MINISTERUL EDUCAIEI, CERCETRII, TINERETULUI I SPORTULUI UNIVERSITATEA DE ARTE TRGU-MURE

CUTAREA IDENTITII PRIN PROCESE TEATRALE

Rezumatul tezei de doctorat

Conductor tiinific Prof. Univ. Dr. Kovcs Levente

Doctorand Patk va

2010 Trgu-Mure

CUPRINSUL TEZEI DE DOCTORAT

1. Introducere 2. Identitatea astzi. Corpul i identitatea. 2.1. Contientizarea identitii n era postmodern 2.2. Teatrul ca o etap a cutrii identitii 2.2.1. Contientizarea corpului 2.3. Corpul, ca semn al identitii 2.4. Corpul: de explorat i nu de neles 2.5. Micarea: care depinde de corp i nu de text 3. Pierderea identitii i cutarea unei noi identiti 3.1. Contientizarea identitii n prezent 3.2. Rol i caracter n arta dramatic 3.3. Text i caracter n arta dramatic 3.3.1. Hamlet n cutarea identitii 3.3.2. De la Renascentism pn n prezent 3.3.3. Davies n cutarea identitii 3.4. Apariia identitilor virtuale 4. Identitatea n prizma mass-mediei 4.1. Mass-media transform teatrul

4.2. Din ce fel de mediu sosete publicul de astzi la teatru? 4.3. Industria i technologia intr n teatru 4.4. Creterea dominrii imaginii n teatru 4.5. Experiena performativ a spectatorului 4.5.1. Percepia simultan a imaginii 4.5.2. Participarea activ a cititorului/spectatorului 4.5.3. Generation Y 4.5.4. Interpretaia n cotidianul nostru 4.5.5. Aciuni performative virtuale 4.5.6. Aciunile performative virtuale nconjoar eul 4.5.7. Aciunile performative n timp 4.5.8. Virtualitate i teatru 4.6. Facebook-mania 4.7. Satisfacerea curiozitilor noastre: Internetul 5. Identitatea spectatorului n teatrul contemporan 5.1. Cutarea identitii spectatorului prin teatru 5.2. Speactatorul acioneaz n timp ce st ntr-un scaun 6. Cele patru identiti ale autorului 6.1. Scriitorul 6.2. Regizorul

6.3. Actorul / Compania 6.4. Dramaturgul 7. Relaia actor-rol de la est la vest problematica mtii 7.1. Masca n teatrul din Est 7.2. Masc estic - Masc vestic 7.3. Masc i actor 7.4. Masc n secolul 20 21 7.5. Corpul i masca 7.6. Fuziunea actorului i a rolului 7.7. Fa i masc 8. Exemple clasice. Modelele noastre. 8.1. Arta actorului kabuki Banto Tamasaburo 8.1.1. Kabuki i actorii si 8.1.2. Kabuki de la primul actor la Tamasaburo 8.1.3. Caracteristici kabuki 8.1.4. Oprirea timpului n teatrul kabuki 8.1.5. Conceptul dualitii n teatrul kabuki 8.2. Vsevolod Meyerhold 8.2.1. Mediul cultural n timpul lui Meyerhold 8.2.2. Doctor Dapertutto

8.2.3. Detaarea de la tradiiile trecutului 8.2.4. Dualitatea naturii actorului 8.2.5. Jocul nainte 8.2.6. Regia invers 8.2.7. Timpul improvizrii, simul timpului la actor 8.2.8. ncrederea n sine a actorului 9. Exerciii (1 - 30) 10. Cum i gsete un spectaco l contemporan identitatea i cum este afectat regizorul n aceast cutare un experiment nsemnri de la repetiiile unui spectacol. 11. Appendix Bibliografie

Cutarea identitii prin procese teatrale

- prezentarea tezei -

Aceast prezentare ofer un rezumat al celor zece capitole din teza de doctorat cu titlul The Search for Identity through Theatrical Processes, teza fiiind scris n limba englez.

n epoca noastr postmodern nu mai putem crede ntr-o identitate singular i bine definit. La fel ca propriile noastre poveti, i identitile noastre i-au pierdut caracterul a fost o dat ca niciodat; ele au devenit n scurt timp realiti schimbtoare i fragmentate. Astzi vorbim de realiti multiple, realiti fuzionate i realiti juxtapuse. ntr-o comunitate sau un grup de lucru, identitile noastre pot fi asemntoare cu ale celorlali, dar n acelai timp pot fi exact i opusul lor: de exemplu, cu toii putem fi regizori de teatru, dar unul dintre noi este adeptul montrii scenice monumentale, pe cnd cellalt nu are un stil de lucru bine definit. Putem avea aceleai convingeri religioase, dar n acelai timp putem susine preri politice diferite, i am putea continua i cu alte exemple. Este fascinant s urmrim procesul care confer dualitate actorului (ct i a interpretrii sale), aceast dualitate poate fi cuprins n urmtorul exemplu: n cadrul unui spectacol de teatru, spectatorul vede actorul care joac rolul lui Hamlet. Spectatorul este contient de faptul c vede un actor pe scen, care acum este transformat prin aceast interpretare, iar n acest moment actorul este de asemenea martor al propriei sale transformri. Actorul care l interpreteaz pe Hamlet pete la un moment dat n fa i atinge un membru

al publicului. Acest gest de contact fizic este o aciune vizibil i semnificativ. Spectatorul este atins n acelai timp de actor i de actorul care este acum transformat i este Hamlet. (Putem numi aceast persoan Personajul.) Membrul publicului a avut contact fizic nu doar cu unul dintre ei, ci cu unul i cellalt n acelai timp, ambele identiti avnd simultan contact fizic cu spectatorul. Acest moment unic cnd printr-un gest de contact fizic se nate o nou identitate mi se pare extrem de intrigant n contextul proceselor de lucru teatrale. Intenionez s m apropii de acest fenomen i s l capturez n aciune. Acest moment att de specific teatrului se poate descrie, dar niciodat nu se poate defini. n aceast lucrare de cercetare studiez acele aspecte ale teatrului care ne pot duce la o nelegere mai profund i la o perspectiv mai detaliat a acestor momente unice n teatru. Dac privesc teatrul ca pe un loc de cutare a identitilor i consider teatrul ca fiind acest loc atunci trebuie s contientizez cutarea identitii att a creatorului, ct i a spectatorului. Mediul care nconjoar frecventatorii teatrului de astzi este extrem de interesant din acest punct de vedere: de unde vin spectatorii notri postmoderni, ce aduc cu ei n spaiul teatral i, n cele din urm, ce pot s fac creatorii de teatru cu toate aceste realiti care trec astzi pragul teatrului. Gestul de contact fizic al lui Hamlet ne vorbete de aceast dualitate pe care intenionez s o prezint n aceast lucrare. Prin creaia teatral (contient sau incontient) ne cutm pe noi nine, ne cutm identitile i, odat ce identitatea nou este gsit, ea va coexista alturi de cea pe care ne reprezint. Procesul detarii (pierderii identitii) i procesul cutrii (cutarea unei noi identiti) sunt in continu schimbare n cadrul procesului de creaie teatral. n procesul de detaare putem observa corpul i cunoaterea nnscut a corpului care apare iminent. Dualitatea este prezent i n situaia actorului i a rolului. Ca entitate independent, actorul compus din corpul uman real, n carne i oase,

coexist cu personajul care are caracteristici diferite. Corpul este privit ca semn al identitii noastre i cutarea identitii prin relaia rol i caracter, text i caracter. Corpul este locul n unde schimbarea de identitate poate fi palpabil, astfel contientizarea situaiei corpului n problematica identitii este vital. Concluzia capitolului care trateaz relaia corp-identitate (Identity Today. Body and Identity) este c n teatrul contemporan micarea (scenic) este dependent de corp, i nu de text, iar un alt subcapitol vorbete de corpul care trebuie explorat i nu neaprat neles. Al treilea capitol (The Loss of Identity and The Search for a New One) prezint relaiile caracterului cu textul, cu personajul prin prisma a dou personaje: unul este Hamlet, renascentist dar mereu contemporan, Hamlet care i caut propria sa identitate, se autoobserv, se detaeaz i se caut. Cellalt personaj abordat este Davies, personajul lui Pinter, care nu mai are ansa de a-i gsi propria identitate. Identitile sale sunt fragmentate, povetile sale se desprind de realitate, el este personajul tipic postmodern care este definit de cuvintele sale pronunate, astfel autodefinirea este continu i imposibil n acelai timp. Ultimul subcapitol The Appearance of Virtual Identities al capitolului trei introduce de fapt urmtorul capitol. Mediul mediatic n care trim cu toii este abordat n aceast tez prin fenomenul Facebook i prin experiena performativ a omului cotidian. n acest mediu virtual au loc zilnic jocuri de interpretare, de roluri. Dualitatea faptelor noastre ncepe s ne defineasc vieile: aciunile noastre virtuale i reale ne transform n identiti care triesc n lumi diferite, cnd de fapt suntem o singur persoan. Astzi, pentru cine creeaz teatru, este crucial de reinut c generaia Facebook, la care aparine i generaia mea, vine la teatru cu acest model al dualitii aciunilor. Este vorba de cel mai extensiv capitol, mediul mediatic din care provine spectatorul i creatorul contemporan fiind privit prin temele: percepie simultan

a imaginii, participarea activ a spectatorului/cititorului, prezena (lipsei) interpretrii n viaa cotidian, aciunile performative care nconjoar eul, aciuni performative i timpul, virtualitate i teatru. Acest capitol conine i dou scurte experimente: unul ncearc s schieze suma accesului zilnic la lumea virtual a unui tnr, iar cealalt se leag de subcapitolul Facebook i cerceteaz dependena de reelele sociale via internet. Lumea occidental a secolului XXI este n cutarea identitii. Ea se zbate ntre imaginea prezentat n Minunata lume nou a lui Aldous Huxley i trecutul pe care dorete s-l lase n urm, dar pe care pentru acelai motiv nu reuete. Este la mod i trendy s vorbim despre identitate n zilele noastre. Examinez problema identitii prin observarea influenei pe care procesul de lucru teatral o are asupra celor implicai n acesta, fie c aceste persoane sunt creatorii sau membrii audienei (public, actor, regizor, dramaturg etc.). n capitolul The Four Identities of the Author examinez situaia scriitorului (autor de text), a regizorului, a actorului i a companiei de teatru, i a dramaturgului european. Aruncnd o privire mai de aproape asupra teatrului, putem observa i n aceast form de art diferitele faze ale procesului de cutare al identitii. Din punctul meu de vedere, teatrul este una dintre puinele forme de art din zilele noastre unde ntlnirea dintre creator i observator poate avea loc n cadrul unui eveniment acum i aici. Existena mtii reflect o dualitate n sine: exist deopotriv masca i ceea ce este ascuns sub ea. Observ aceast dualitate a mtii prin interpretarea contemporan a teatrului, capitolul apte fiind intitulat The Connection of Actor and Role from East to West The Question of the Mask. Dac in masca n mn, mi este uor s o separ de propria mea identitate, ns n momentul n care port masca, cele dou realiti vor crea o a treia identitate, care poart particularitile amndurora. ntrebarea lui Hamlet pe care o adreseaz lui Laertes n monologul din cimitir: Cine-i deci de vin?, abordat din perspectiva realitii mtii, ne

