in relation to dramatic theory and theatre history, as an inventive response to the emergence of new technologies, and as an historical shift from a text-based culture to a new media age of image and sound.
Engaging with theoreticians of 'drama' from Aristotle and Brecht, to Barthes and Schechner, the book analyzes the work of recent experimental theatre practitioners such as Robert Wilson, Tadeusz Kantor, Heiner Müller, the Wooster Group, Needcompany and Societas Raffaello Sanzio.
Illustrated by a wealth of practical examples, and with an introduction by Karen Jürs-Munby providing useful theoretical and artistic contexts for the book, Postdramatic Theatre is an historical survey expertly combined with a unique theoretical approach which guides the reader through this new theatre landscape.
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Also the structure is rather difficult - or at the very least different.
The impossibility of a genre of Postmodern Theatre is assumed (p14). (Attempts to define this have met with criticism in some quarters - Nick Kaye; Birringer). This being so, "Postdramatic Theatre" is the only book on this topic precisely, it is an introduction AND analysis so gets into some heavy analysis very quickly. Jürs-Munby's introduction is very useful setting the tone of the book and providing extra Anglo-American examples; a number of Lehmann's example were edited out - a plus I'd say, there are plenty of Anglophone examples left. A good knowledge of Aristotle's "Poetics" is assumed from the start and references to many philosophers remains unexplained.
Chapter by chapter:
"Drama" defines the purpose of the study and diffrentiates it from previous studies. It looks at theatre in terms of performance and proposes Postdrama
"Prehistories" briefly looks at former moves away from the Dramatic model - predominantly the avant-garde. The assretion here is that all older forms have hung onto an aspect that can be described as Dramatic.
"Panorama of Postdramatic Theatre" suddenly jumps into a list of a few dozen re-occuring devices/themes of Postdramatic Theatre. These are examined and related to examples.
"Performance" underscores the importance of live performance over the textual element of theatre.
"Aspects" is a short section examining the 'unities' of Drama: Time, Space, text, bodies; or more specifically, identifying Postdrama's move away from these as formally recognised.
"Epilogue" places its focus on the political facet of theatre. This section is reminiscent of postmodern discourse and is not very well related to the genre of Postdramatic theatre.
The fact that close to half of the bibliography is Germanic can get very frustrating. This is, of course, forgivable considering that about half of the literature in this area IS writen in German.
Unusually for academic book, this must really be read pretty much cover-to-cover; each chapter may deal completely with a single aspect being self-contained, but none of the chapters will make much sense before reading the enture volume to place each in context. The examples may be accessible if one is reading about a particular practitioner, however. In summary, the book is a must have for those with a desire to understand Postdramatic Theatre, or possibly in the study of the Postmodern, but does not make for good bedtime reading. It may be said that the entire work could be rephrased: 'anything that does not include dramatic elements', but that would surely take the fun out of academia.
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