The Cambridge Companion to Theatre and Science

The Cambridge Companion to Theatre and Science
Author: Kirsten E. Shepherd-Barr
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2020-12-03
Genre: Art
ISBN: 110847652X

The first ever companion to theatre and science brings together research on key topics, performances, and new areas of interest.

Theatre Sciences

Theatre Sciences
Author:
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2015-06-26
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1836241313

Traditional theatre semiotics promoted a scientific approach to theatre studies, albeit viewing semiotics as the unique discipline of research. Theatre Sciences: A Plea for a Multidisciplinary Approach to Theatre Studies suggests instead a multi-disciplinary approach, including the following theoretical disciplines: narratology, mythology, pragmatics, ethics, theatre irony, theory of genres, aesthetics, semiotics, theory of non-verbal figures of speech, rhetoric, psychoanalysis, reception theory, history, and sociology -- with semiotics being only one among equals. These disciplines are presented from the perspective of their possible contributions to a sound methodology of theatre-texts analysis. Traditional theatre semiotics, moreover, holds the view that the actual performance on stage is the genuine text of theatre, instead of the play-script. Despite this paradigmatic shift, however, this viewpoint has failed to produce commendable analyses of such texts. The alternative presupposition put forward in this volume entails a series of novel perceptions of the theatre-text and its possible impact on the experiencing spectator, whose role in reading, interpreting and experiencing the theatre-text is not less crucial than that of the text itself. This view presupposes that the theatre-text is a description of a fictional world generated by the theatre medium. The author also contests the age-old view that a theatre/fictional-text reflects a simple narrative structure, and suggests instead a complexity that consists of seven layers: personified, mythical, praxical, naive, ironic, modal and aesthetic -- with each one of them re-structuring the previous layer. Professor Rozik also presents and describes a semiotic layer that lends communicative capacity to the description of a fictional world, and two additional metaphoric and rhetoric layers, which structure the theatre experience. The underlying purpose is to illustrate the application of the aforementioned disciplines to these fictional layers, and eventually their joint application to entire theatre / fictional texts. Organisation of the book reflects the structure of a university course.

Theatre and Cognitive Neuroscience

Theatre and Cognitive Neuroscience
Author: Clelia Falletti
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2016-02-25
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1472584805

This is the first volume to provide a detailed introduction to some of the main areas of research and practice in the interdisciplinary field of art and neuroscience. With contributions from neuroscientists, theatre scholars and artists from seven countries, it offers a rich and rigorous array of perspectives as a springboard to further exploration. Divided into four parts, each prefaced by an expert editorial introduction, it examines: * Theatre as a space of relationships: a neurocognitive perspective * The spectator's performative experience and 'embodied theatrology' * The complexity of theatre and human cognition * Interdisciplinary perspectives on applied performance Each part includes contributions from international pioneers of interdisciplinarity in theatre scholarship, and from neuroscientists of world-renown researching the physiology of action, the mirror neuron mechanism, action perception, space perception, empathy and intersubjectivity. While illustrating the remarkable growth of interest in the performing arts for cognitive neuroscience, this volume also reveals the extraordinary richness of exchange and debate born out of different approaches to the topics.

Earth Matters on Stage

Earth Matters on Stage
Author: Theresa J. May
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 303
Release: 2020-08-09
Genre: Art
ISBN: 1000069982

Earth Matters on Stage: Ecology and Environment in American Theater tells the story of how American theater has shaped popular understandings of the environment throughout the twentieth century as it argues for theater’s potential power in the age of climate change. Using cultural and environmental history, seven chapters interrogate key moments in American theater and American environmentalism over the course of the twentieth century in the United States. It focuses, in particular, on how drama has represented environmental injustice and how inequality has become part of the American environmental landscape. As the first book-length ecocritical study of American theater, Earth Matters examines both familiar dramas and lesser-known grassroots plays in an effort to show that theater can be a powerful force for social change from frontier drama of the late nineteenth century to the eco-theater movement. This book argues that theater has always and already been part of the history of environmental ideas and action in the United States. Earth Matters also maps the rise of an ecocritical thought and eco-theater practice – what the author calls ecodramaturgy – showing how theater has informed environmental perceptions and policies. Through key plays and productions, it identifies strategies for artists who want their work to contribute to cultural transformation in the face of climate change.