face s nelegem c masca este nebunia lui Hamlet i c sub masc se afl Hamlet nsui. Dar acestea dou nu mai pot fi separate. Hamlet a devenit unul i acelai cu noul su personaj, el se contempl din afar, dar observatorul i cel observat sunt una i aceeai persoan. Masca este urmrit din punctul unghiul oriental i occidental a conceptului de masc (The Connection of Actor and Role from East to West The Question of the Mask) din punctul de vedere a corpului (Body as Mask), a feei, a mimicii (Face as Mask). n capitolul opt sunt prezentai doi artiti de renume mondial ai teatrului, care exemplific elocvent artistul contemporan n cutarea propriei identiti. Sunt interesat mai puin de datele biografice, accentul fiind pus pe stilul lor aparte de a creea teatru. Unul dintre cei mai cunoscui actori kabuki, Banto Tamasaburo al V-lea, a reuit s introduc inovaia n teatrul tradiional kabuki, cu toate formele sale de expresie riguros definite, cu care un actor cu o educaie obinuit occidental de obicei nu se ntlnete. Aceste forme ale expresiei sunt subiect de studiu pentru actorul kabuki nc din copilrie; ele sunt exersate, iar unele micri sunt stpnite cu adevrat doar dup cteva decenii. Iwao Kamimura sublinieaz totodat, c actorii kabuki sunt membrii ai societii moderne, care, ca i omul modern japonez, stau pe scaun la mas i consum mncare occidental, mbrac haine din Vest, conduc maini i navigheaz pe internet1. Cellalt artist pe care l abordez este Vsevolod Meyerhold: inovaiile sale se produc n spiritul aici i acum (Meyerhold nu a nfiinat coal antropologic teatral pentru cercetrile sale). Privind printre etapele istoriei teatrului, s-ar putea deseori s avem impresia c scopul real al inovatorilor occidentali nu este neaprat de a gsi ceva nou, ci de a nltura structurile vechi. n aceast lucrare un capitol separat este dedicat exerciiilor fcute n timpul crerii spectacolelor, n timpul atelierelor i cursurilor de formare, sau mpreun cu studenii la

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actorie2 n cadrul cursurilor Universitii de Arte din Trgu Mure. Scopul acestor exerciii a fost facilitarea dezvoltrii conexiunilor cu corpul i sinele nostru i distanrii noastre de ceea ce facem. n teatru, tehnica este o abordare-cheie pentru a cunoate cum poate fi atins teatrul profesionist, iar tehnicile solicit mult exersare. Aceste exerciii nu sunt concentrate pe o singur tehnic specific, dar mai degrab pe scoaterea la iveal a memoriei inerente a corpului (trupul nostru tie mai multe dect presupunem noi) i pe meninerea unei distane fa de noi nine (fa de personajul pe care l interpretm, fa de reaciile noastre primare, fa de gndurile noastre). Fiecare exerciiu are specificat grupul-int care ar fi cel mai potrivit pentru a-l exersa. Ultima parte a tezei reprezint un jurnal scris de-a lungul unui proces de repetiii. Aceasta este cea mai subiectiv parte a lucrrii, un portret imperfect, dar realistic al cutrii personale a identitii prin procesele de activitate teatral. Este o tentativ de a afla cum interpretarea contemporan i gsete identitatea i cum identitatea regizorului este afectat de acest proces. Capitolul este alctuit din notie de jurnal ale procesului de repetiii pentru spectacolul Paparazzi sau Cronica unui rsrit de soare avortat, de Matei Viniec, pus n scen la Teatrul Tony Bulandra din Trgovite. Perioada de repetiii a fost ntre 8 noimebrie 18 decembrie 2010. Aceste notie au menirea de a ilustra procesul cutrii att la actor, ct i la regizor. Jurnalul relateaz acele transformri interne ale creatorilor, transformri unice survenite prin intermediul procesului creativ. Procesul de creare a unei producii teatrale este posibil prin munca de zi cu zi al celor care au conceput-o. De asemenea, aceast munc favorizeaz n fiecare persoan implicat o dezvoltare continu i, n consecin, i n cadrul spectacolului respectiv. Naterea oricrei producii teatrale, a oricrui personaj i a oricrui
Descrierea actorului kabuki contemporan este luat din opera lui Kamimura: Traditions: Inheriting the Art (In Kabuki Today) 2 Am lucrat n cadrul cursurilor de actorie cu clasa actorie ppuari, anul doi, licen, Universitatea de Arte TrguMure
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spectacol are momentul i drumul su aparte, drum de altfel greu de identificat contient. Am fost intrigat de felul n care un personaj dintr-o pies devine o fiin uman tridimensional. nuntrul acestei transformri este i mai interesant de studiat, n timp, procesul fuziunii ntlnit la actor i regizor. Acest proces mbin cele dou identiti (n cazul actorului, identitatea personajului cu cea proprie a acestuia; n cazul regizorului, identitatea spectacolului cu cea proprie a acestuia), care nu mai pot fi separate de-acum ncolo. Ele devin una singur, dar n acelai timp mai putem distinge coexistena a dou identiti: una real, care ne definete, i una fictiv, pe care noi o definim, dar care apoi are efect asupra noastr. Regizorul i imagineaz spectacolul i apoi l creeaz mpreun cu ali specialiti n teatru. Amprenta personal a regizorului este vizibil n spectacol, identitatea acestuia este ascuns n fiecare detaliu al piesei. n acelai timp, spectacolul chiar i pe parcursul repetiiilor are un efect puternic asupra regizorului, oferindu-i o nou identitate. Aceasta este de fapt frumuseea, magia i intangibilitatea efectului i contra-efectului n procesul de activitate teatral. Intenionez s folosesc aceast metod de a lua notie pe parcursul procesului de repetiii i n proiectele viitoare, deoarece nu numai c dezvolt sensibilitatea fa de starea actorilor, dar furnizeaz i o metod solid de auto-reflexie. Urmtoarea parte a prezentrii este urmrirea irului de idei i concluzii pe care sunt construite cele zece capitole prezentate mai sus. Copiii cresc ntr-un mod n care se percep pe sine prin prisma lumii care i nconjoar. i Hamlet folosete aceast metod de meditare asupra sinelui prin aciunile i cuvintele celorlalte personaje. n permanen suntem contieni de poziia noastr excentric i meditm asupra capacitilor care rezult din aceast situaie. Folosim limbajul, ne concepem pe noi nine i pe ceilali ca pe un mijloc al comunicrii, ne putem exprima prin intermediul corpului etc. Teatrul simbolizeaz nevoia uman pentru identitate pn la nivelul nevoii

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umane fundamentale de distanare: de a ne vedea i percepe pe noi nine de la distan, dintrun unghi obiectiv. i conceptul de Dumnezeu vorbete despre acest punct distant de observare: Dumnezeu privindu-se pe sine prin creaia lui/ei i oamenii fiind contieni c sunt privii. n teatru are loc n mod constant crearea de identitate i schimbarea de identitate. n timp ce n ritualul tranziiei, participantul este cel care trebui s se transforme, teatrul face posibil pentru spectatori schimbarea propriilor identiti tocmai prin personificarea de ctre actor, n faa audienei, a tuturor acelor identiti care sunt personajele piesei. Teatrul poate fi considerat i definit ca spaiul unde sunt depite graniele: graniele dintre realitate i ficiune, dintre o identitate i cealalt, dar n acelai timp exist n subiecii participani o limit, o fisur, o esen traumatic ce nu poate fi depit. Aceasta poate fi gsit n corp. n teatrul de micare accentul este pus pe persoana actorului susine Pavis. (Pavis 2003) n urma examinrii unor interpretri de marc, el concluzioneaz c toate gesturile corpului sunt determinate de mediul socio-politic. Utilizarea simplist a prezenei corpului (arta corpului) n limbajul teatral a ajuns de-a lungul timpului la o percepie mai complex a corpului, i anume, ca purttor de identiti multiple. n interpretarea lui Ungvri, percepia corpului s-a ntors printr-o spiral a timpului la sfera simbolicului, iar concepia prezent a corpului funcioneaz ca o construcie de dialoguri ntre identiti. (Ungvri 2008) Activitatea artistic este o reflecie asupra realitii, aceasta nsemnnd contemplare asupra realitii i nu doar intelectualizarea acesteia. Teatrul este un mod de gndire n termenii de spaiu, ritm, cuvinte i gesturi. Dac nu suntem capabili s depim structurile obinuite, atunci nimic nu se va ntmpla efectiv n teatru. Cineva se afl pe scen i recit un text care i este strin, aceste cuvinte neaparinndu-i deloc: ce nseamn aceast situaie? Textul este doar un material brut pentru un spectacol, pentru o producie. Chiar i Brecht

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susine c, atunci cnd scrie, are impresia c scrie o partitur muzical, simte c formalistul lucreaz nuntrul su n momentul compoziiei. (Brecht 1987) n momentul n care actorul ncepe s vorbeasc, altceva vorbete prin intermediul persoanei sale, ncepe s funcioneze altceva pe scen: structura limbajului. Artaud pune sub semnul ntrebrii aceeai problem ntr-un mod direct i ironic: De ce nu pot fi doar Antonin Artaud? (Artaud 2000) Actorul este creativ prin natur, ns orict s-ar strdui, actorul nu se poate crea pe sine. Nu mai are importan ce spune A sau B pe scen (acesta nu mai este obiectivul principal n teatru). Importana textului a deczut semnificativ n teatrul contemporan; scena este guvernat de prezena corpului; textul nu mai domin spaiul afirm Lehmann (Lehmann 2007). S reflectm puin asupra multitudinii de informaii pe care corpul le poate comunica, n contrast cu textul care devine din ce n ce mai redus. n multe cazuri textul nu este mai mult dect un punct de plecare ntr-o producie, este doar pnza picturii finale i n alte cazuri textul dispare complet pn la sfritul procesului de repetare. Cum ar trebui s jucm pe scen? Aceast ntrebare nate mereu interes deoarece ntotdeauna exist teorii noi care ofer noi rspunsuri. Realitatea poate fi recreat i reinterpretat n teatru prin form. Aceast form este totodat aceea care determin publicul s gseasc o proprie nelegere i interpretare a celor vzute pe scen folosind imaginaia personal i experienele de via care au legtur cu cele vzute. Teatrul este actul reinventrii. Chiar i textele contemporane trebuiesc reinventate, ca s nu mai vorbim de textele clasice. Sensul operei nu trebuie cutat n textul n sine, el este ntotdeauna n context. Un text poate fi arhivat, dar nu i contextul. Este logic s spunem c Shakespeare poate fi jucat doar ntr-un context valid i contemporan, aadar textele respective trebuiesc reinventate. n teatrul contemporan componenta narativ a textului dispare, aceast funciune fiind preluat de componenta narativ a corpului. Teatrul contemporan a ajuns la o etap a

