Key Texts in Performance Theory
Theatre of the Oppressed by Recommended by Doris Sommer: Represents "a shift from directing to facilitating theater"
Brecht on TheatreRecommended by David Levine; includes "Short Organon for the Theatre," recommended by Sylvaine Guyot.
On the Aesthetic Education of Man by Recommended by Doris Sommer: "the theory behind many practitioners of art as social intervention"
The Twentieth-Century Performance Reader by Recommended by Sara Brown. "Many excerpts from important 20th-century performance makers and thinkers"
Changed for Good by Recommended by Carol Oja. Stacy Wolf illuminates the women of American musical theatre - performers, creators,and characters - from the start of the cold war to the present day, creating a new, feminist history of the genre.
Theatre of the Real by Recommended by Debra Levine: "An excellent survey and analysis of contemporary documentary and verbatim theater and performance."
The Dramatic Imagination by Recommended by Johnathan Carr. "A primer for any designer since 1941. Jones also notably predicts here the merging of film and theater."
Understanding Comics by Recommended by Johnathan Carr. "Brilliant visual/narrative art theory -- in comic book form"
The Empty Space by Recommended by Erika Bailey. A timeless analysis of theatre from the most influential stage director of the twentieth century.
Art and Objecthood by Recommended by David Levine. "Seminal anti-theatrical text by an art historian"
National Abjection by Recommended by Debra Levine: "She examines how Asian Americans become culturally visible on and off stage, revealing the ways Asian American theater companies and artists respond to the cultural implications of abjection (casting-off)."
Inside the White Cube by Recommended by David Levine. "A set of essays on spectatorship in the gallery space"
Great Reckonings in Little Rooms by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Written in response to a wave of semiotic criticism in the 1970s, States' book brings a phenomenological perspective to the theater. Beautifully written with wonderfully evocative examples. Captures some of the true joys of being in the theater."
Liveness: Performance in a Mediatized Culture by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Essential text in performance theory, historicizing the concept of 'live' performance and documenting its convoluted relationship to recorded media. Best read alongside Phelan's Unmarked (see below)."
Unmarked by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Essential text in performance theory. A collection of challenging, richly evocative essays about the force of live bodies. Draws on psychoanalytic and feminist theory for a sometimes playful sometimes mournful exploration of the meanings of performance."
The Theatre and Its Double by Recommended by David Levine
Écrits sur le théâtre by Recommended by Sylvaine Guyot
Installation Art: A Critical History by Recommended by David Levine
Penpoints, Gunpoints, and Dreams: Towards a Critical Theory of the Arts and the State in Africa by Recommended by Debra Levine. "An excellent exploration of the relationship between the power of art and state power."
Performance Theory by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Foundational essays tying performance to anthropological ideas of play. Situates theatrical performances among an array of other human practices, particularly ritual."
The Emancipated Spectator by Recommended by Sylvaine Guyot
Moment Work:Tectonic Theater Project’s Process of Devising Theater by Recommended by Debra Levine "for how to conceptualize creating both a collaborative theatrical process and devising new work." On order for Widener Library.
Social Works: Performing Art, Supporting Publics by Recommended by David Levine
Land/Scape/Theater by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Essential writings about theater and space by a group of the best theater theorists of the past generation."
Dramaturgy in Motion: At Work on Dance and Movement Performance by Recommended by Debra Levine: "Profeta offers a brief history of dramaturgy and the different roles a dramaturg can play in developing new work and in shaping performance. She draws on her experience as a dramaturg for choreographer Ralph Lemon and as a company member of Elevator Repair Service."
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by Recommended by Sylvaine Guyot
Method Acting and Its Discontents by Recommended by David Levine
Opera as Drama by Recommended by Derek Miller. "A musicologist's exploration of major operas, explaining how opera works as a dramatic event. Clearly written and informative even for the opera novice."
From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play by Recommended by Sylvaine Guyot
The Audience by Recommended by David Levine
Theatre/Theory/Theatre: the major critical texts from Aristotle and Zeami to Soyinka and Havel by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Great collection of critical writings on theater since Aristotle. Not for reading in one sitting!"
The Anthropology of Performance by Recommended by Sylvaine Guyot
Places of Performance: The Semiotics of Theatre Architecture by Recommended by David Levine
On the Art of the Nō Drama: The Major Treatises of Zeami by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Beautiful advice for any theater-maker from the most important artist ini Japan's Noh tradition. 'Never forget the beginner's mind.' "
The Archive and the Repertoire by Recommended by Derek Miller. "Influential formulation of the relationship between recorded and unrecorded history, particularly within performance studies."
Rhapsody for the Theatre by Recommended by Sylvaine Guyot
Memories of the Revolution: The First Ten Years of the WOW Café Theatre by Recommended by Debra Levine: "Scripts, interviews and commentary from artists who participated in the WOW Café, a feminist and lesbian performance venue in New York City’s East Village."
The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance by Recommended by Kate Brehm. "This book offers a critical look into the nature of puppetry today from both scholars and practitioners."
A Director Prepares: Seven Essays on Art and Theatre by Recommended by Kaneza Schaal. "Such a wonderful text for artists of all disciplines -- practical tools."
