This thesis examines the theatre of Sheffield-based theatre group Forced Entertainment in terms of what art historian Robert Hewison terms 'Social Surrealism'. This term describes a politically engaged series of art practices that developed in Britain under Margaret Thatcher in the late nineteen-eighties. 'Social Surrealist' theatre makers adopted a radically different set of aesthetic strategies to the more traditional leftist political theatre tradition of 'social realism'. While Hewison links these practices to the so-called 'classical' Surrealism theorised by Andr?? Breton, I will argue that a more appropriate and useful Surrealist lineage to account for Forced Entertainment's theatre can be found in the writings of Andr?? Breton's main Surrealist rival, Georges Bataille. This thesis focuses on Bataille's notion of 'the formless' or formlessness, that which undoes and unravels the security and fixity of form, and uses this as a theoretical concept to account for the aesthetics and unravelling theatre practice of Forced Entertainment. This thesis then examines a selection of theatre works by Forced Entertainment, tracing the ways in which these works undo theatre using formlessness.

Thesis (Ph. D)--University of Rochester, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references. Digitized version available online via the Sibley Music Library, Eastman School of Music http://hdl.handle.net/1802/10968

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1930. / Bibliography: p. 128-135.

Thesis--Cologne. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 304-315).

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2003. / Advisor: Dr. Helen Burke, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Mar. 2, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Some recent work of Suvin (indebted to Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenologie de la perception) asserts that two fundamental aspects of the praxis of theatre spectatorship--the non-tactile, inactive physicality of the spectator, and her/his imaginative cognitive participation in the apperception of the performance text--might better be understood when examined with regard to the "apraxias," neurological disorders of purposive physical movement. This thesis follows up this line of thought in examining clinical material on apraxia, both temporally previous and subsequent to Merleau-Ponty's discussion. Additionally, it is contended that various paradigms in Bergson and within modern cognitive science (Edelman, Schacter) may be applied with some utility to the praxis of theatre spectatorship. This may lead to a better understanding of the mental participation of the spectator in the performance text as a modulation of present perception and past subjective experience. Such an understanding is compatible with a semiotic "encyclopedia" (Eco), possibly buttressing it with arguments extrapolated from neurology.

No description available.

In this research, following Mintzberg (1979 a), the structuring mode of these small enterprises, which are the theatrical production compagnies, has been named rudimentary adhocracy. In postulating the essential importance of the product itself in the management of these enterprises, the subject of this research is the praxis of the theatre director while structuring the project by which the theatrical representation happens. / In this research we have identified three types of praxis of directing: the first one is characterized by a search for the effectiveness of dramatic representation, the second one by a search for interiority and the third one by a search for new theatrality and theatralization. The first type, which is related to the > action, is characterized by an objective mode of conception of theatrical imaginary, a proactive mode of elaboration of the product within time and an autocratic mode of control in interpersonal relations. The two other types, which are variants of the > action, are characterized by a subjective mode of conception, a reactive mode of elaboration of the product and an allocratic mode of control. These three types of praxis are manifestations of the personal mode of structuring which we have identified as typical of rudimentary adhocracy. In inverting the title: >, this research leads to the application of the particular case of directing to the general one of management in rudimentary adhocracy. The objects of praxis are seen as being at the same time objects of affection and objects of knowledge, and the praxis of management is reconceptualised in the same way as is praxis of directing, in terms of the affective and cognitive dimensions underlying the manager's vision of the end product, the tight interrelation between that vision and its operationalization, and the influence of the internal and external realities of the manager as much as of the enterprise. This exploratory research has been conducted within an holistic perspective, i.e., considering the praxis of directing as a total fact. Participant observation and guided interview has been used to collect the material upon which the discussion is based.

No description available.