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evoluiei n care micarea este dependent de corp i nu de text. Astfel poate lua natere vidul (n sensul cel mai bun al cuvntului) dintre corp i cuvnt. n consecin, acest vid poate fi apoi folosit pentru exprimarea acelor lucruri care nu pot fi spuse i, dup prerea noastr, este singurul mod de a le exprima. n societatea noastr, ritualul teatrului nu poate avea loc cu adevrat n cldirea teatrului, este mai degrab numit un para-ritual, cum declar Lehmann. (Lehmann 2007) Aa numitul pe drept cuvnt ritual poate avea loc doar n vidul menionat mai sus. De aceea este crucial ca teatrul s fie un spectacle enterrompu (un spectacol ntrerupt). Astzi nu mai este de ajuns s crem o producie de teatru n stilul de suntem-cutoii-aici-la-un-spectacol-frumos. Trebuie s existe un vid n interpretare, un gol care s ne intrige; acest sentiment de nemplinire ar trebui s fie simit de ctre public n momentul n care prsete cldirea, deoarece acum ncepe munca spectatorului, acesta este momentul n care se dezvolt n timp i spaiu interpretarea i nelegerea piesei de ctre public. Exist tendine n teatrul contemporan de a crea corpul perfect. Pn n acest punct, aceast nzuin este similar cu principiul fundamental al baletului clasic, care dorete s ctige nfruntarea cu gravitatea i care dorete s gseasc o existen a corpului superioar sinelui. n baletul clasic nu exist greutate corporal, sau gravitate, sau sudoare; nu exist altceva dect zbor eteric i graios. n contrast cu aceast abordare, regizorul belgian Jan Fabre creeaz frumuseea corporal perfect doar ca apoi s o distrug imediat. Crearea frumuseii ideale i distrugerea ei este procesul prin care opera lui Fabre devine un spectacle enterrompu. El i numete actorii lupttori ai frumuseii (warriors of beauty). Pentru Fabre, tragedia este prezent n corpul uman: de exemplu, oasele i carnea, conflict constant ntre structura solid i materia care i schimb forma. Interpretrile contemporane opereaz des cu caracteristica de dualitate n teatru, cum ar fi construire-demolare, afirmare-negare, structur linear versus cea vertical etc., crend astfel contrapunct (kontrapunkt) i obinnd tensiune.

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Problemele privind personalitatea aduc laolalt cteva chestiuni oarecum conexe. Continua cutare istoric urmrete gsirea unui rspuns la ntrebarea cum poate fi o persoan una i aceeai simultan. Acest tip de analiz asupra existenei personale va revela cteva situaii solicitate i independente ale existenei individuale nuntrul dimensiunii timpului. Identitatea cultural nu se refer doar la apartenena cultural i sociologic a unei persoane; problema poate fi extins la nivelul unui grup sau al unei culturi, ntr-un interval definit prin coordinatele locaie, gen, ras, istorie, naionalitate sau identitate etnic. Identitile vechi, care au inut lumea n echilibru pentru atta vreme, dispar treptat n prezent (Stuart 1997). Locul acestora este luat de identitile multiple, aadar nu mai putem vorbi despre singularitatea unui individual; omul modern i va asuma o nou identitate n funcie de ateptrile fiecrui rol care i este atribuit sau care i este cerut de ctre societate. Acest fenomen poate fi observat pe curba de evoluie a tiinei teatrale i a dramaturgiei, de asemenea. Fiecare pies poart mai mult sau mai puin nsemnele epocii care le-a dat natere (mentalitatea, obiceiurile, ierarhiile sociale etc.). Cum am menionat mai sus, o pies nu poate fi scris sau pus n scen fr a lua n considerare contextul prezentului. Acest context nu poate fi neglijat. i acest context ofer sursa cercetrii pe viitor pentru tiina teatrului. De exemplu, n acest fel putem analiza evoluia identitii lui Hamlet n diferitele perioade ale istoriei teatrului, teza aducnd marile exemple ale Hamleilor ncepnd cu Sir Lawrence Olivier. ncepnd cu apariia dramei ca i gen literar, mai exact o dat cu apariia contiinei pe scen3, personajele sunt ntr-o continu dizarmonie i dificultate, sunt metaforic bolnavi (Jkfalvi 2001). Personajele teatrului contemporan nu pot evita aceast boal deoarece creatorii lor, autorii, i asum faptul c personajele pe care le creeaz nu sunt perfecte, astfel

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ele se manifest inconsecvent i ntr-un final devin cu toii captivii caducitii. Structurile i modelele construciei personajului pot fi recunoscute cu uurin n diferitele epoci ale istoriei teatrului, pe cnd astzi aceste modele se combin, se alterneaz sau lipsesc cu desvrire. Acest fenomen ridic de asemenea problema identitilor recognoscibile i predeterminate. n teatrul contemporan se poate constata fie lipsa modelelor de urmat, fie, din contr, prezena a prea multor modele; am putea identifica direcii, dar este greu s stabilim un principiu care s cuprind toate soluiile. Evident, aceast situaie este oarecum de neles avnd n vedere c societii europene i lipsete un principiu solid i comun de cnd cretinismul a nceput s-i piard din autoritate. Globalizarea i naionalismul, teismul i ateismul i fac puternic simite prezena n acelai timp. Interpretarea artistic european este cu preponderen aristotelic, fiind n strns legtur cu structuralismul i coerena structurii de tip nceput-mijloc-sfrit. Astfel, receptorului unei interpretri i va fi greu s se separe de aceast paradigm. Acest mod de gndire structural este bazat, de fapt, pe noiunea cretin de timp: nceputul (Geneza), mijlocul (Istoria), i sfritul (Apocalipsa). ncepnd cu lucrrile inovatoare ale lui Artaud, Grotowski i Brook, principala caracteristic a interpretrii rsritene s fii tu nsui, fr a-i dori s devii altcineva (Pavis 2003) a intrat i n circuitul teatrului occidental. Dup decderea culturii teatrului antic grec, aceasta este din nou calea prin care transcendentalul reintr n lumea teatrului. Reiner Maria Rilke scrie ntr-una din poeziile sale: In jedem ding is ein Gefangener. Exist un proces care are loc n dou direcii n acelai timp: actorul d natere lui histrio4, d acestei noi existene o identitate, i aceast realitate nou recreeaz apoi actorul, care devine un duplicat al su (elibereaz un prizonier sau prizonieri multipli dinluntrul su) i, de
3

Istoria teatrului consider piesa Casa de ppui, cunoscut i sub titlul Nora de Henrik Ibsen ca marcnd nceputurile acestui gen literar. (Crian 2004)

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asemenea, ctig o nou identitate prin acest proces. Prin intermediul autosugestiei, actorul poate comunica n trei moduri cu acest histrio: actorul se poate identifica n totalitate cu aceast personalitate nou, poate pstra distan fa de ea, sau poate pi nuntrul i n afara ei pe msur ce procesul continu5. Concluzia ar trebui s ne fie la ndemn: literatura contemporan dramatic i limbajul teatral contemporan pretind de la receptor un nivel de nelegere diferit fa de comunicarea de zi cu zi. nelegem sensul primar al cuvintelor pe care le auzim, sensul lor tehnic este clar, i totui cuvintele i noiunile se leag la un alt nivel n structura de gndire a actorului. Limbajul contemporan al vidului i al absenei se poate aplica nu doar pieselor, personajelor sau structurilor dramatice, ci poate fi gsit n orice expresie dramatic, indiferent de genul literar al acesteia. Hamlet, intelectualul luminat al Renaterii (Hamlet, prinul danez a studiat la prestigioasa Universitate Wittenberg) a dat grai cutrii de identitate n epoca elizabetan: A fi sau a nu fi? Diferitele abordri ale acestui text firete vor oferi diferite straturi pentru interpretarea acestor cuvinte, ns singura idee asupra creia toate interpretrile au czut de acord, ntr-un mod mai mult sau mai puin deschis, este faptul c avem de-a face cu o manifestare a crizei de identitate. Hamlet este un gnditor i gnditorul renascentist nu procedeaz neaprat n conformitate cu ceea ce gndete. Gnditorul modern i postmodern este n concordan cu gndurile lui/ei deoarece acestea sunt codate n actualul mecanism de funcionare a societii. Trebuie s nelegem c Hamlet nu posed aceast nevoie de a avea gndurile n armonie cu aciunile sale i c aceast stare creeaz o i mai mare ruptur n cutarea lui Hamlet a adevratei sale identiti. Jon Knott susine c Hamlet este altcineva dect personajul propriu-zis, chiar mai mult, l depete (Kott 1970). El pstreaz distana fa de sine n timp ce caut un nou eu, deoarece doar un Hamlet nou descoperit ar fi n

Mniuiu folosete aceast expresie pentru a descriee persoana care se nate n actor n timpul procesului de creaie

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stare s rezolve aceast situaie care l-a condus la aceast criz de identitate. Trim n apogeul erei digitale, i digitalizarea ncepe s preia tot mai mult din vieile noastre personale. Lumea care se nvrte n jurul calculatoarelor, limbajul i imaginile ei au adus o schimbare revoluionar, sau cel puin a modificat semnificativ viaa de zi cu zi a persoanelor, obiceiurile lor i utilizarea comunicrii. Spectatorul de rnd intr n teatru dintrun mediu mediatic. Trebuie s fim contieni c generaia de tineri creatori de astzi provine din acelai mediu media-digital. Unii artiti ai teatrului de azi au crescut deja lng calculator, ei cunosc mai bine lumea internetului dect lumea real; n plus, o mare parte din relaiile lor se dezvolt pe o platform virtual (e-mail, mesagerie instant, video-chat, reele de socializare, jocuri online, etc.). Este imposibil s evitm ntrebarea: cum se raporteaz structurile teatrului contemporan la aceste schimbri care au avut loc ntre generaiile de spectatori ai teatrului i ntre creatorii de teatru de asemenea? Lehmann consider c este important s remarcm o diferen: imaginea amplificat cauzat de mediul digital structureaz doar realitatea, dar nu o reprezint (Lehmann 2006); creeaz un cadru nuntrul cruia realitatea este vizibil. ns caracteristica principal a teatrului este c nu poate fi nchis ntr-un asemenea cadru, pentru c scena este continuarea publicului n teatrul contemporan. Exist o discordan semnificativ ntre intensitatea i nalta rezoluie ale imaginilor prezentate, pe de o parte, i slbiciunea sau rezoluia joas ale spiritului uman prezent n societatea de azi, pe de alt parte. Aceast inconsisten poate fi observat nu doar n teatru, ci i n viaa cotidian, poate fi vzut n faptele noastre zilnice i n gesturile oamenilor de rnd, care sunt absorbii de imaginile din monitor i astfel triesc n marea parte a existenei lor o via virtual, ntr-o realitate care nu exist. Este important s examinm experiena interpretativ a publicului i, ca s reuim s
5

Relaia cu un rol prin auto-sugestiune este discutat de Patrice Pavis n cartea sa: Performance analysis n

