Tuesday
Mar092010
Here's a stupid question...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 12:25PM
by Jamie
I’ve spent some time trying to think about how to pose this question. Asking “what is the definition of theatre?” feels both incredibly arrogant and incredibly stupid. So common sense, and yet so philosophical. Who the hell am I to ask that question? Well, I’ll tell you - I’m currently a university instructor who has asked her class to write a paper on Canadian theatre, and who was challenged by a student to specify what exactly falls into the category of “theatre.” This, I feel, gives me the right to discuss such an important question. GPAs are on the line!
Aside from the academic and philosophical reasons, there are practical reasons for tackling this question. Grants, for example. Who is eligible to apply for theatre grants? Certainly many performance artists who may not necessarily fall into my personal definition of theatre have received theatre grants. And my personal definition of theatre, which is perhaps more exclusive than inclusive, is up in the air these days.
Do you consider the following forms of performance works of “theatre”?
Circus?
If no, what about this kind of circus?
That was Calgary's Mooky Cornish, by the way. You'd be hard pressed to find anybody who'd deny her the title of theatre artist.
How about street artists? Like Basketball Jones, who does stunts with basketballs in public performances? If not him, what about Dean Bareham's Gustavo performances? Fire-spinners? Jugglers? Buskers? What if they are in character?
How about character-based stand up comedy or improv? Does theatre require character? Metaphor? Theatre used to imply the building the event took place in, but that definition has long since become obsolete. Do you have a definition?
I’ve spent some time trying to think about how to pose this question. Asking “what is the definition of theatre?” feels both incredibly arrogant and incredibly stupid. So common sense, and yet so philosophical. Who the hell am I to ask that question? Well, I’ll tell you - I’m currently a university instructor who has asked her class to write a paper on Canadian theatre, and who was challenged by a student to specify what exactly falls into the category of “theatre.” This, I feel, gives me the right to discuss such an important question. GPAs are on the line!
Aside from the academic and philosophical reasons, there are practical reasons for tackling this question. Grants, for example. Who is eligible to apply for theatre grants? Certainly many performance artists who may not necessarily fall into my personal definition of theatre have received theatre grants. And my personal definition of theatre, which is perhaps more exclusive than inclusive, is up in the air these days.
Do you consider the following forms of performance works of “theatre”?
Circus?
 |
If no, what about this kind of circus?
That was Calgary's Mooky Cornish, by the way. You'd be hard pressed to find anybody who'd deny her the title of theatre artist.
How about street artists? Like Basketball Jones, who does stunts with basketballs in public performances? If not him, what about Dean Bareham's Gustavo performances? Fire-spinners? Jugglers? Buskers? What if they are in character?
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How about character-based stand up comedy or improv? Does theatre require character? Metaphor? Theatre used to imply the building the event took place in, but that definition has long since become obsolete. Do you have a definition?
Reader Comments (6)
The question 'what is theatre' is a really good question for 'our times,' and the answer is a complicated one, given both the emergence of new (sub)genres, such as performance art, and also the blending of different art forms, such as theatrical films (thinking Mamet's "Dogville," for one) and theatre performances that incorporate film and other digital elements.
I've always been intrigued by the etymology of the word 'theatre,' the idea that the word encompasses both an act (seeing, beholding) and a place (a site where something to see can/will exist/occur). What's interesting to me is that while ideas of what constitutes theatre have arguably swelled in recent decades, the word's root meaning is itself fairly vast, if you think about it. So we've kind of come full circle, in a sense?
Now, my own definition of the word is more limited (though I'll have to give more thought to these limits before I get into it here)...but I'd say as far as some of the examples you cite above, that while I'd allow there are theatrical elements or 'theatricality' to say, a circus event or street performance to them, they are not theatre in the conventional sense of Western world theatre history.
Oh, I also wanted to add how intrigued/disturbed I've always been by medical reference (in the past moreso than today) to 'operating theatres.' It's so very "Frankenstein." Given the number of companies in the 20th and 21st century that posit themselves as 'labs,' this is also a line of the thought to consider when exploring our definition of theatre.
Thanks Nicole. Yes, the medical one is a bit odd. So is the military use. The "theatre of war" or "theatre of combat" has always bothered me a bit.
But why does the space really matter that much? Dean Barehams Gustavo-stuff isn't theatre when he does street performance, but he'll do that exact routine in a theatre this spring at Kids fest, what's the difference? Is it that there's a specific start time? It's ticketed?
I'd argue that Dean Bareham IS doing theatre with his Gustavo performances. The fact that he's acting, that he's playing a character is a big point in the "theatre" column as far as I'm concerned.
To me the essence of theatre, what distinguishes it, and makes it worth participating in, both as a performer and an audience member, is that it puts in front of us what happens between people at a psychological, spiritual and symbolic level. It contains dramatic action, which to me implies acting on or in relationship to another person.
And that is echoed in a rich way by the live dynamic between the actors and the audience and between the actors and the community in which they perform and between the actors and the characters they portray.
So I think that circus and street theatre and some performance art and stand-up comedy can have elements of that. But if it is just live entertainment with no element of showing what happens between people, then to me, it is not theatre.