Theatre Reviews

The Tempest. Dir. Janice Honeyman. The Baxter Theatre Centre (Cape Town, South Africa) and the Royal Shakespeare Company (Stratford-upon- Avon, United Kingdom). As You Like It. Dir. Damianos Constantinidis. “Angelus Novus” Theatre Group, “Vafeio” Theatre. Queen Lear. Dir. Kostis Kapelonis. “Delos G8” Theatre Group, “Delos” Theatre. Hamlet Committed Suicide. Dir. Stella Mari. Street theatre, “Minus [two]” Theatre Group, Thission pedestrian zone (Apostolou Pavlou & Heracleidon). The Documentary. Dir. Sergios Gakas. “Ex Animo” Theatre Group, “Altera Pars” Theatre. Othello. Dir. Yorgos Kimoulis and Konstantinos Markoulakis. Badminton Theatre, Athens, Greece

The experience of immediacy: emotion and enlistment in fact-based theatre

This article discusses emotion as a strategy of political agency in post-Thatcherite documentary theatre. The 1990s saw a renaissance in theatre writing based in directness and immediacy but based in two quite different forms of drama, In-Yer-Face theatre and fact-based drama. There are clear distinctions between these forms: the new brutalist writing was aggressively provocative; documentary theatre engaged the audience by revealing an urgent truth. Both claimed a kind of realism that confronted actuality, be that of situation or experience, through forms of theatre that cultivated emotional engagement. In-Yer-Face theatre used emotional shock to penetrate the numb cynicism that its creators perceived. Documentary theatre used observation and the cultivation of sympathy to enlist its audience in a shared understanding of what was hidden, not understood or not noticed. The article analyses the functioning of emotional enlistment to engage the audience politically in two examples of documentary theatre, Black Watch and Guantanam

The use of theatre for development in the prevention of HIV/AIDS : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University

Over the last three decades development practitioners have begun to search for new theoretical approaches to the problems of underdevelopment. This has given rise to approaches that focus on the participation of people and their culture in development programs. The teachings of Paulo Freire, latterly developed by Augusto Boal, gave voice to theatre that is participatory, provides two-way communication and aims to raise the critical awareness of spectators. This form of theatre is known as Theatre for Development. It aims to promote awareness of political, social and economic issues. Theatre for Development goes beyond the theatrical event giving people skills to confront problems and solve them. The AIDS pandemic is a human tragedy that is threatening development in the world's poorest countries. In fact, 95 per cent of people with HIV or AIDS live in developing countries. HIV accentuates inadequacies that exist in health care infrastructures and highlights social and economic inequalities. There is no known cure for this disease but through systematic national programs that focus on preventing HIV transmission it is possible to significantly lower infection rates. Theatre should be part of any national HIV/AIDS program. Theatre for Development is effective in communicating HIV/AIDS related information and promoting attitude changes. Theatre has many advantages as an educational technique; it engages participants, is appropriate to the local situation, adapts to indigenous cultures, assists with skill development and encourages discussion about sensitive issues. In Vanuatu, Wan Smolbag theatre uses Theatre for Development to provide people with the knowledge and skills required to prevent HIV/AIDS infection. The mainstay of this Non Governmental Organisations' (NGO) work is short interactive theatre pieces of 20 to 50 minutes. In addition, WSB has created videos, radio dramas and educational materials. WSB's HIV/AIDS theatre is based on the Freiran concepts of participation and dialogue. As a consequence, the group's theatre reflects the lives of its participants and is proving that theatre can be a powerful tool for improving people's knowledge of HIV/AIDS