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enunm aceast problem, trebuie mai nti s analizm experienele interpretative personale ale spectatorilor de azi, acumulate n lumea virtual care ocup din ce n ce mai mult spaiu n viaa noastr personal. Spectatorul de astzi intr n spaiul i timpul teatrului venind dintr-un mediu ncrcat de media; el se ridic din scaunul din faa calculatorului ca s se aeze la teatru ntr-un alt scaun. Din aceast cauz cutm rspuns la ntrebarea: cum schimb aceast situaie structurile i rolul actului creativ teatral n ziua de azi. Cartea tiprit, mai trziu apariia filmului i, n final, televiziunea ofer un produs finit consumatorului. Crile, fotografia, filmul i televiziunea sunt n mare parte redarea unui trecut capturat, ele toate prezint un eveniment care deja a avut loc, chiar dac dau impresia de prezent n unele cazuri. Prin apariia ei, internetul ofer tuturor posibilitatea de a deveni o parte activ a naraiunii citite de ctre individ. Opiunea continu de schimbare i variabilitate, precum i nenumratele opiuni disponibile, sunt toate caracteristici ale lecturii active, acea abordare prin care cititorul poate de fapt s intervin n textul citit sau n imaginea privit. Chiar dac toate acestea sunt doar o realitate virtual, discutm totui despre comunicarea perpetu, exprimarea opiniilor, cutarea de conexiuni i o atitudine, exprimat pn la urm prin diferite nivele de exhibiionism: totul se rezum la a ne pune pe noi nine n centru. Aceast contribuie continu (atta timp ct suntem conectai la internet) la evoluia prezentei lumi virtuale este o form de existen care are un impact imens asupra tuturor celorlalte imagini recepionate n viaa de zi cu zi, teatrul fcnd de asemenea parte din acestea. Astfel, dup prerea mea, acest obicei de a fi prezent ntr-un mod interactiv i contribuia la imaginea privit au de asemenea un impact asupra felului n care publicul percepe alte imagini (care sunt mereu n schimbare), i asupra felului n care indivizii din cadrul acestei audiene reacioneaz la imaginile vzute. n modul su paradoxal, lumea virtual (non-existent) are un efect asupra tuturora, efect foarte viu deoarece este ntr-o continu schimbare, nu este
subcapitolul The actors work (Pavis 2003)

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static i necesit o permanent implicare intelectual. Evenimentul teatral este real, avnd loc pe scen cu oameni n carne i oase, i ntruct fiine umane reale sunt implicate, el se schimb mereu. n acest moment este mai presus de orice discuie faptul c aceste dou lumi au un punct de conexiune i multe caracteristici n comun; ntrebarea care rmne este cum i unde putem identifica aceste punct de conexiune i cum putem utiliza acestea n beneficiul teatrului contemporan. Generaia tinerilor de astzi nu a trebuit s se adapteze, s nvee lucruri noi despre cultura web, aceti copii nu au fost nevoii s treac de la ceva ce a fost nainte la structurile de comunicare bazate pe internet. Generaia mai n vrst care a fost martora apariiei primelor calculatoare, a expansiunii i evoluiei rapide a internetului, a trebuit s deprind toate competenele necesare pentru utilizarea acestor noi posibiliti la capacitatea lor maxim. Au fost nevoii s se descurce din mers n lumea virtual a internetului, au fost nevoii s se obinuiasc cu noile texte i imagini mereu schimbtoare de pe un monitor sau un ecran. Percepia lor linear era demodat i a trebuit s obin perspective multiple. n afar de acest proces de nvare, mai rmne o percepie asupra lumii unde fantezia are un rol mai important dect realitatea. Cu toii ne lsm amprentele n felul n care comunicm, mai demult puteam fi recunoscui dup scrisul de mn sau dup sunetul vocii, n schimb astzi avem identiti digitale, profile i avatare6 care ne fac recognoscibili. Generaia Facebook este conectat la noua tehnologie, folosete internetul la o capacitatea maxim, este un navigatorinternet bine antrenat; toate aceste capaciti i evoluia lor continu au aprut i sunt de prezente i n cadrul comunicrii fa n fa.

Prin aceste aplicaii se pot creea identiti virtuale. Prin aceste identiti putem recunoate i putem fi recunoscui cu uurin pe internet. (Este posibil personalizarea pe internet a numelui, nfirii, fotografiilor, caracterisiticilor, mbrcmintelor etc.)

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Este de asemenea important de contientizat, c teatrul a evoluat ntr-o activitate artistic ai crei termeni cheie sunt invenia i creativitatea. n timp ce lumea virtual poate fi creat de ctre programatori i designeri de pagini web doar ca o serie de formule, n teatru putem produce scheme noi pentru fiecare prestaie. Cteodat putem avea impresia c formulele i structurile posibile au un numr infinit n lumea virtual i un numr mai limitat n lumea teatrului. ns esena artei vii este c ofer acest privilegiu minunat de a crea structuri noi, formule noi n teatru. Opiunea primar a teatrului postmodern este de a nu ncorpora i asimila toate posibilitile i toate structurile lumii internetului i a calculatorului i astfel s se acomodeze la realitile din afara scenei, realiti sociale care de fapt sunt n strns legtur cu dezvoltarea tehnologiei, ci s reflecte asupra lor. Pn nu demult, ntlnirea personal7 a fost principala form de comunicare i relaionare interpersonal; astzi putem observa c arterele comunicrii sunt structurate n aa fel nct devine posibil neglijarea total a necesitii comunicrii personale, a comunicrii fa n fa, n caz de nevoie. Limita dintre dimensiunea public i cea privat a vieii noastre devine neclar. Comunicarea interactiv bazat pe internet face ntocmai acest lucru: face public viaa noastr privat. Toate reaciile noastre instantanee vis-a-vis de lucruri care ne afecteaz sunt fcute publice pe peretele personal virtual, cine pe cine cunoate i de unde8, devine de asemenea informaie public. Privete-m. Ascult-m. Rzi cu mine sau de mine constat ironic Westlake argumentnd asupra eului pus n centrul ateniei. (Westlake 2006) Sinele este mereu n centrul aciunilor, atenia sinelui este mereu artificial focalizat datorit posibilitilor de comunicare pe internet. Pragul de rbdare al membrului audienei de astzi a sczut semnificativ, spectatorul din zilele noastre pur i simplu nu este dispus sau chiar nu mai este capabil s priveasc o
7 8

Sau scrisul de mn (scrisoarea de ex.) i telefonul, pn la ntlnirea personal. Reelele sociale pe internet: Facebook, Iwiw, hi5, Tagged, Twitter, Myspace, Netlog, etc.

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imagine pentru o vreme mai lung; n ziua de azi este nevoie de schimbare rapid, de noi i noi asocieri. Poate acesta este motivul pentru care n ultimul deceniu ntlnim producii de teatru tot mai scurte. Aceast reducere de lungime n teatru nu este cauzat doar de ateptrile audienei, dar i de creatorii prestaiei care au intenia de a comunica publicului povestea, mesajul, prezentarea ct direct, concis, ntr-o perioad de timp ct mai scurt, obinnd astfel efectul dorit. Incontestabil, nevoia de compresie este efectul mediului mediatic. Oamenilor le place s priveasc imagini pentru c acest lucru i relaxeaz; datorit posibilitilor internetului acest fenomen a devenit astzi global. n era digital trim ntr-un mediu ncrcat de poze i imagini, aceste imagini (postere, ecrane, display-uri etc.) au o putere intens de atracie n timp ce mintea noastr descifreaz imaginile vzute. Dac urmrim internetul, putem observa c toat concepia de nceput-mijloc-sfrit nu mai este valid. Acea structur simetric, acea concepie dramatic cu care civilizaia occidental a fost obinuit, se afl ntr-o anume schimbare. Chiar dac evenimentele care se ntmpl n jurul sau n cadrul acestei lumi virtuale, evolueaz potrivit clasicei triade de capitole, lumea n sine care le gzduiete pe toate ofer un decor diferit. Evenimentele virtuale nu sunt predefinite, nimic nu este decis n avans, i utilizatorii de internet nii ajusteaz evenimentele n timp ce ele au loc. Acesta ar putea fi unul dintre motivele pentru care exist o discrepan aa mare ntre lumea virtual i cea real n cazul copiilor care utilizeaz incredibil de bine calculatorul la vrste fragede. Nu trebuie s ne aezm pe o banc n parc sau s privim pe geam n afar ca s vedem ce se ntmpl n afara spaiului nostru privat; Facebook i alte reele de socializare de pe internet ne satisfac aceste curioziti umane primordiale. Tranziia de la teoria clasic a identitii la ideea modern a identitii (i de acolo la

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cea postmodern) a avut un efect revoluionar asupra gndirii europene. Prin procesul de tranziie de la principiul unitii din gndirea kantian i pn la interpretrile lui Marx i Freud asupra teoriei identitii, unitatea individului a devenit un ntreg alctuit din diverse buci, identitatea a devenit multipl, indivizii sunt acum obinuii cu toate rolurile societii, cu identiti noi i diferite. Astzi putem vorbi despre o cutare perpetu i nesfrit a identitii care este prezent nu doar n viaa de zi cu zi, ci este o situaie valid i n lumea teatrului: un personaj caut identitatea prin interpretare, actorul prin personaj, spectatorul prin actor i spectacol. Spectatorul ideal, n timp ce st pe locul su din sala de teatru, poate s plng, s rd, s simt tensiune, s se ndrgosteasc, s urasc sau s fie turbulent etc., toate acestea fr s se mite fizic. Aceste ntmplri au loc nuntrul publicului n ciuda aparenei de linite. Pentru ca schimbarea de identitate s aib loc, neaprat trebuie s existe de asemenea o stare de tranziie de la o identitate la alta. Aceast stare este starea de catharsis, starea fr de identitate prin care spectatorul dobndete o nou identitate. Aceast identitate nou va fi urmat de o alta i tot aa mai departe. Teoria postmodern a identitii susine c identitile individului postmodern nu mai fac parte din acelai sine unic, aceasta nsemnnd c pentru identitate cutarea este perpetu i fr sfrit. Acest proces de cutare nu mai are un nceput i un sfrit. Evenimentul teatral (spectacolul) n sine trece printr-un proces de schimbare; identitatea sa dac putem vorbi despre identitatea unei reprezentri se schimb de la o prezentare la alta. Atitudinea greac antic fa de jocul de teatru se ndrepta spre transcendental, nu actorul sau textul lui vorbeau din gura acelui hypocrites prin masc9, ci mai degrab o
n teatrul antic grecesc masca a fost fcut din pnz ntrit i apoi pictat, i de obicei acoperea toat faa actorului care o purta.
9

