Narrative and beyond : photography as a medium for the analysis of perception and meaning with the actor/spectator relationship

Abstract

The thesis investigates the nature of how the actor's work is perceived by the spectator within the field of contemporary research theatre. A theoretical perspective will frame an interdisciplinary investigation into the creation and reception of theatrical signs within contemporary research theatre. A practical perspective then uses the creation of photographic images of the actor at work and their consequent reading as a case study. The first part of the thesis adopts Eugenio Barba' s principles of theatre anthropology to analyse the creation and reception of signs by means of precarious equilibrium, the dance of oppositions, and consistent inconsistencies in the work of the performer. These principles will be seen as producing a level of estrangement within the encoded action, resulting in increased ambiguity of the performance text received by the spectator. The effectiveness and potential universality of these estrangement techniques are investigated. The second part of the thesis consists of a case study that focuses on the laboratory work of Centro Indipendente Ricerca Teatrale - a Milan-based theatre group under the artistic direction of Mario Ruggeri - during their work within the Summer University of Performing Arts (University of Malta 2005, 2006). The case study documents the theoretical and practical aspects of the group's work by means of photographic images of a segment of performance text. The resultant images as well as documented spectator response to a performance text performed by C.I.R.T. are analysed in the light of the principles of theatre anthropology. The principle aims which the thesis addresses are, therefore, (i) an inquiry into the creation of performance texts within contemporary research theatre, (ii) a problematization of Eugenio Barba's principles of theatre anthropology, and (iii) an inquiry into how spectators perceive and react to contemporary theatre performances.