Complicite, Theatre and Aesthetics

This book presents a pioneering critical study of Complicite's work throughout the years. Drawing on an extensive overview of the available research material including interviews, manuscripts and the company's own archive the book is framed within a clearly defined research perspective and explores the singularity of theatre communication. The book results from an encounter between the London-based but cosmopolitan in scope company, and a fresh application of the form-oriented scholarship of Eastern Europe, Yuri Lotman's semiosphere in particular. Focused on the aesthetics of Complicite, this study achieves a critical distance and undertakes multidimensional scrutiny of the available research material. By identifying the principles of Complicite's aesthetics, the book attempts to grasp the company's artistic paradigm. It focuses on ways of creating, preserving, and decoding meanings, rather than on the nuances of performance or contextual issues.

Offers the first academic analysis that focuses solely on Complicite/Simon McBurney Makes extensive use of interviews, recordings and the theatre company's own archival materials Proposes a new approach to theatre aesthetics through the application of theoretical frameworks to Complicite's theatrical practice

Autorentext
Dr Tomasz Winiewski works at the University of Gdask, Poland. He is a co-founder of the Between.Pomidzy Festival, and the founder of the Beckett Research Group in Gdask. He has published a monograph on Samuel Beckett, co-edited ten academic publications, and published articles on theatre and literature, in Poland, France, UK, Austria, Brazil and the USA. He is a member of the editorial board of the literary quarterly Tekstualia.

Klappentext

In this book Tomasz Winiewski explores the roots, techniques, methodologies and influences of Complicite's performances without attempting to codify either its international spirit or the plurality of its styles. Granted unprecedented access to the Complicite archives, Dr. Winiewski has crafted a sensitive, deeply penetrating, yet accessible analysis of one of the most dynamic, intelligent, and regenerative theatre companies of our time. I would certainly recommend it to theatre historians and practitioners as at least one model of how theatre remains a vital force in 21st century culture. - S. E. Gontarski, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of English, Florida State University, USA

Wisniewski presents us with a careful and comprehensive discussion of one of the most innovative theater companies working anywhere in the world today. His is a landmark study that is both assertive and accessible. Like Complicite itself, he helpsus recognize and celebrate nothing less than the endless potential of the theatrical imagination itself. - Enoch Brater, Kenneth T. Rowe Collegiate Professor of Dramatic Literature, University of Michigan, USA Through a combination of impeccable theatre research and perceptive critical analysis, this book opens a window onto one of Britain's most consistently creative theatre companies. - Kenneth Pickering, Honorary Professor of Drama, University of Kent, UK This book presents a pioneering critical study of Complicite's work throughout the years. Drawing on an extensive overview of the available research material including interviews, manuscripts and the company's own archive the book is framed within a clearly defined research perspective and explores the singularity of theatre communication. The book results from an encounter between the London-based but cosmopolitan in scope company, and a fresh application of the form-oriented scholarship of EasternEurope, Yuri Lotman's semiosphere in particular. Focused on the aesthetics of Complicite, this study achieves a critical distance and undertakes multidimensional scrutiny of the available research material. By identifying the principles of Complicite's aesthetics, the book attempts to grasp the company's artistic paradigm. It focuses on ways of creating, preserving, and decoding meanings, rather than on the nuances of performance or contextual issues.

Inhalt

Introduction.- Chapter 1. The artistic signature of Simon McBurney.- Chapter 2. The logic of the plot in Théâtre de Complicité.- Chapter 3. The world of the stage.- Chapter 4. The textual tissue of Theatre de Complicite.- Chapter 5. The aesthetics of Complicite.- Chapter 6. Kaleidoscopic fragmentariness.- Chapter 7. The Ongoing Narrative.