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revelaie divin vorbea audienei. n acest cadru, masca a devenit simbolul corpului care se transform n imagine. Aceast concepie poate fi ntlnit n dansurile din insulele Bali studiate de Brook i este de asemenea prezent n alte tradiii teatrale din est. Nu interpretm ceva, ci l trim: n aceast form antic teatrul a funcionat ca i ritual. Noi privim actorul european ca pe o persoan care joac, pe cnd actorul din est este creator de metafore (Mnouchkine 2000). Dac am ncerca s formulm esena acestor dou tradiii teatrale n cuvinte simple, atunci ar fi corect s spunem c teatrul occidental este definit prin aciune, pe cnd teatrul oriental este definit prin poezie. n acest sens, masca estic este necesar pentru a arta povestea, iar n teatrul vestic masca este necesar pentru a juca povestea. Ar putea prea doar o diferen de nuane la prima privire, dar ele totui reprezint dou modaliti de gndire asupra teatrului fundamental diferite. Tradiia oriental susine c actorul are o identitate personal care este un ntreg, aadar nu poate dobndi alte identiti. Masca nu l face s fie altcineva, masca nu este altceva dect un instrument pentru a ajuta actorul s arate c este vorba de altcelva/altcineva. n lumea modern i postmodern occidental exist o abordare similar a problemei, diferena fiind c nu exist un singur rspuns pe care fiecare creator de teatru l caut, ci exist cteva rspunsuri posibile i astfel ntrebarea este lsat deschis. Aceast abordare ne permite s analizm situaia, i anume cum pot exista mai multe identiti n actor i n rol. Concepia identitilor multiple care este prezent n societile moderne i postmoderne aproape c grbete actorul s fac o conexiune ntre identitatea lui proprie i identitatea rolului. Este convingerea mea c identitatea actorului i a rolului sunt convergente cel puin n timpul procesului de repetiii. Este greu, dac nu chiar imposibil s separm munca actorului asupra sa i asupra rolului10. Prin procesul autosugestiei se ajunge la o relaie tripl ntre actor i rol: (1) actorul se poate identifica cu rolul (Stanislavski numete aceasta
Pavis nu conclude aceast afirmaie pe care o face. n interpretarea noastr, aceast afirmaie ne adduce din nou la problematica identitii: dac nu este posibil separarea aceste dou direcii de lucru n teatru, atunci concluzia este c identitatea actorului i cea a rolului se unific, fuzioneaz
10

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metoda empatiei fa de personaj), (2) actorul poate pstra distana de rol, sau (3) poate pi nuntrul i n afara rolului pe care l interpreteaz (ultimele dou sunt ndeosebi specifice metodelor brechtiene). Aceste relaii ntre actor i rol pot avea loc n cadrul unei singure prestaii, ridicnd din nou problema identitii. Astzi, noiunea mtii indic dincolo de obiectul pe care l aezm pe fa. Corpul, mpreun cu semnele i gesturile, poate fi o masc prin care i se permite actorului, personajului, sau rolului s se ascund. Relaia tradiional ntre actor i rol a evoluat; a evoluat ntr-un set de relaii mult mai complexe, cu multe straturi. Prezena actorului este mereu bivalent n tradiia teatrului european, actorul i personajul sunt mereu prezente simultan, cnd actorul se identific complet cu rolul i spectatorul uit de actor, alt dat actorul n sine tie c este actor pe o scen i spectatorul este de asemenea contient c urmrete un actor. Profesorul Cojar scrie c el este att el nsui, ct i arta sa, simultan. Artist i personaj, ceteanul X i personajul Y n acelai timp (Cojar 2006). Actorul poate ajunge la nivelul n care ntruchipeaz o fiin fictiv prin cltoria metafizic a studiului de sine i a identitii proprii, ncercnd fuziunea ntre identitile rolului i ale sale. Procesul prin care se actorul se ocup de transcendental se ntoarce ncet n munca actorilor dup o lung pauz i se ntoarce n Europa de Est dup o perioad lung n care a fost lsat deoparte din motive dogmatice impuse. Felul n care teatrul se raporteaz la trecutul, istoria i tradiiile sale este un subiect extrem de interesant. Gndirea occidental promoveaz nlturarea aproape n ntregime a ceea ce este vechi sub egida cutrii n permanen a unor noi forme. Tradiia oriental funcioneaz exact invers: ea pstreaz tradiia i fiecare idee nou este raportat i ncorporat n structurile tradiionale. Iat cum o tradiie milenar poate s creeze impresia de a fi nou i contemporan. Desigur, pe lng tendinele menionate, exist multe excepii; ceea ce ne intereseaz n acest caz este modul i caracteristicile procesului de cutare artistic.

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Aceast tez este o asumat cltorie personal bazat pe materialele cercetrii tiinifice (teatrale, antropologice i sociologice) n domeniu, n cutarea identitii prin intermediul proceselor teatrale, redactat n urma consultrii unei bogate bibliografii i cu convingerea c teatrul este locul unde oricine implicat n procesul teatral sufer o pierdere a identitii i ctig n schimb o identitate nou.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, RESEARCH, YOUTH AND SPORTS UNIVERSITY OF ART TRGU-MURE

THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY THROUGH THEATRICAL PROCESSES

Scientific advisor: Univ. Prof. Dr. Levente Kovcs

Doctoral student: va Patk

2010 Trgu-Mure, Romania

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 2. Identity Today. Body and Identity. 2.1. Identity Awareness in Postmodern Age 2.2. Theater as a Stage of Identity Search 2.2.1. Body Awareness 2.3. The body as Mark of Our Identity 2.4. The Body: To Explore and Not To Understand 2.5. Movement: Dependent of the Body and Not of the Text 3. The Loss of Identity and The Search for a New One 3.1. Identity Awareness Today 3.2. Role and Character In Drama 3.3. Text and Character In Drama 3.3.1. A Hamletian Search for Identity 3.3.2. From Renaissance to Today 3.3.3. Davies` Search for Identity 3.4. The Appearance of Virtual Identities 4. Media Identity 4.1. Media Transforming Theater 4.2. What Kind of Environment Does The Audience Come From In Today`s Theater?

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4.3. Industry and Technology Enter the Theater 4.4. The Rise of the Image in Theater 4.5. The Performative Experience of the Audience 4.5.1. Simultaneous Image Perception 4.5.2. Active Participation of the Reader/Viewer 4.5.3. Generation Y 4.5.4. The Presence of Interpretation in Our Day to Day Lives 4.5.5. Virtual Performative Acts 4.5.6. Virtual Performative Acts Surrounding the Self 4.5.7. Performative Actions in Time 4.5.8. Virtuality and Theater 4.6. Facebook Mania 4.7. Satisfying All Our Curiosities: The Internet 5. The Viewer`s Identity in Contemporary Theater 5.1. The Viewer`s Identity Search Through Theater 5.2. The Spectator Acts While Sitting In a Chair 6. The Four Identities of the Author 6.1. The Playwright 6.2. The Director 6.3. The Actor / The Company

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6.4. The Dramaturge 7. The Connection of Actor and Role from East to West The Question of the Mask 7.1. The Mask in Eastern Theater 7.2. Eastern Mask Western Mask 7.3. Mask and Actor 7.4. Mask in the 20th 21st Centuries 7.5. The Body as Mask 7.6. Fusion of Actor and Role 7.7. Face as a Mask 8. The Long Standing Examples. Our Role Models 8.1. The Art of Kabuki Actor Banto Tamasaburo 8.1.1. Kabuki and its Actors 8.1.2. Kabuki From the First Actor to the Present 8.1.3. Kabuki Characteristics 8.1.4. Halting the Time in Kabuki Theater 8.1.5. The Concept of Duality in Kabuki Theater 8.2. Vsevolod Meyerhold 8.2.1. Cultural Environment in Meyerhold`s Time 8.2.2. Doctor Dapertutto 8.2.3. Breaking Free From the Traditions of The Past 8.2.4. The Duality of The Actor`s Nature

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8.2.5. Pre-Acting 8.2.6. Directing Backwards 8.2.7. The Time of Improvisation, The Actor`s Sense of Time 8.2.8. The Actor`s self Confidence 9. Exercises (1 to 30) 10. An Attempt to Find How a Contemporary Performance Finds its Identity, and How the Directors Identity is affected by This Process. Notes from a Rehearsal Process. 11. Appendix Bibliography

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The Search For Identity Through Theatrical Processes

presentation of thesis

The following presentation gives a short summary of the ten chapters of my doctoral thesis. The thesis is written in English language. In our post-modern age we cannot believe in a singular and well defined identity. Just like our tales, our identities have also lost their once-upon-a-time character; they have all become quickly changing realities and more fragmented. Today we are talking about multiple identities, fusioned identities and juxtaposed identities. In a community or work-group our identities can be identical to those of others but we can be the straight opposite of each others in the same time: we can all be theater directors for example, but one of us is an adept of monumental stage directing while someone else does not have a well-defined style in their work. We can be of the same religious conviction while we uphold different political views, and we could continue with examples here. It is fascinating for me to see the process, which provides the duality of the actor (and of the performance as well), this duality can be expressed in the following example: in the setting of a theater performance the spectator sees the actor who plays the role of Hamlet11. The spectator is aware that he sees an actor on stage, which is now transformed within this performance and the actor is now also witnessing this transformation. The actor, playing Hamlet steps forward at a certain moment and touches an audience member. This gesture of
11

I am making references to Shakespeares Hamlet many times in this research paper.

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physical contact is a visible and notable action. The spectator is touched in the same time by the actor and the actor who is transformed and is now Hamlet. (We could call this person the Character.) The audience member had physical contact with not just one of them but one and the other in the same time, both identities in the same time had physical contact with him. This unique moment when through the gesture of physical contact a new identity is born is extremely intriguing to me inside the theater work processes. I intend to get closer to this phenomenon, to catch it in the act. This unique moment is describable but it is never definable. In this research paper I study those aspects of theater that can help us to find a deeper understanding and a closer view of similar unique moments in theater. If I look at theater as a place of searching identities and I do look a theater this way then I need to be aware of the creators identity search and also the spectators identity search. The environment that surrounds the theater goers today is extremely interesting in this regard: where do our post-modern spectators arrive from in our theaters, what they bring with themselves into these settings and finally what can theater creators do with all these realities entering theater today. Hamlets physical contact gesture talks about this duality which is intended to be addressed in this paper. Through theatrical creation (willingly or unwillingly) we are searching for ourselves, we are searching for our identities, and the new identity once found is coexistent with the one that was searching for it. The process of detachment (loss of identity) and the process of searching (looking for a new one) are continuously changing within the theatrical work process. In the detachment process one can observe the body and the bodys innate knowledge stepping forward. Duality is also present in the situation of the actor and the role. In one flesh and bone real human body the actor as an independent entity and the character which has separate characteristics coexist. The conclusion of chapter two: Identity Today. Body and

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Identity is that in contemporary theater the (scenic) movement is dependent of the body at not necessarily of the text; another subchapter talks about the body that needs to be explored and understood. The third chapter The Loss of Identity and The Search for a New One presents the relations between text and character, role and character through the prism of two well-known figures of drama literature: one is the Hamlet, the always contemporary Renaissance prince who is in search of his own identity, he observes himself, auto detaches and searches again. The other figure is Pinter`s character, Davies, who does not have the chance to find his own identity. His identities are fragmented, his stories outgrow reality, and he is the typical postmodern character defined by his spoken words so his self-definition is continuous and impossible in the same time. The last subchapter The Appearance of Virtual Identities of chapter three introduces the following chapter. The media-environment we all are living in is approached in this thesis through the Facebook-phenomenon. In this virtual environment we are doing performative acts on a daily basis. The duality of our actions is starting to define our lives: our virtual and real actions are transforming us into identities living in two separate worlds, while in fact we are one person. The Facebook-generation that my generation belongs to as well, arrives in the theaters with this pattern of duality of actions, it is of essential importance to bear this in mind while creating theater today. This chapter four is the most extensive, the media environment the spectator and the creator is coming from is approached through the following subchapters: simultaneous image perception, active participation of reader/viewer, presence of interpretation (and the lack of it) in daily life, performative actions surrounding the self, performative actions and time, virtuality and theater. This fourth chapter intitled Media Identity also contains two short experiments: one is trying to sum up the daily of a

