Physical Theatres ─ A Critical Introduction

Physical Theatres: A Critical Introduction (2^nd edition) is the first account to provide a comprehensive overview of non-text-based theatre, from experimental dance to traditional mime. This book synthesises the history, theory and practice of physical theatre for students and performers, in what is both a core area of study and a dynamic and innovative aspect of theatrical practice.

Insisting that there are many physical theatres and arguing for the essential physicality of all theatrical forms, this book not only examines the acknowledged luminaries of physical theatre, but forges a new lens through which the physical and visual practices of the twentieth century’s most exciting dramatists and theatre makers can be viewed.

This comprehensive book:

‧ traces the roots of physical performance in classical and popular theatrical traditions

‧ looks at the Dance Theatre of DV8, Pina Bausch, Liz Aggiss and Jerome Bel

‧ examines the contemporary practice of companies and artists such as Theatre du

Soleil, Complicite, Goat Island, Dario Fo, Wrights and Sites, Punchdrunk and Mike Pearson

‧ focuses on principles and practices in actor training, with reference to figures such as Jacques Lecoq, Lev Dodin, Philippe Gaulier, Monika Pagneux, Etienne Decroux, Anne Bogart, Jerzy Grotowski and Joan Littlewood.

• explores the cognitive-neurological bases of empathy and other (spectator) responses.

• locates the roots of the physical in theatres in play and other activities of the embodied mind.

• explores the relationship between bodies on stage and analogue and digital technologies

• identifies physical theatre in new (and old) circus and its training regimes

• considers the physical practices in immersive, interactive and site-specific theatres

This book can be used as a stand-alone text, or together with its companion volume,Physical Theatres: A Critical Reader, to provide an invaluable introduction to the physical in theatre and performance.

Simon Murray is a performer, director and academic. He currently teaches Theatre Studies at the University of Glasgow and is author ofJacques Lecoq (2003). With Jonathan Pitches he co-founded and currently co-edits theTheatre, Dance and Performance Training (TDPT) journal.

John Keefe is a director, dramaturge and academic. He is currently senior lecturer in the CASS Undergraduate Hub, London Metropolitan University, and until recently lecturer and teaching fellow in performance–theatre–film studies at Queen’s University (Canada) Bader International Study Centre. He was awarded a PhD by Prior Output and Publication by Kingston University, London in 2013 under the title, ‘A Spectatorial Dramaturgy: Ethical Principles of Recycling, Habitus and Estrangement’.