Theatre information : searched and recorded once, manifold extended and used

Düsseldorf is the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, the state with the highest number of inhabitants in Germany. The city has a rich cultural history: The theatre history started in 1585 (the festivities in the context of a princely marriage at Düsseldorf). Theatre historiography marks three great periods for Düsseldorf (Immermann, 1834-1837; Dumont-Lindemann, 1905-1933; Gründgens, 1947-1955). In 2005 and 2006 we celebrate many anniversaries within the theatrical context: 100 years Schauspielhaus Dumont-Lindemann in 2005, 50 years theatre community Düsseldorf-Duisburg (Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg), 50 years puppet theatre (Düsseldorfer Marionettentheater), 30 years children and youth theatre (Kinder- und Jugendtheater im Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus), 10 years Capitol (musical theatre) beside other cultural events, for example the anniversaries of Heine and Schumann

Observing theatre: spirituality and subjectivity in the performing arts

Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe and co-authors take the exploration of the subjective dimension of theatre, its spiritual context, its relation to consciousness and natural law, further than ever before, thanks to the context provided by the thinking of German geobiologist Hans Binder. We present relevant aspects of Binder’s approach as precisely as possible, then take Binder’s approach for granted to tease out the implications of that approach to the issues of theatre, including nostalgia, intercultural theatre, theatre criticism, dealing with demanding roles, the canon, theatre and philosophy, digital performance, practice as research, and applied theatre. Overall, the book proposes an overarching emphasis on the importance of living in the present and the concomitant need to abandon obsolete but still powerful patterns of the past. In this context, theatre, according to Binder, has a global responsibility for the new world in which humans are liberated from the scourge of the past. Theatre has the power and thus the responsibility to be path-breaking for a new “fiction”, to show to people, in a playful and creative manner, the direction in which the new consciousness can move. (Publisher

Theatre Reviews

The Tempest. Dir. Silviu Purcarete. The National Theatre “Marin Sorescu” of Craiova, Romania. 16th Shakespeare Festival, Gdansk, Poland   Richard III. Dir. Gabriel Villela. Blanes Museum Garden, Montevideo, Uruguay Henry V. Dir. Des McAnuff. Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Ontario, Canada Julius Caesar. Dir. Gregory Doran. Royal Shakespeare Company A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Adapted and dir. Georgina Kakoudaki. Theatre groups _2 and 4Frontal, Theatro tou Neou Kosmou, Greece Julius Caesar: Scripta Femina. Dir. Roubini Moschochoriti. Theatre group Anima Kinitiras Studio, Greec

William Gladstone and the theatre

<p>This article discusses the various links between 19th century British Prime Minister William Gladstone and the theatre, his understanding of its function in society and his role in shaping the argument for a subsidised National Theatre. It links Gladstone to wider debates in theatre historiography calling for a reassessment of orthodox approaches to Victorian culture.</p> <p>Gladstone, ‘colossus of the Victorian Age’, serious, respectable and deeply religious, seems an unlikely advocate for the theatre in general and publicly subsidised theatre in particular, and research so far has largely overlooked this issue. Yet Gladstone was not only an avid theatre- goer with a broad taste but he also had clear ideas about the theatre’s function in society. Despite finding himself in opposition to widespread beliefs that the state should not ‘meddle with the arts’ and that theatres should remain commercial concerns, he actively supported the theatre’s cause by lobbying for official honours, state subsidies and the establishment of a National Theatre. In doing so Gladstone was well ahead of the debate about state aid to the performing arts, crucially influenced decisions well after his death and proved vital for the eventual foundation of a National Theatre after World War II.</p&gt

Second thoughts are best: Edward Gordon Craig and an education through theatre design

Craig’s vision of theatre making was one of ongoing reinvention; to turn over what had been and to look for new ‘truths'. It required a mastery of the multiple domains of theatre practice: the visual, the performative and the technical as well as an acute engagement with the intangible, the poetic and perhaps the spiritual. This paper will focus on the UK; to provide a sense of the emergence and development of theatre design as a site of study and to place Craig’s vision of the ‘theatre athlete’ in the context of contemporary theatre design education. Perhaps a hundred years on from ‘On The Art of the Theatre’, this is a good time for ‘second thoughts’; to review and evaluate Craig’s legacy and influence and to consider what advice he might have for us in contemplating the next hundred