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young person access to virtuality, and the other one is part of subchapter Facebook Mania and researches the possible dependence of social networks through internet. The 21st century Western world is in search of identity. It is struggling between the image presented in Aldous Huxley`s Brave New World and the past that it wishes to leave behind, but for some reason it can`t. It is fashionable and trendy to talk about identity today. I wish to look at the question of identity from the point of view of how the theatrical workprocess affects those involved in it, may this person be one of the creators or member of the audience (public, actor, stage director, dramaturge etc.). In the chapter The Four Identities of the Author I examine the situation of writer (author of the text, playwright), director, actor and theater company and the European dramaturge. If we take a closer look at theater we can see the different phases of the search for identity in this form of art as well. In my point of view the theater is one of the few living arts nowadays, where the meeting between creator and the viewer can happen during a here and now event. The existence of the mask prides a duality on its own: there is the mask and then there is what is hidden behind it. I am observing this duality of the mask through the contemporary understanding of theater, the seventh chapter being entitled The Connection of Actor and Role from East to West The Question of the Mask. If I hold the mask in my hand than it is easy to separate it from my own identity, but the moment I put the mask on, the two realities create a third identity that bears the marks of both. Hamlets question: Who does it then? the question that he addresses to Laertes in his graveyard monologue approached from the

reality of the mask makes us realize that the mask is Hamlets madness and under the mask there is Hamlet himself. But these two cannot be separated anymore. Hamlet has become one with his new character, he sees himself from the outside but the watcher and the person being

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watched are the same person. The question of the mask is approached through the oriental and occidental angle of mask-concept (The Connection of Actor and Role from East to West The Question of the Mask), through the angle of the body (Body as Mask), of face and mimics (Face as Mask). In the eighth chapter (Long Standing Examples. Our Role Models) I present two world-wide known theater artists who are both strong examples of the contemporary artist in search for identity. I am less interested in their biographical presentation (though basic needed information cannot miss of course), the accent is rather on presenting their special unique style of creating theater. One of the most famous kabuki actors, Banto Tamasaburo the 5th was able to bring innovation in kabuki theater tradition between such rigorously defined forms of expression that the average western-educated European actor hardly even knows about. These forms of expression are subject of teaching for the kabuki actor starting from childhood; he exercises them, some movements gestures are brought to perfection during several decades. Of course kabuki actors are members of modern society, who like the average modern Japanese, sit in a chair at a table and eat Western food, wear Western clothing, drive cars, and surf the internet.(Iwao Kamimura12) The other artist I present is Vsevolod Meyerhold: his innovations happened in the spirit of the here and now (Meyerhold never started any academic theater-anthropology research for his purposes.) As we look through the ages of theater history we may many times be under the impression that the Western innovators real goal is not necessarily to find something new, but rather to get rid of the old structures. In the research paper a separate chapter (Chapter 9: Exercises 1-30) is dedicated to exercises that have been performed either during the creation of performances, during

12

The motto is taken from Kamimura`s Traditions: Inheriting the Art (In Kabuki Today)

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trainings and workshops, or with acting students13 during classes at the University of Arts Trgu-Mure. My aim with these exercises is to help develop our connections towards our bodies and ourselves; and help us to distance ourselves from what we do. Technique in theater is a key approach to how professional theater can be achieved, and techniques need a lot of exercising. These exercises do not focus on one specific technique, but rather to let the innate memory of the body emerge: our body knows much more than we think it does; and also to keep a distance from ourselves (the characters that we interpret; from our primary reactions; from our thoughts). Each exercise specifies the target group for whom it would be most suitable to perform them. The last part of the research paper is a personal documentation of a creative work in theater. The process of identity-searching is approached here through a diary of a rehearsal process. This is the most personal part of this research paper, an imperfect but realistic portrayal of identity search through theatrical work processes. It is an attempt to find how a contemporary performance finds its identity, and how the directors identity is affected by this process. The chapter consists of diary-like notes of a rehearsal process from the performance Paparazzi, or The Chronicle of an Aborted Sunrise by Matei Viniec directed at Tony Bulandra Theater, in Trgovite, Romania. The rehearsing period was from November 8th to December 18th 2010. These notes are intended to show the search process of actor and director. The diary relates those inner changes that happen inside the creators, these changes happen through the creative process and they all are unique. The process of creating a theater production is made possible by the day to day work of those creating it. This work also brings a continuous development within each person involved, and thus, within the performance itself. The birth of every theater production, every character, and every show has its own time and route, route that is maybe harder to trace continuously.

13

I was working on acting classes with second year students at puppetry, who intensively study acting as well.

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I was always intrigued by the way a character written in a play becomes a tridimensional living human being. Within this transformation it is even more interesting to research the process of fusion that happens in time both with the actor and the director. This process fusions the two identities (in the case of the actor the character`s identity with the actor`s own; in the director`s case the identity of the performance itself with the director`s own) that are not separable anymore. They become one, but in the same time we can still sense the separate coexistence of two identities: a real one, which defines us and a fictional one, which is defined by us and then has an effect on us. The director imagines a performance and then creates it together with other theater professionals. The directors personal marks are present in the performance. The directors identity is hidden in every detail of the performance. In the same time the performance even during the rehearsal process has an effect on the director, providing a new identity, having a strong effect. This is in fact the beauty, the magic and the intangibility of effect and counter-effect in the theatrical work process. I wish to use this method of taking notes during a rehearsal process in future projects as well, since it does not only develop the sensitivity towards the actors state but it also provides a strong method of self-reflection. The next part of this presentation is the outlining of the ideas and conclusions which the presented ten chapters are built upon. Children are growing up using the method of perceiving themselves through the eyes of the world that surrounds them. Hamlet is also using this method reflecting on himself through the actions and words of the other characters. We, humans are constantly aware of our eccentric position, and we are reflecting on the capabilities that come from this situation. We use language, perceive ourselves and others even as a vehicle of communication, we can express ourselves using our body etc. The theater symbolizes the

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human need for identity to the level of the basic human need of distance: to watch and perceive ourselves from a distance. The concept of God14 also talks about this distanced point of observation: God watching himself/herself through his/her creation and people knowing they are being watched. There is always creation of identity and change of identity happening in theater. While in the ritual of transition it is the participant that needs to transform, the theater makes it possible for the viewers to change their identity exactly by having the actor impersonating all those identities that are the characters of the performance in front of the audience. Theater can be considered and defined as the space of crossing boundaries: boundaries between reality and fiction, between one identity and the other, but in the same time there is a limit, a crack, a traumatic core in the participating subjects that cannot be crossed. This can be located in the body. In the theater of movement the emphasis is on the person of the actor states Pavis. After examining several important performances he draws the conclusion, that all gestures of the body are determined by the socio-political environment. Across times the simplistic use of body-presence (body art) in the theatrical language has arrived to a more complex understanding of the body as the carrier of multiple identities. In Ungvri`s interpretation, the perception of the body has returned through a time-spiral to the sphere of the symbolic, the body-conception of our present functions as a construction of dialogue between identities. Artistic activity is a reflection on reality, it means thinking about reality and it is not merely an intellectualization of reality. Theater is a way of thinking in the terms of space, rhythm, words and gesture. If we are not able to step out of the usual structures nothing will really happen in theater. Somebody is standing on a stage and reciting a text that is alien to
14

within this concept we can understand also: Allah, Buddha, Jahve etc.

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him/her, these are not his/her words at all: what does this situation mean? Text is only raw material to a performance, to a production. Even Brecht states that when he is writing he feels like writing a musical sheet, he feels that the formalist is working within him, when he is writing. (Brecht 1987) The moment the actor starts speaking, something else speaks through his/her person, something else starts to function on the stage: the structure of language. Artaud asks a straight forward ironic question addressing this same matter: Why cant I just be Antonin Artaud? (Artaud 2000) The actor is creative by nature, but no matter how much he/she wants to the actor cannot create himself/herself. It is not of interest anymore what A or B says on the stage (this is not the main objective in theater anymore). The importance of the text has significantly decayed in contemporary theater; the stage is ruled by the presence of the body; the text is not dominating the space anymore. (Lehmann 2007) Lets just think of all the information the body can communicate, while the amount of text is getting less and less. In many cases the text is nothing more than a starting point for a production, it is only the canvas for the final painting and in some other cases the text disappears altogether by the end of the rehearsal process. How should we act on stage? This question is always of interest, since there are always new theories giving new answers to it. Reality can be re-created and reinterpreted through form in theater. And it is this same form that enables the audience to come up with an own understanding and interpretation of what was seen on stage by using a personal imagination and life experiences that relate to what is seen. Theater is the act of reinventing. Even the contemporary texts need reinventing how much more so the classic texts. The meaning of the text is not to be found in the text itself, it is always in the context. You can archive a text but you cannot do the same with the context. It is logical to say that

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Shakespeare can be played only in a valid, contemporary context thus these texts need reinventing. In the contemporary theater the narrative of the text disappears and this function is taken over by the narrative of the body. Contemporary theater has arrived to a stage of evolvement where movement is dependent of the body and not of the text. This is how the emptiness (in the best possible meaning of the word) between the body and the word can actually come to existence. This emptiness can then be used to express the unspeakable and in our opinion it is the only way to express it. In the present society the ritual of theater cannot truly happen in the theater-buildings, it is rather being named a para-ritual as Lehmann states it. The properly so called ritual can only happen in the above mentioned emptiness. This is why it is crucial that theater should be a spectacle enterrompu15 (an interrupted performance). Today it is not sufficient to create a we-are-all-one-at-a-niceceremony style theater production. There must be a void in the performance, an emptiness that is intriguing; this feeling of non-completion should be present in the audience when leaving the theater because this is when the viewers work starts, when the audiences interpretation and reading of the performance finds time and space. There are tendencies in contemporary theater that wish to create the perfect body. Up to this point this aspiration is the same of that of the classical ballets main principle that wishes to win the battle against gravity, to find a self-superior existence of the body. In classical ballet there is no bodyweight, or gravity, or sweat, there is nothing but ethereal, graceful flying. Opposite to this approach, Jan Fabre16 Belgian stage director creates perfect bodily beauty only to ruin it immediately afterwards. The creation of perfect beauty and the destruction of it is the process through which Fabres performances become a spectacle enterrompu. He calls his actors warriors of beauty. For Fabre tragedy is present in the
15 16

Mallarme coins the term in his major work: Un spectacle enterrompu Jan Fabre stage director, plasticist, writer, performer and choreographer. (born 1958)

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human body: for instance the bones and the flesh a constant conflict between the solid structure and the shape-changing matter. Contemporary performances often operate with the characteristic of duality in theater, building-deconstructing, affirming-negating, structuring linear versus vertical etc., creating counterpoint (kontrapunkt) and thus achieving tension. The questions regarding personality are bringing together several slightly connected issues. The historically continuous quest is aiming to find the answer as to how can one person be the same in one time and the other simultaneously. This kind of analysis of personal existence will show several requested and self-sufficient situations of the individual existence within the dimension of time. Cultural identity does not address only a persons cultural or sociological appartenance, the question can be extended to the level of a group or culture while moving within the coordinates of location, gender, race, history, nationality and ethnic identity. The old identities that were holding the world in balance for so long are fading away in the present. (Stuart 1997) The places of these fading singular identities are taken over by multiple identities, thus we cannot speak any more about the oneness of an individual; the modern human being will step into a new identity according to the expectation of each role that is given to or asked from him/her by society. This phenomenon is to be seen in the evolutionary arc of theater science and playwriting as well. Every play wears more or less the marks of the age that gave birth to it (mentality, habits, social layers, etc.). As it was mentioned before a text cannot be written or put on scene regardless of the context of the present. This context cannot be disregarded. And this context gives the source for research to later theater science. This is how we can examine for example the evolution of Hamlet`s identity through the different periods within theater history.