Theater as Data

Theater as Data
Author: Miguel Escobar Varela
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2021-08-02
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0472128639

In Theater as Data, Miguel Escobar Varela explores the use of computational methods and digital data in theater research. He considers the implications of these new approaches, and explains the roles that statistics and visualizations play. Reflecting on recent debates in the humanities, the author suggests that there are two ways of using data, both of which have a place in theater research. Data-driven methods are closer to the pursuit of verifiable results common in the sciences; and data-assisted methods are closer to the interpretive traditions of the humanities. The book surveys four major areas within theater scholarship: texts (not only playscripts but also theater reviews and program booklets); relationships (both the links between fictional characters and the collaborative networks of artists and producers); motion (the movement of performers and objects on stage); and locations (the coordinates of performance events, venues, and touring circuits). Theater as Data examines important contributions to theater studies from similar computational research, including in classical French drama, collaboration networks in Australian theater, contemporary Portuguese choreography, and global productions of Ibsen. This overview is complemented by short descriptions of the author’s own work in the computational analysis of theater practices in Singapore and Indonesia. The author ends by considering the future of computational theater research, underlining the importance of open data and digital sustainability practices, and encouraging readers to consider the benefits of learning to code. A web companion offers illustrative data, programming tutorials, and videos.

Quantum Theatre

Quantum Theatre
Author: Paul Johnson
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2013-01-16
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1443845736

Quantum Theatre uses the science of quantum mechanics to construct a rigorous framework for examining performance practice and the theatrical event, and live performance as a means of exploring the implications of quantum mechanics. Key ideas from physics are used to develop an interdisciplinary approach to writing about the work of a number of British theatre practitioners in terms of identity, observation and play. What this type of analysis does is enable an examination of aspects of performance that can remain hidden and so cast new light on the performance event. This is the first study of its kind that develops such a framework for analysis of contemporary performance, and provides a coherent alternative to postmodernism as a theoretical framework for writing about performance. As such, this book develops a methodology that can be applied to a wide range of performance practices. Furthermore, it presents an analysis of the work of a number of contemporary performance makers, including Vincent Dance Theatre and Triangle Theatre.

The Theatre of Nuclear Science

The Theatre of Nuclear Science
Author: Jeanne Tiehen
Publisher: Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-05-31
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9781032131436

The Theatre of Nuclear Science theoretically explores theatrical representations of nuclear science to reconsider a science that can have consequences beyond imagination. Focusing on a series of nuclear science plays that span the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and including performances of nuclear science in museums, film, and media, Jeanne Tiehen argues why theatre and its unique qualities can offer important perspectives on this imperative topic. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of theatre, politics, and literature.

Science & Theatre

Science & Theatre
Author: Emma Weitkamp
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2022-08-11
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1800436424

Weitkamp and Almeida enter into the space where museums, universities and research centres operate, as well as the space of theatre practitioners, they explore the richness and plurality of this universe, combining theory and practice, as well as presenting context, knowledge gaps and new data.

The Routledge Companion to Theatre, Performance and Cognitive Science

The Routledge Companion to Theatre, Performance and Cognitive Science
Author: Rick Kemp
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 811
Release: 2018-09-05
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1351690361

The Routledge Companion to Theatre, Performance and Cognitive Science integrates key findings from the cognitive sciences (cognitive psychology, neuroscience, evolutionary studies and relevant social sciences) with insights from theatre and performance studies. This rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field dynamically advances critical and theoretical knowledge, as well as driving innovation in practice. The anthology includes 30 specially commissioned chapters, many written by authors who have been at the cutting-edge of research and practice in the field over the last 15 years. These authors offer many empirical answers to four significant questions: How can performances in theatre, dance and other media achieve more emotional and social impact? How can we become more adept teachers and learners of performance both within and outside of classrooms? What can the cognitive sciences reveal about the nature of drama and human nature in general? How can knowledge transfer, from a synthesis of science and performance, assist professionals such as nurses, care-givers, therapists and emergency workers in their jobs? A wide-ranging and authoritative guide, The Routledge Companion to Theatre, Performance and Cognitive Science is an accessible tool for not only students, but practitioners and researchers in the arts and sciences as well.

Sons of the Prophet

Sons of the Prophet
Author: Stephen Karam
Publisher: Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2012
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9780822225973

"Sons of the Prophet was produced by the Huntington Theatre Company (Peter DuBois, artistic director; Michael Maso, managing director) in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 13, 2011."