Le sujet traite de la notion du mime tragique de J.-L. Barrault dans quatre de ses mises en scènes relatives à l'art du geste et du mime.La première partie de la thèse trace les influences qui ont forgées artistiquement Barrault, dont J. Copeau, le Cartel et plus particulièrement Ch. Dullin. Une grande partie est consacrée à Étienne Decroux sur les niveaux théorique et pratique du mime corporel de Barrault. Barrault fut aussi sous le charme « magnétique » d'A. Artaud ce qui sera également évoqué à divers moments dans cette recherche. La partie est complétée par une section dédiée à l’empreinte que Barrault, par son enseignement et son travail, a laissée sur les mimes connus tels M. Marceau et J. Lecoq. La deuxième partie, définira la notion du mime tragique. Dans l’article « Le mime tragique », Barrault étend la notion du mime à l’action dramatique tout en la liant aux pouvoirs du corps humain, afin qu’elle devienne à la fois, la médiatrice entre la vie intérieure et la vie extérieure et leur expression sur scène. Le mime tragique parle d’un théâtre en interaction avec ses ressources corporelles. Il laisse entrevoir un point de vue du mime élargi, car Barrault s’éloigne de l’aspect “purement mime” pour l’étendre à un langage corporel plus vaste, composé de la technique du mime corporel Decroux, de la pensée d’Artaud, de Dullin, de Craig et même de Stanislavski. Dans la troisième et dernière partie, grâce au matériel du Fonds Renaud-Barrault, les mises en scène de Jean-Louis Barrault sont examinées du point de vue de la présence en elles du corps et du mime Il s’agit d’un chapitre qui analyse les composants du mime tragique (tels que l'action objective, l'action subjective, vie intérieure, le Double et autres) dans les pièces La Faim, Antoine et Cléopâtre, Baptiste, Les Suites d’une course. / The subject deals with the concept of the tragic mime Jean-Louis Barrault in four of his theatrical performances related to the art of gesture and mime. The first part of the thesis traces the influences that have forged artistically Barrault, including J. Copeau, the Cartel and especially Ch. Dullin. A large part is devoted to Etienne Decroux’s influence on a theoretical and practical level. Barrault was also under the "magnetic" charm of A. Artaud which will also be discussed various times in this research. The section is completed by the description of Barrault’s teaching and work and its influence to well-known mimes, such as M. Marceau and J. Lecoq. The second part defines the notion of the tragic mime. In to the article “Le mime tragique” Barrault extends the notion of mime as a dramatic action. Mime becomes the mediator between the inner life, the outer life and their expression on stage. The tragic mime talks about a theater in an interaction with the actors corporeal resources. It suggests a broader perspective of mime, since Barrault deviates from the "pure mime" so as to extend it to a wider body language, consisted of Decroux’s mime technique and Artaud’s, Dullin’s, Craig’s and even Stanislavski’s theories and practices.In the third and last part, thanks to the material of the Fonds Renaud-Barrault, the directing of Jean-Louis Barrault is analyzed from the view of the corporeal presence and mime elements into his theatrical performances. Tragic mime components (such as objective action, subjective action, inner life, dublicity, etc) in the staging, will be analyzed extensively.

This mini-thesis investigates the concepts of refusal and rupture as a postdramatic revolt and how these terms can be applied and read within the context of analysing contemporary devised performance in South Africa. The argument focuses on the efficacy of Hans-Thies Lehmann’s postdramatic terminology and the potential of its use in an appreciation of contemporary performance analysis. I investigate the potential in South African contemporary devised performance practice to challenge prevailing modes of traditional dramatic expectation in order to restore the experience of discovery and questioning in the spectator. This research is approached through a qualitative process which entails a reading and application of selected critical texts to the analysis with an application of Lehmann’s terminology. This reading/application is engaged in a dialogue with the interpretative and experiential aspects of selected South African devised performances with particular focus on four cross-disciplinary works selected for analysis. Chapter One functions as an introduction to the concept of postdramatic theatre and the application of the terms refusal and rupture as deconstructive keywords in the process of a devised performance. Chapter Two is an analysis of several South African contemporary performances with particular focus on Body of Evidence (2009) by Siwela Sonke Dance Company, Wreckage (2011) a collaboration by Ubom! Eastern Cape Drama Company and First Physical Theatre Company, Discharge (2012) by First Physical Theatre Company, and Drifting (2013) by The Rhodes University Drama Department. This mini-thesis concludes with the idea that with an understanding of refusal and rupture in a postdramatic revolt, contemporary devised performance achieves an awakening in its spectators by deconstructing the expectation of understanding and the need for resolve; the assumption and need for traditional dramatic structures and rules are challenged. Instead, it awakes an experience of discovery and questioning.