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Since the appearance of the genre of drama, meaning the appearance of conscience on stage17 the characters are in constant disharmony and trouble, they are metaphorically ill. (Jkfalvi 2001) The characters of contemporary drama cannot avoid this illness since their creators, the authors do assume that the characters they create are not perfect thus they act inconsequently and that they are in an end all captives of caducity. In different ages of theater history the structures and models of character building can be well recognized, whereas today these models mix or alternate or totally lack. With this phenomenon also the question of recognizable and predetermined identities rises. In contemporary theater there is a lack of models to follow or on the opposite, there are too many models, one could find trends but it is hard to name a principle that is holding together all the existing solutions. This situation is of course somewhat understandable, since the whole European society is without a solid and common principle after Christianity started to lose this position. Globalization and nationalism, theism and atheism are strongly present at the same time. The European artistic understanding is strongly Aristotelian being closely related to the structuralism and coherence of the beginning-middle-ending like structure. This way the receiver of a performance finds it hard to break away from this paradigm. This structural thinking is based in fact on the Christian notion of time: beginning (Genesis), middle (History), and end (the Apocalypse). Since the innovative work of Artaud, Grotowski and Brook the main characteristic of Eastern acting: being yourself, not wanting to become someone else (Pavis 2003) has entered the circulation of Western theater too. After the decay of Greek theater culture this is again the path for the transcendental to enter the world of theater one more time.

The history of theater considers Henrik Ibsens A Doll`s House also known as Nora to mark the beginning of this genre. (Crian 2004)

17

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In jedem ding is ein Gefangener writes Reiner Maria Rilke in one of his poems. There is a process which happens in two directions in the same time: the actor gives birth to the histrio18, gives this new existence an identity, and this new reality then re-creates the actor who becomes a duplicate of himself (liberates a prisoner or multiple prisoners from within) and also gains a new identity through this process. By the means of self-suggestion the actor is able to communicate in three ways with this histrio: the actor can totally identify with this new personality, can keep a distance from it, or can step in & out as the process goes on.19 We need to see clearly the conclusion at hand: contemporary drama literature and contemporary theatrical language is expecting a level of understanding from the receiver that is different from the everyday communication. We understand the primary meaning of the words we hear, their technical meaning is clear to us, yet the words, the notions connect at a different level at the characters thought structures. The contemporary language of emptiness and absence in theater does not only apply to the plays, characters or dramatic structures it can also be found within all forms of dramatic expression regardless to its genre. Hamlet, the enlightened intellectual of the Renaissance (Hamlet, the Danish prince studied at the prestigious Wittenberg University) gave words to the search of identity back in the Elizabethan Age: To be or not to be? (Shakespeare 1998) The different approaches on this text will of course give different layers of meaning to these words, but the one idea that all interpretations openly or in a hidden way agree on is, that this is a situation of identity crisis. Hamlet is a thinker and the renaissance thinker does not necessarily acts according to his thoughts. The modern and postmodern thinker is in concordance with his/her thought
Mniuiu uses this expression to describe the person rising within the actor through the process of creation The relation to a role through self-suggestion is discussed by Patrice Pavis in his work: Performance analysis in the sub-chapter The actors work (Pavis 2003)
19 18

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because this is encrypted in the present way of how society functions. We have to realize that Hamlet does not possess this necessity of his thoughts being in harmony with his actions and that this state of being creates an even bigger seizure in Hamlet`s search for who he truly is. Jan Kott states that Hamlet is somebody else than his own character, he outgrows his own character. (Kott 1970) He keeps a distance from himself while looking for a new self because only a newly found Hamlet would be able to solve this situation that drove him into this identity crisis. We are living on the peak of the digital era, and digitalization is taking over more and more areas of our personal lives. A world evolving around computers, its language and images has brought a revolutionary change, or at least has significantly modified the everyday life of individuals, their habits and their use of communication. The average member of the audience enters the theater from a media-environment. We have to realize that todays younger actor generation also comes from this environment that is full with digital media. Some of these artists of todays theater have already grown up next to a computer, they may know better the world of internet than the real world, most of their relationships evolve (also) on a virtual platform (email, instant messaging, video-chat, social networks, online gaming etc.). It is impossible to avoid the question: how do the structures of contemporary theater relate to these changes that happened between generations of theater viewers and theater creators as well? Lehmann considers it important to point out a difference: the amplified image provided by the digital media only structures reality but it does not represent reality; it creates a frame that makes reality visible within. (Lehmann 2006) But the main character of theater is that it cannot be closed in a frame like this because the stage is the continuation of the audience in contemporary theater. There is a strong discrepancy between the strength

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and high definition of the images presented today and the weakness or low definition of human spirit that is present in society. This inconsistency can be noticed not only within theater, it is present in our quotidian lives, it can be seen in the every-day actions and gestures of common people who are sucked into images on monitors and thus live a virtual life in a non-existent reality as a major part of their existence. It is important to examine the performative experience of the audience, and to be able to address this question we first have to take a look at the personal performative experiences of todays theater viewers in the virtual world that occupies more and more space in everyones personal life. The spectator of 2010 arrives in the space and time of theater from an environment filled with media, and gets up from the seat in front of the computer to sit down in a seat in the front row of a theater. This is why we are searching to find out how this situation changes the structures and the role of theater creation today. The printed book, and later the appearance of film-making and finally television (not to mention home cinemas lately, or on demand TV-shows) are all providing a finished product for the consumer. The books, photography, film and television are mostly the replay of the captured past, they are all presenting an event that has already happened even if they possess a certain illusion of present in some cases. Indeed the web allows even demands reading strategies that are not linear, inviting the reader to choose the path and order of text read, as driven by the readers own desire and cognitive processing style (Westlake 2008:25) The continuous change and changeability as an option, the presence of endless number of options are all characteristics of the active participant reading, that kind of approach through which the reader can actually intervene in the text read or image viewed. The web gives everyone the opportunity to become an active part of story that is being read by the individual. Even if this is all just a virtual reality we are still talking about perpetual

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communication, expression of opinions, search for connections and a stand, different levels of exhibitionism in an end: it is all about putting ourselves in the center of it. This continuous contribution (as long as one is connected to the web) to the development of the presents virtual world is a form of existence that has a huge impact on all other images received in the day to day life, and theater is among these as well. This way in my opinion this habit of being interactively present, contributing to the image that is being watched also has an impact on how an audience is perceiving other (also constantly changing) images, and how the individuals of this audience react to the image seen. In its own paradox way the virtual (non-existent) world has an effect on all of us, an effect which is very much alive since it is constantly changing, it is not static and it requires perpetual intellectual involvement. The theatrical event is real, happening with in the flesh human beings on stage, and because real human beings are involved in it, is always changing. At this point it is beyond any dispute that these two worlds have a connecting point and many characteristics in common, the question remains how and where can we identify these touching points and how can these be used for the benefit of contemporary theater. Today`s youngster generation did not have to adapt, to learn new things about web culture, these kids did not have to make the switch to the communication structures of the web-based world and something that was before it. The older generation who witnessed the appearance of the first computers, the quick spread and development of the web, needed to learn all the skills that were required to use these new possibilities to their full potential. They needed to get used to find their way around the virtual world of the web, they needed to get used to the new always changing text and picture in the frame of a monitor or display, they needed to learn to walk again. Their linear perception was old fashioned and it needed

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to gain multiple perspectives. Besides this learning process there still remains a perception of the world, where fantasy had a larger role than virtuality. We all leave our marks on our ways of communication, in earlier times we could be recognized by our handwriting or the sound of our voice, today we have digital ID-s, profiles or avatars20 to do the same thing. Our generation is very well connected to a new technology, can use the web to its full capability, is a well-trained web-surfer and all these capabilities and their continuous development is also present in their personal face to face communication as well. It is also important to be aware, that theater has grown into such an artistic activity which has as a key term invention and creativity. While the virtual world can only be created as a series of formulas by programmers and website creators, in theater it is possible to come up with new schematics for every performance. It might be interesting at first to be under the impression that the possible formulas and structures have an endless number in the virtual world and more limited in the world of theater. But the essence of living art is what gives this wonderful privilege of creating new structures, new formulas in theater. Theaters first option is not to incorporate and to assimilate all the possibilities and all the structures of the world of internet and computers and to accommodate this way to the realities outside the stage, social realities that are in fact strongly affected by technological developments. Not such a long time ago personal encounter21 was the main form of interpersonal communication and relation, what we see today is, that the channels of communication are structured in such way that it becomes possible to totally neglect if needed the necessity of
These applications make it possible to create a virtual identity for ourselves. These identities than make it possible for others to recognize us on the web and be more reachable. (One can customize name, outlook, pictures, characteristics, clothes, etc.) 21 Or until personal encounter the handwritten correspondence or telephone conversations.
20

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personal, face to face communication. The line between the public and the private dimensions of our lives are being blurred. Web-based interactive communication is doing exactly that: making our private life public. All immediate reactions to everything that affects us are made public on message walls, who knows who and from where22 also became public information. Look at me. Listen at me. Laugh with me or at me23 (Westlake 2006). The self is always in the center of actions, the selfs attention is constantly artificially concentrated due to the possibilities of internet communication. The patience threshold of todays audience member has significantly decreased, todays viewer is simply not willing, maybe not even capable anymore, to look at an image for a longer time, today quick change, newer and newer associations are needed. Maybe this is one reason why in the last decade we come across shorter and shorter theater productions. This decrease of length in theaters is not only created and caused by the audiences expectations, but also by the creators of the performance who have the intent to communicate the story, the message, the presentation as much as possible to the viewers in as short a time as it can be compressed in. The need for compression is undeniably the effect of the media environment. People like to watch pictures because this relaxes them; this phenomenon due to the possibilities of the internet has become a global phenomenon today. In the digital era we live in an environment filled with pictures and images, these pictures (posters, screens, displays, etc.) have a strong attraction as our mind translates the images seen. When we look at the internet we can see that the whole beginning-middle-end conception is not valid anymore. That kind of symmetrical structure, that kind of dramatic
22 23

Facebook, Iwiw, hi5, Tagged, Twitter, Myspace, Netlog, etc, social networks on the web. The ironic tone is also used by journalist Robert J. Sauelson, quoted by Westlake

