Russian and Soviet director Vsevolod Meyerhold developed biomechanics for the theatre in the 1920s and 30s. This novel approach to actor training focused on stylised movement and physicality. Meyerhold’s exercises allowed the actor to become intricately aware of the body in space and time. Etudes were an integral feature of the new training system, though…
Physical theatre is a broad term encompassing works with elements of movement, dance, mime, acrobatics, dance-theatre, clowning, stylised actions and gestures, circus, mask, and more. While recognised as a form on its own, physical theatre can also involve aspects of other recognised styles such as Commedia dell’Arte, performance poetry, cabaret, musical theatre and more. Critical…
Kitchen sink drama, also known as kitchen sink realism, emerged on the British stage in the mid-1950s in stark contrast to the middle and upper-class drawing room dramas that preceded it. For the first time, characters were everyday working-class people portraying the mundane banality of life, mostly set in poor industrial towns in the north…
A closet drama is a work intended from the outset to be read and not performed. Readings typically occur in isolation or aloud in small groups. While there is evidence from classical times of works most likely intended for private readings, the genre was firmly established in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, and again gaining popularity…