Contemporary Mise en Scene
Staging Theatre Today
1st Edition
Published on 29. October 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
384 pages
978-0-415-55344-5 (ISBN)
Description
'We have good reason to be wary of mise en scene, but that is all the more reason to question this wariness ... it seems that images from a performance come back to haunt us, as if to prolong and transform our experience as spectators, as if to force us to rethink the event, to return to our pleasure or our terror.' - Patrice Pavis, from the foreword
Contemporary Mise en Scene is Patrice Pavis's masterful analysis of the role that staging has played in the creation and practice of theatre throughout history. This stunningly ambitious study considers:
the staged reading, at the frontiers of mise en scene;
scenography, which sometimes replaces staging;
the reinterpretation of classical and contemporary works;
the development of intercultural theatre and ritual;
new technologies and their usage live on the stage;
the postmodern practice of deconstruction.
But it also applies sustained critical attention to the challenges of defining mise en scene, of tracking its development, and of exploring its possible futures. Joel Anderson's powerful new translation lucidly realises Pavis's investigation of the changing possibilities for stagecraft in the context of performance art, physical theatre and modern theory.
Contemporary Mise en Scene is Patrice Pavis's masterful analysis of the role that staging has played in the creation and practice of theatre throughout history. This stunningly ambitious study considers:
the staged reading, at the frontiers of mise en scene;
scenography, which sometimes replaces staging;
the reinterpretation of classical and contemporary works;
the development of intercultural theatre and ritual;
new technologies and their usage live on the stage;
the postmodern practice of deconstruction.
But it also applies sustained critical attention to the challenges of defining mise en scene, of tracking its development, and of exploring its possible futures. Joel Anderson's powerful new translation lucidly realises Pavis's investigation of the changing possibilities for stagecraft in the context of performance art, physical theatre and modern theory.
Reviews / Votes
'The topic of this book formed the basis of a series of ten lectures given by Pavis at the University of Kent in 2005 whilst he was in residence as Leverhulme Visiting Professor. The lectures were insightful, comprehensive, entertaining and remarkably witty: words which well describe this extremely important book...Pavis has a truly remarkable ability to simultaneously describe, analyze and evaluate performance practice - at once the naive audience member and the supreme analytical and critical theoretician...As this persistent and tireless lexicographer deconstructs, anatomizes and rebuilds various understandings and possibilities of mise en scene, the truly awe-inspiring range and breadth of the book is revealed. The possibilities of mise en scene emerge as the social, cultural and artistic energy behind making theatre and performance; in effect the phrase takes on the qualities of an active verb - 'to theatre'. This analysis is undertaken with tremendous energy, enthusiasm and optimism, but also with a gentle humility that is constantly aware of the fundamental ephemerality and transience of theory.' Christopher Baugh, Studies in Theatre and Performance"French theatre semiotician Patrice Pavis reminds us that despite its emergence from the histories of directing and scenography, mise en scene is "an abstract, theoretical notion, not a concrete and empirical one" (4), and it is worth revisiting its legacies in this postdramatic age." - Jeanmarie Higgins, Theatre Journal
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
33 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
33 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 148 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
496 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-415-55344-5 (9780415553445)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2013
1st Edition
Routledge
€69.99
Available for download
E-Book
05/2013
1st Edition
Routledge
€69.99
Available for download
Book
10/2012
1st Edition
Routledge
€206.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Patrice Pavis is Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Kent. He was formerly Professor of Theatre Studies at Paris VIII University. His Dictionary of the Theatre has been published in 30 different languages.
Content
1 Where did mise en scene come from? 2 On the frontiers of mise en scene 3 The difference between mise en scene and performance 4 Tendencies in French scenography 5 The mise en jeu of contemporary texts 6 The intercultural trap: rituality and mise en scene in the video art of Guillermo Gomez-Pena 7 Theatre in another culture: a Korean example 8 Media on the stage 9 The deconstruction of postmodern mise en scene 10 Physical theatre and the dramaturgy of the actor 11 The splendour and the misery of interpreting the classics 12 Staging calamity: mise en scene and performance at Avignon 2005 13 Conclusions: Where is mise en scene going?