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conception that the Western civilization is used to is somehow changed. Even if the events which happen around and within this virtual reality evolve according to the classical triad of chapters, the world itself that hosts them all provides a different setting. Virtual events are not predefined, nothing is decided in advance, and the web users themselves are shaping the events as they happen. This may be one of the causes of that major discrepancy between the real and the virtual in cases of children, who have an unacceptably high usage of computers at a young age. We dont have to sit on a bench in a park or look out our window to see what goes on outside our private space, Facebook and other social networks on the web are satisfying this primordial human curiosity. The transition from the classicist identity theory to the modern thought of identity (and from there to the postmodern) had a revolutionary effect on European thinking. Through the process of transition from the unity-principle of the Kantian thinking towards Marxs and Freuds understanding of identity theory, the oneness of the individual became a whole made of several pieces, identity became pluralized, the individuals are now accustomed to all roles in the society with new, different identities. Today we can speak of a perpetual and endless search for identity which is not only present in the everyday life, but is also a valid situation within the world of theater: a character searches for identity through the performance, the actor through the character, the viewer through the actor. While sitting in the theater-seat the all-time viewer is able to cry, to laugh, to feel pressure, to fall in love, to hate or to make a scene, etc. without ever physically moving at all. These events do happen within the viewer despite the appearance of stillness. For identity-change to happen there necessarily must be a transitional state as well from one identity to the other. This state is the state of catharsis, the identity-less state through which the viewer gains a new identity. This new identity is then followed by a newer one and so

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on. The postmodern identity-theory says, that the postmodern individuals identities are no longer all part of the same unique self, this means that the identity search is perpetual and never ending. This process of searching does not have a beginning and an end anymore. The performance itself goes through a process of change; its identity if it is possible to talk about a performances identity is changing from one presentation to the other. The ancient Greek understanding of acting pointed towards the transcendental, it wasnt the actor or his text that spoke with the mouth of the hypocrites through the mask24, and it was rather a divine revelation speaking to the audience. In this setting, the mask became the sign of the body transforming into image. This conception can be found in the dances of the Bali Islands studied by Brook and it is also present in other Eastern theatrical traditions. Not acting something, but living it: in this ancient form theater did work as a ritual. We look at the European actor as an acting person, while the eastern actor is the creator of metaphors (Mnouchkine 2000). If we are trying to put the essence of these two theater traditions into simple words it would be accurate to say, that Western theater is defined by action, while Eastern theater by poetry. In this regard the Eastern mask is needed to show the story, and in the Western theater the mask is needed to play the story. It may seem just a difference of nuances at first glance but they still represent two fundamentally different ways of thinking about theater. Eastern tradition is standing on the conviction that the actor has a personal identity which is a whole, thus he cannot gain any other identities. The mask does not make him somebody else, the mask is nothing more than a tool to help
24

The mask in Greek theater in Antiquity was mostly made of hardened canvas and then painted, when it was put on it usually covered the whole face of the actor wearing it.

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the actor show that somebody else. There is a similar approach of the matter in the modern and post-modern Western understanding of theater, the difference being that there is not a single answer that every theater creator is looking for, there are several possible answers and the question is left open in this way. This approach lets us study the situation how can there be multiple identities in the actor and the role. The conception about multiple identities that is present in modern and post-modern societies almost urges the actor to make a connection between his own identity and the roles identity. It is my conviction, that the identity of the actor and the role are convergent at least during the rehearsal process. It is hard if not impossible to separate the actors work done on himself and on the role25. Through the process of self-suggestion there is a triple relationship between actor and role: (1) the actor can identify himself with the role (Stanislavski calls this the method of empathy towards the character), (2) the actor can keep a distance from the role (3) or can step in and out from the role he/she is playing. (The last two are mostly characteristic to Brechts acting methods.) These relationships between actor and role can all happen within one single performance raising again the question of identity. The notion of mask today points beyond the thing we put in front of our face. The body with all its signs and gestures can be a mask that lets the actor, the personage, or the role hide behind it. The traditional relationship of actor and role has evolved; it has evolved into a much more complex set of relations with many layers. The presence of the actor is always bivalent in the European theater tradition, the actor and the character are always simultaneously present, when the actor totally identifies with the role the viewer forgets about the actor, at other times the actor himself knows that he is an actor on stage and the viewer is also aware that he is

Pavis does not draw the conclusion of this statement he makes. In my interpretation this statements brings me back to the question of identity: if theres no way to separate these two directions of work than it is clear that the identities of the actor and the role get unified, they unite in a fusion.

25

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watching on actor. Professor Cojar writes that he is himself and his art simultaneously. Artist and character, citizen X and character Y in the same time. The actor can arrive to the stage of embodying a fictive being through the metaphysical journey of studying himself/herself and his/her identity, undertaking the fusion between his/her and his/her roles identities. The act of dealing with the transcendental is slowly coming back into the actors work after a long pause and in Eastern-Europe after a long period of being put aside on dogmatic grounds. It is an extremely exciting topic how theater relates to its own past, history and traditions. The western way of thinking is an adept of getting rid of most of what is old and always striving for something new and the constant search for new forms. The eastern tradition functions exactly the opposite way: it conserves tradition and every new idea is subjected to and incorporated in the structures of tradition. This is how a several millennia old tradition can create the impression of being something totally new and contemporary. Of course besides these tendencies described above, there are exceptions; what is of interest for us in this case is the mode and the characteristics of the process of artistic searching.

This thesis is an assumed personal quest in the search for identity through theatrical processes written upon solid bibliography and the conviction that theater is a place where everyone involved in the theatrical process goes through a loss of identity and a quest for a new one.

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Bibiliografie selectiv / Selective bibliography:

ARTAUD, Antonin 2000 A Kegyetlen Sznhz (Els kiltvny) In:Jkfalvi Magdolna (szerk.),Sznhzi antolgia XX. szzad. Budapest, Balassi Kiad, 120-126. BARBA, Eugenio 1965 Ksrletek sznhza. Budapest, Sznhztudomnyi Intzet 1999 Ngy nz IN Criticai Lapok, 9. szm BARTHES, Roland 1998 A szerz halla = A szveg rme, Budapest, Osiris Kiad BRES Andrs 2000 Bevezets a sznhzeszttikba I., Marosvsrhely, Mentor Kiad BRECHT, Bertolt 2000 Tzisek a belells feladatrl a szni mvszetben, Hogyan kell prbt vezetni induktv eljrssal? In: Jkfalvi Magdolna (szerk.) Sznhzi antolgia XX. szzad. Budapest, Balassi Kiad, 127-139. 1987 Diaries 1920-1922 (translated by John Willett), London, Eyre Methuen BROOK, Peter 1996 The Empty Space New York, Touchstone Publishing 1999 Az res tr (ford. Kos Anna), Budapest, Eurpa Kiad 2000 Vltoz nzpont, Budapest, Orpheusz Kiad 1992 Az rdg neve unalom (ford. Sznt Judit) In Sznhz, 25. vf., 1992/3, Budapest, Magyar Sznhzmvszeti Szvetsg COJAR, Ion 2006 Sznmvszeti potika (Ford. Albert Mria), Marosvsrhely, Sznmvszeti Egyetem Kiadja. CRAIG, Edward Gordon 1911 The Art of the Theater, Edinburgh-London 1994: A sznsz s az bermarionett In Sznhz, 1994/9. szm ESSLIN, Martin 1987 The Field of Drama, London, Methuen FISCHER-LICHTE, Erika 2001 A drma trtnete, Pcs, Jelenkor Kiad GOLDMAN, Lucien 1977 A rejtzkd isten Budapest, Gondolat Kiad,

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GROTOWSKI, Jerzy 1999 Sznhz s ritul, Pozsony, Kalligram Kiad HALL, Stuart 1997 A kulturlis identitsrl, Multikulturalizmus, Budapest, Osiris Kiad In: Feischmidt Margit (szerk.)

HARAG Gyrgy 1999 Darab s rendez (1976) In Nnay Istvn: A sznpadi rendezsrl, Budapest, Magyar Drmapedaggiai Trsasg JKFALVI Magdolna 2001 Alak, figura, perszonzs, Budapest, OSZMI KOTT, Jan 1970 Kortrsunk Shakespeare, Budapest, Gondolat Knyvkiad LECLAU, Ernesto 1990 New Reflections on the Revolution of our Time London-New York, Verso LEHMANN, Hans-Thies 2006 Postdramatic Theatre. (nmet nyelvbl angolra ford. Karen Jbs-Munby), Routledge, London and New York 2007 A posztdramatikus sznhz s a tragdia hagyomnya, Nyilvnos elads, elhangzott Postdramatic Theatre and the Tradition of Tragedy cmmel 2007. nov. 25-n a 6. Kortrs Drmafesztivl Budapest keretben az Orszgos Sznhztrtneti Mzeum s Intzetben, 2009 Teatrul postdramatic (ford. Victor Scorade), Bucureti, Editura Unitext MNIUIU, Mihai 2006 Aktus s utnzs (ford. Zsigmond Andrea), Kolozsvr, Koinnia Kiad, MEJERHOLD, Vszevolod 2006 A vsrki komdia IN: Tompa Andrea szerk.: A teatralits dicsrete Orosz sznhzelmletek a XX. szzad elejn, Budapest, Orszgos Sznhztrtneti Mzeum s Intzet: 183-208 2006 A sznhz trtnetrl s technikjrl IN: Tompa Andrea szerk.: A teatralits dicsrete Orosz sznhzelmletek a XX. szzad elejn, Budapest, Orszgos Sznhztrtneti Mzeum s Intzet: 209-254 MNOUCHKINE, Ariane 2000 A sznhz keleten van In: Jkfalvi Magdolna (szerk.) Sznhzi antolgia XX. szzad, Budapest, Balassi Kiad

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NNAY, Istvn 1999 A sznpadi rendezsrl, Budapest, Magyar Drmapedaggiai Trsasg PAGE, Adrian 1989 The Death of the Playwright, London: MacMillan, Modern British Drama and Literary Theory ed. PAVIS, Patrice 1999 Sznhzi antropolgia, Budapest, Vilgsznhz 2003 Eladselemzs, (ford. Jkfalvi Magdolna), Budapest, Balassi Kiad 2006 Sznhzi sztr, (ford. Gulys A., Molnr Zs., Rideg Zs., Sepsi E.) Budapest, ALHarmattan Kiad, SHAKESPEARE, William 1998 The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark, New York, Signet Classics, a division of Penguin Group SZTANYISZLAVSZKIJ, Konsztantyin Szergejevics 1967 letem a mvszetben, (ford. Gellrt Gyrgy) Budapest, Gondolat Kiad 1988 A sznsz munkja, (ford. Morcsnyi Gza) Budapest, Gondolat Kiad UNGVRI ZRNYI Ildik 2005 A nz visszanz. Ksrlet a nzsg kp-antropolgiai rtelmezsre IN Symbolon, VI. vfolyam, 9. szm. 2006 Sznhzantropolgia In. U.Z.I. Bevezets a sznhzantropolgiba, Marosvsrhely, Sznmvszeti Egyetem Kiadja, 59-122

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