Theory for Theatre Studies: Emotion

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by Peta Tait

Emotion explores how emotion is communicated in drama, theatre and contemporary performance and therefore in society. From Aristotle and Shakespeare to Stanislavski, from Brecht to Caryl Churchill, drama and theatre are revealed to inform but also to warn about the emotions. The term emotion encompasses the emotions, emotional feelings, affect and mood, and the book explores how these concepts are embodied and experienced within theatrical practice and explained in theory. Since emotion is artistically staged, its composition and impact can be described and analysed and in relation to interdisciplinary approaches. Students and other readers are encouraged to consider how emotion is dramatically, aurally, and visually developed to create innovative performance. Case studies include productions of Medea, Twelfth Night, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Ibsens A Dolls House, and performances by Mabou Mines, Robert Lepage, Rimini Protokoll, Anna Deavere Smith, Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, Marina Abramovic and The Wooster Group. By way of these detailed case studies, readers will appreciate new methodologies and approaches for their own exploration of emotion as a performance component.