Philosophical Theatre: Some Reflections on the Concept

The article deals with the question of how to define and understand the concept of a philosophical theatre, in order to apply it productively to performances. To this end, theoretical reflections and the analysis of several productions of Greek tragedies that might qualify as philosophical theatre, are related to each other. Proceeding from Brecht’s ideas on a philosophical theatre, Schiller’s reflections on an aesthetic education and Goethe’s deliberations on Bildung, a first tentative definition of the concept is undertaken. In order to further substantiate the understanding of the concept, the tentative definition is applied to two productions of Greek tragedies that were mounted in order to realize the respective ideas – Brecht’s The Antigone of Sophocles (Chur 1948) and Goethe’s Ion (Weimar 1802). In light of the perspectives opened up by the conclusions regarding the concept, still another production of a Greek tragedy is discussed – namely, Klaus Michael Grüber’s The Bacchae (Berliner Schaubühne 1974), which the director never claimed to be philosophical theatre. Still, from it important insights regarding the concept can be derived that demonstrate its crucial, even if ever-changing meaning.Some of the arguments brought forward by this article have already been published in my book Tragedy’s Endurance (2017)

Transformações

As sociedades da Europa Central e Oriental experimentaram os anos noventa do século XX como um período de transformações essenciais. A transformação do socialismo existente e da predominância do império soviético em direção a Estados soberanos e democráticos foi experienciada também como uma crise social profunda. Tradução de Stephan Baumgärtel professor da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina

Transformações

As sociedades da Europa Central e Oriental experimentaram os anos noventa do século XX como um período de transformações essenciais. A transformação do socialismo existente e da predominância do império soviético em direção a Estados soberanos e democráticos foi experienciada também como uma crise social profunda

Que haja luz. A construção do espaço a partir da luz – a luz como meio da encenação

O texto de Erika Fischer-Lichte, em tradução de Stephan Arnulf Baumgärtel, discute os procedimentos de iluminação cênica para as relações palco-platéia numa perspectiva histórica

Realidade e ficção no teatro contemporâneo

This paper aims discuss the permanent tension between reality and fiction in contemporary theatre. The subject is examined in theatrical practice based in the plays Giulio Cesare (Societas Raffaello Sanzio), The DevilS General (Frank Castorf), Rudi (Klaus-Michael Grüber) and the audio-tours (Hygiene Heute).O texto apresenta uma abordagem teórica da tensão permanente entre realidade e ficção no teatro contemporâneo. Tal tensão é examinada na prática teatral partir das peças Giulio Cesare (Societas Raffaello Sanzio), O General do Diabo (Frank Castorf), Rudi (Klaus-Michael Grüber) e as Áudio-turnês (Hygiene Heute)

Sensibility, narcissism and affect: using immersive practices in design for embodied experience

‘Embodiment’ need not focus on isolated individuals or group interactions. This article articulates the potential for designs that prompt participants to bring relationships with other people to mind. These can be fleeting relationships between participants and unknown others, or remembered relationships with romantic partners, family members, or close friends who are not physically co-present or digitally represented. In either case, it is possible to generate affective responses that profoundly shape participants’ emotional and physical reactions to, and co-creation of, the designed interaction. This article presents existing practices of immersive theatre to frame our exploration of this phenomenon. It introduces three theories—mise-en-sensibilité, narcissistic spectatorship and affect—through which we illuminate both the internally felt and the externally designed experience, whether or not it is explicitly framed as theatrical performance. Through analysis of two immersive performances (one-on-one interactions that could easily be understood in terms of experience design) and two designs of our own, we argue that the affect generated by personal relationships in immersive experiences can both shape and drive participation, and we offer a three-point guideline by which one can design for the affective consequences of bringing relationships to mind