Chapter 8 Experimental Theatre Defining Experimental Theatre Experimental theatre, often meaning avant-garde (as Oxford AELD explains

the term=new and very modern ideas in art, music or literature that are sometimes surprising or shoc ing!, has "een widely used since the middle of the #$ th century and is nown "y many other names such as, %event&, %multi-media&, %visual theatre&, performance art, or live art' Often when a wor is not "ased in text it is seen as an %experiment'& (he history of world theatre illustrates the dramatic play as a comparatively recent trend' (here is another, ancient tradition at wor in the great theatres of the world) in Commedia DellArte, *usic +all, and *usical (heatre) in the com"ined artistry of kabuki; and in ,ree theatre' -t is in this other tradition that theatre now defined as %experimental& has its roots, a tradition which see s to com"ine various s ills, such as dance, music, etc' (he ma ing of a play can "e the most authoritarian theatre process. in the "eginning of rehearsals is the text) the director is the power that interprets the text, and guides all others in service of it' /erformance however, at the "eginning of rehearsals, has no word 0 there is nothing "ut the artists and the potential wor which they will uni1uely create together' 2y the end, the music may overwhelm the text, the performers may "e reduced to nothingness, the demands of the choreography may impact all other aspects of the wor ' -t is "y virtue of the unpredicta"ility of the creative process that such theatre is most appropriately du""ed %experimental&' And the most successful experiment is li ely to allow e1ual significance to design, music, performance, choreography and text' (he process of experimental theatre differs from playma ing, so does the product' A play&s performance (most often! aims at creating meaning' -t see s to control all the

theatrical elements in an accurately repeata"le form, proposing an interpretation of the writer&s meaning with the greatest precision and clarity' (he text remains open-ended and open to several interpretations' (his conscious multiplicity of meaning creates wor which is poetic, allusive, am"iguous, contradictory, constantly as ing its audiences to trust their own perceptions as to its truth for them' One has to note that the final performance is li ely to "e very different from the first' (hus each performance is a development of the wor as product' 2y comparison, a play is fixed' -n an age dominated "y the recorded media of film and television with canned laughter, performance art eeps live theatre at its liveliest' Experimental theatre largely represents itself as 3alienated4 from the esta"lished order, where the primary aim is to shoc the audience, and interrogate the complacence of the "ourgeois culture' *any of those who might once have advanced experimental theatre now wor in the innovative and colla"orative fields of opera, video, television or film' (hose few who continue to experiment do so increasingly intermittently, or as solos or duos' Theatre of Cruelty (his derives from the theories of Antonin Artaud (5678-5796! who pu"lished Le Theatre et son double in which he formulated its principles' According to Artaud, the theatre must distur" the spectators profoundly and force men to view themselves as they really are' Artaud had produced Le Cenci (57:;!, "ased on the versions of <helley as well as <tendahl' (he theatre of Adamov, ,enet, and =amus has "een influenced "y the (heatre of =ruelty'

QUIZ 1. Answer in one-two sentences.

i' ii'

>hat are the chief features of a performance? +ow is a performance different from a play?

Assignment (race the growth and highlights of =ommedia Dell&Arte, *usic +all, and *usical (heatre'

Britain and Experimental Theatre -n 2ritain, as elsewhere, the collapsing of old world order from the 57;$s onwards resulted in an eclectic history' *uch of the wor was connected to fine art) yet dance-theatre companies such as D@6 or <econd <tride also categoriAe as the experimental theatre um"rella, as could the company ,loria and its director Beil 2artlett' Anna"el Arden, <imon *c2urney and *arcello *agni developed Theatre De Complicite in 2ritain' (his style ma es use of the techni1ues of commedia dell&arte, acro"atics, and also Bo' A leader in the field was Lumiere and son who performed in a range of spaces, including from a (ent for Circus Lumiere (576$! to Cew ,ardens for Deadwood (5768! , and paved the way for <ite<pecific theatrical events and -nstallation proDects' Eor more details, see. http.FFen'wi ipedia'orgFwi iF-nstallationGart' Eeminism and sexual politics have played a vital role in this innovatory wor , whether in a collective, li e the women&s touring ensem"le 2lood ,roup founded "y Anna EurAe, or in solo performance, e'g' Hose English or Annie ,riffin' <till, 2ritain was not very receptive to such challenges, and many artists were forced to perform a"road' >ithout more support from funding "odies, it was not surprising that the maDor theatre players such as, Ho"ert Le/age, Ho"ert >ilson, and the >ooster ,roup had their roots a"road'

Assignment ,ather information a"out <ite-<pecific theatrical events and -nstallation proDects using internet sources'

U A and Experimental Theatre -n the Inited <tates, %experimental theatre& encompasses a large, slightly disorganiAed "ut vi"rant "ody of wor ' (he artists, including directors, performers and designers traversed "oundaries of genre and form and discipline, whether wor ing in Alternative (heatre, Environmental (heatre, Dance (heatre, <treet (heatre, performance art, Agitprop or -mprovisational theatre, to %experiment& with a perceived %norm& that remains elusive' -n the 578$s, *ime (roupe, a group dedicated to agitprop performance in a =ommedia Dell&Arte and melodramatic style, rose to prominence, and generally targeted capitalism, sexism and war' Allan Caprow&s initiated a phase which finds resonance in much contemporary performance experimentation, including the use of simultaneous "ut seemingly unrelated action and movement) the audience as participantFperformer) and a fragmented, nonlinear structure using intertextual elements from dance, live and recorded sound and multimedia technology' <oon after, other artists experimented with art environments, often using their "odies as canvas' Eor more on Caprow. http.FFen'wi ipedia'orgFwi iFAllanGCaprow (he documentary theatre is a form of drama which is propagandist and didactic, and employs relatively recent history and documentary evidence as provided "y newspapers, archives, official histories, and similar sources' /eter *organ&s Frost/Nixon (#$$8! is one

such example where the su"Dect is a series of television interviews Bixon granted to the television interviewer David Erost' JI-K 5' Eill in the "lan s. a' <ome of the inds of experimental theatre included, environmental theatre, dance theatre, street theatre, agitprop and LLLLLL art' "' (he *ime (roupe of the 8$s targeted LL'', sexism and war' c' Allen Carpow used a LLLLLL and non-linear structure in his experimentation'

Assignment >hat is improvisational theatre? Discuss the highlights of this ind of art in #;$ words'

!ggested lin"s http.FFen'wi ipedia'orgFwi iF<anGEranciscoG*imeG(roupe http.FFwww'independent'co'u Farts-entertainmentFtheatre-theatre-de-complicite5569M89'html http.FFen'wi ipedia'orgFwi iFAndyGCaufman