My critical essay maps out the relationship between verbal and non-verbal information in contemporary theatrical writing. It uses Lehmann's theory of a post-dramatic theatre and Pfister's analytical input to investigate different configurations of the information given by the characters' speech and the information given by their physical actions. The ways in which these variables interrelate define the type of affiliation between theatre and drama in any given text. My essay contends that the verbal and the non-verbal represent the two ends of the spectrum of possibilities of any written theatre text. The predominance of one over the other will determine the extent to which the 'presence' of the dramatist intervenes in the staging of the work. Using Old Times as a case study, I examine the way in which Pinter stretches the gap between the verbal and the non-verbal; by using his knowledge of the stage, he confronts the remoteness of the literary in theatrical writing. My play Southern Quest recognizes the minds of the readers and of the spectators as the place where the closure of the gap occurs. Its stage directions make of the stage, the properties and actions a creation that is parallel to the fictional one (only present in the dialogue of the characters). There is a permanent discrepancy, not a contradiction, between what is said and what and where it is done that demands that the actual assembly of the possible fiction takes place in the receiver's mind. The creative component draws on numerous elements analysed in the critical work, such as the discordance between the verbal and the non-verbal and the use of narrative monologues in theatrical writing. The lack of agreement between the verbal and the non-verbal-a heightened discordance at the beginning and the end of the play, with a minimal discrepancy towards the centre-mirrors the characters' journey throughout the play: from existential doubt to physical agony and back. The theoretical concerns addressed in the essay are explored in the writing of the play and my main formal drive in the creative piece is to explore the division between theatre and drama from within the text.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/257380 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Lozano, Carlos Enrique, School of English, UNSW |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright |
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