The influence of new media on theatrical practice over the past fifty years has spurred a movement towards theatrical forms which are increasingly organized around the sensory elements of performance. This change is most noticeable in the visual approaches to theatre, and it has produced what I have labeled a theatre of visuality. This thesis argues that the tendencies for visualization found in visual media have extensively marked the performance strategies of contemporary theatre practice, resulting in a shift away from the logocentric dramatic text and towards theatre performance organized around the visual. Looking at four contemporary productions of Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck –Thomas Ostermeier’s Woyzeck (2005), Vesturport’s Woyzeck (2005), Robert Wilson’s Woyzeck (2000), and Josef Nadj’s Woyzeck ou l’Ébauche du Vertige (1994)– this thesis produces a preliminary typology of four distinct visualities/theatrical forms which make up the theatre of visuality: hyperrealism, synesthesia, superficiality, and visual narration. This thesis contributes to the conceptualization and understanding of postdramatic theatre by linking the theatre’s rejection of the text to the increased centrality of the visual in performance, and by tracing these shifts to the influence of visual media.

The influence of new media on theatrical practice over the past fifty years has spurred a movement towards theatrical forms which are increasingly organized around the sensory elements of performance. This change is most noticeable in the visual approaches to theatre, and it has produced what I have labeled a theatre of visuality. This thesis argues that the tendencies for visualization found in visual media have extensively marked the performance strategies of contemporary theatre practice, resulting in a shift away from the logocentric dramatic text and towards theatre performance organized around the visual. Looking at four contemporary productions of Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck –Thomas Ostermeier’s Woyzeck (2005), Vesturport’s Woyzeck (2005), Robert Wilson’s Woyzeck (2000), and Josef Nadj’s Woyzeck ou l’Ébauche du Vertige (1994)– this thesis produces a preliminary typology of four distinct visualities/theatrical forms which make up the theatre of visuality: hyperrealism, synesthesia, superficiality, and visual narration. This thesis contributes to the conceptualization and understanding of postdramatic theatre by linking the theatre’s rejection of the text to the increased centrality of the visual in performance, and by tracing these shifts to the influence of visual media.

Una performance teatrale è un meccanismo complesso che viaggia attraverso molte variabili. L'approccio della lettura dell'evento performativo come nodo d'incontro e scambio di diversi agenti e aspetti è stato inoltre presentato dall'International Federation for Theater Research (IFTR) nella pubblicazione Theatrical Events. Borders, Dynamics, Frames. La tesi dottorale, in accordo con tale lettura, presenta tre case-study: Motus, Punchdrunk e Robert Wilson. I tre esempi sono qui analizzati nella loro totalità di opere d'arte, fenomeni culturali e meccanismi organizzativi, evidenziandone peculiarità, similitudini e differenze. Di ognuno sono stati valutati il processo creativo, le strategie di produzione, la relazione con la stampa e/o i mezzi di diffusione, le collaborazioni con la comunità artistica, la relazione con il pubblico. La ricerca è stata portata avanti coordinando diverse metodologie: la preferenza è stata data alle fonti primarie e al lavoro di campo nell'area di New York - interviste, fotografie, raccolta di dati e materiale iconografico. Sono stati poi consultati gli archivi della New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, della Byrd Hoffmann Foundation e del The Watermill Center. Il secondo capitolo si avvale inoltre della preziosa collaborazione sul campo dei ricercatori del gruppo ISPOCC (Initiative for the Study and Practice of Organized Creativity and Culture) della Columbia University Business School / A performance is a dynamic system that involves many variables. The importance of theatre performances as aesthetic-communicative encounters of a wide range of agents and aspects has also been stressed by IFTR, through the working group "Theatrical events" and its publication Theatrical Events. Borders, Dynamics, Frames. In accordance with the IFTR approach, the dissertation presents three case-study: Motus, Punchdrunk and Robert Wilson. The three international artists and companies are studied here as a crossroad of interactions among art, marketing, and social context, tracing similarities and differences in their theatrical productions. Specifically, the research analyzed four theatrical events: Sleep No More by Punchdrunk, Syrma Antigones project by Motus, The Discovery Watermill Day and The Old Woman by Robert Wilson. The essay is the result of a combined archive and fieldwork research based in New York. The archival materials is from New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Byrd Hoffman Foundation, The Watermill Center, Motus theater company's archive, while the fieldwork collected visual materials such as pictures, sketches, videos as well as interviews and artists notes during the events. Part of the Sleep No More's fieldwork is in collaboration with ISPOCC (Initiative for the Study and Practice of Organized Creativity and Culture) at Columbia University Business School.