We live in a globalized world that is changing rapidly. We interconnect between cultures in different ways. But what if we want to go global with a performance to go around the world, without modifying the piece? Is that possible? How to be international but without losing the here and now by reading subtitles? The diversity of sounds when speaking on stage can embrace otherness, the audience's encounter with a language that may not be familiar to them. This is my journey through creating a play to broaden the audiences I can reach as much as possible.

This thesis examines ways in which identities have been represented in new South African play texts. It begins by exploring various ways in which identity has been described from various philosophical, psychological and anthropological perspectives. In particular, the thesis describes its methodology in terms of Gilles Deleuze's definition of "rhizomatic" structures. The introduction also elaborates ways in which drama is uniquely suited to represent ¨C as well as to effect ¨C transformations of identity. The thesis then moves on to an examination of specific texts in terms of four broad areas of investigation ¨C gender, political affiliation, ethnicity and syncretism. In these chapters a number of play texts are investigated from different points of view. Firstly, in a chapter on gender, the thesis focuses specifically on issues of masculinity and exile in plays by Athol Fugard, Anthony Akerman and Zakes Mda. This chapter explores orientations of the masculine which have become embedded within notions of nationalism and patriotism. In terms of political affiliations, the thesis looks at what Loren Kruger has called "post-anti-apartheid theatre" (2002: 233) and considers the trend away from protest theatre. With reference to the plays of Mike van Graan it also examines new forms of protest theatre. This chapter also explores plays which were inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and looks in more detail at Ubu and the Truth Commission by Jane Taylor. When considering ethnicities, the thesis reflects on how identity in terms of an ethnic collective is most often premised on laws of exclusion, and on the construction of what Benedict Anderson refers to as an "imagined community" (1991: 15). Representations of ethnic identities are then analysed in Happy Natives by Greig Coetzee. Syncretism seems to present a preferable description of how South African identities can be constructed and the thesis then elaborates attempts to forge a new identity in terms of amalgamation and a creative fusion of cultural resources, with particular reference to the plays of Brett Bailey and Reza de Wet. In the conclusion of this thesis, the thorny issue of racial identities is considered, and in particular the trope of the "rainbow nation", which many writers regard as a problematic blanketing description which cancels out difference. Instead, Ashraf Jamal's "radical syncretism", which does not seek to subsume heterogeneous identities, is suggested as a viable means of approaching definitions of identity. The final chapter also briefly touches on the development of physical theatre in South Africa and describes how the body can be used as a tool for transformation, relying principally on the writings of Mark Fleishman and Eugenio Barba in this regard. Finally, again resorting to a Deleuzian vocabulary which describes identity as constructed in terms of lines operating on particular planes, the thesis considers whether it may not be more beneficial in the post-apartheid context to favour paradoxical processes which relinquish identities, instead of those which attempt to consolidate them. @ 2008 Author Please cite as follows: Krueger, AR 2008, Experiments in freedom : representations of identity in new South African drama : an investigation into identity formations in some post-apartheid play-texts published in English by South African writers, from 1994 - 2007, DLitt thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10282008-141823/ > D497/gm / Thesis (DLitt)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / English / unrestricted

The subject of this thesis is Slovak mime theatre. It begins with the connections to the period of its foundation and introduces topic about founder of Slovak mime theatre - Milan Sládek. The next part of the thesis focuses on Slovak amateur theatre artists and their work at the time when professional mime theatre didn't exist in Slovakia. These artists used to experiment with different kinds of theatre technics, including mime theatre. Last part is based on analysis work and performances of the modern authors - Miroslav Kasprzyk, Štefan Capko, Juraj Benčík, Tomáš Kasprzyk, Valéria Daňhová, Barbora Debnárová, Pavol Seriš and modern theatre companies - Puppet Thetare Žilina, Debris Company, Teatro Tatro and Theatre Silent Sparks. It describes how the character of Slovak mime theatre has changed within more than fifty years of existence.