TOK:
THEATRE OF KNOWLEDGE
Ha.. Ha..
theatre of knowledge
What is ’theatre’?
Why is ’theatre’?
Where is ’theatre’?
When is ’theatre’?
Who is ’theatre’?
How is ’theatre’?
Is this ’theatre’?
theatre of knowledge
Theatre is
Life
theatre of knowledge
theatre as knowledge
To some degree the
theatre is the visible
aspect of the script, the
exterior topography of
an inner map.
- Richard Schechner,
Professor of
Performance Studies at
New York University
theatre as knowledge
The human body and the
objects surrounding it – tables,
chairs, beds, cupboards – are all
three dimensional; therefore the
theatre, where the main element
is the actor, must find inspiration
in the plastic arts, not in
painting. The actor must study
the plasticity of the statue.
- Vsevolod Meyerhold
theatre as knowledge
The dhalang of Javanese
wayang kulit (leather
puppets) is both shaman
and puppeteer. He alone
manipulates and gives
voice to the myriad
characters of dramas that
last for eight hours
without pause.
theatre as ritual
Being a somewhat
dark person myself, I
fell in love with the
idea that the
mysterious thing you
look for your whole
life will eventually
eat you alive.
- Laurie Anderson
theatre as rasa
The emotions... are
objective; the feelings
(what an individual
performer or partaker
experiences) are subjective.
What is shared are the
single rasas of a single
emotion or a combination of
emotions.
theatre as life
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and
women merely players:
They have their exits and
their entrances;
And one man in his time
plays many parts,
His acts being seven
ages.
theatre as epic
... the actor must
remain a demonstrator;
he must present the
person demonstrated as
a stranger, he must not
suppress the ’he did
that, he said that’
element in his
performance.
- Bertold Brecht
theatre as play
In a bullfight, the bull
is not playing, the
matador is both playing
and not playing, and
the spectators are
enjoying the blood
sport... At what level
does the play stop and
something else begin?
- Richard Schechner
sacred and secular theatre
What is true of
weddings is also so
of many other
observances,
celebrations, and
life-passage events
such as birthday
parties...
- Richard Schechner
why is theatre?
Artists are witnesses of their times: they
should not impose on their public their own
view of society, their own understanding of
human beings, or their own way to make
decisions, but, after speaking their speech,
having their say, giving their testimony,
delivering to us the product of their art and
craft, they should help others to stimulate
inside themselves the artists that lie within...
- Augusto Boal
why is theatre?
It seems to me that the thing that makes the
theater worthwhile is the fact that it attracts so
many people with ideas who are constantly
trying to share them with the public. Real art
is illumination. It gives a man an idea he
never had before or lights up ideas that were
formless or only lurking in the shadows of his
mind. It adds stature to life.
- Brooks Atkinson
why is theatre?
We live in what is, but we find a
thousand ways not to face it. Great
theatre strengthens our faculty to face
it ~Thornton Wilder
why is theatre?
Theatre creates a social occasion
Theatre holds a mirror up to nature
Theatre provides a progressive
experience
Theatre can make use of words
Theatre is fantastic
- John Russell Brown
where is theatre?
where is theatre?
where is theatre?
where is theatre?
where is theatre?
where is theatre?
where is theatre?
Where is theatre?
when is theatre?
who is theatre?
"WE OUGHT TO MAKE
THE PIE HIGHER.”
"THERE'S NO SUCH
THING AS LEGACIES. AT
LEAST, THERE IS A
LEGACY, BUT I'LL NEVER
SEE IT."
"I HAVE MADE GOOD
JUDGMENTS IN THE
PAST. I HAVE MADE
GOOD JUDGMENTS IN
THE FUTURE."
who is theatre?
”Be not afraid of greatness:
some are born great, some
achieve greatness and some
have greatness thrust upon
them.”
- Twelfth Night
"If you prick us, do we not
bleed? if you tickle us, do
we not laugh? if you poison
us, do we not die? and if you
wrong us, shall we not
revenge?"
- The Merchant of Venice
who is theatre?
who is theatre?
how is theatre?
For
For
For
For
For
For
For
you?
your family and friends?
your community?
your nation or country?
your culture?
your history?
your future?
how is theatre?
Going to continue?
Going to be financed?
Going to remain relevant?
Going to deal with the economic and
political domination of the West?
Going to challenge the masculine
hegemonies dominating many societies?
As usual ... a few quotations
Men play at tragedy because they do
not believe in the reality of the tragedy
which is actually being staged in the
civilised world. –José Ortega Y Gasset
...quotations...
Theatre takes place all the time
wherever one is and art simply
facilitates persuading one this is the
case. - John Cage
... quotations...
For my own part, I believe that as much as one
would like to accept the seeming openness of
Euro-American interculturalists to other
cultures, the larger economic and political
domination of the West has clearly
constrained, if not negated the possibilities of
a genuine exchange. In the best of all possible
worlds, interculturalism could be viewed as a
’two-way street’, based on mutual reciprocity
of needs. But in actuality, where it is the West
that extends its domination to cultural
matters, this ’two-way street’ could be more
accurately described as a ’dead-end’.
- Rhustham Bharucha
... quotations...
You know, I go to the theatre to be
entertained. I don’t want to see
plays about rape, sodomy and
drug addiction...I can get all that
at home. - Peter Cook
... quotations...
The illusion of freedom in America will
continue as long as it's profitable to
continue the illusion. At the point where
the illusion becomes too expensive to
maintain, they will just take down the
scenery, they will pull back the curtains,
they will move the tables and chairs out
of the way, and you will see the brick
wall at the back of the theatre.
- Frank Zappa, 1977
is this
theatre?