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Performance,
transformante,
informance
On jurisdiction
Speaking and writing about th e a tr e is mostly done by Henk O osterling Luk Van den Dries
intuition. We grope blindly for words and concepts th a t is as s is t a n t pr of ess o r a t t h e is pr of ess o r in T h e a t r e Studies a t
Philosophy De p a r tm e n t o f t h e t h e University o f fintwerp ( U I A ) .
might f i t the things we have seen and experienced. Erasmus University Ro tt e r d a m . His main fo cus is on d ev el op m e nt s in
Theatre makers always innovate by using old th e a tre He te a c h e s d i a le ct ic s, French co nt em po ra ry t h e a t r e . T o g e t h e r
con tem po ra ry t h o u g h t and w it h Jan Fabre he fo u n d e d t h e
c raft as a consequence of which the th e a tr e changes
a e s th e ti c s . Next t o several books reserac h c e n t r e Aisthesis t h a t aims
continuously. Within this continuous transformative on po li tic o- ph ilo s op hi ca l issues, a t studyi ng t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f
process more appropriate concepts have to be found to he published o book on t h e body in con tem po ra ry ar ts .
T h e a t e r g r o e p Hollondia: On t h e Curr en tly he presides t h e jury o f
keep pace up in both language and thought with all
Border ( 2 0 0 0 ) . He is c h i e f e d i t o r o f the T he atrefestival.
these evolutions. Theatre makers speak and think as I n t e r A k t a and i n i t i a t e d and
critics and spectators do. This polysemie search for supervises t h e resea rch program
' I n t e r m e d i a l i t y . On t h e borders o f
appropriate vocabularies and thoughts, for new
Philosophy, Arts and P o lit ic s’ o f
th e a tre concepts th a t can do justice to the current t h e C e nt e r f o r Philosophy & Arts
t h e a tr e , is a t stake in this publication. I t consists of (CFK).
INTERRKTP4
constructions t h a t can do justice to the power of weighed, the final ju ry’ s report in which the results of
expression o f the artists. In t h a t way, they create th a t internal discussion are explained. The
Per formance, tr an sfo rmanc e, informance On jurisdiction
word images t h a t echo what the th e a tr e maker wanted overwhelming th e a tre experience t h a t the nine
to say on stage. However, in the vast space opened members of the jury have all individually gone through
within an echo, language reaches beyond sheer does not suffice. They have to a rticu late th a t
information: as conceptual reflection it becomes experience, reflect upon it and enhance it by
creative in transforming insights in and views on 'new arguments. By disagreeing they construct a shared
theatrical re a litie s ’ , as the Taormina Theatre Festival discourse, th a t should also persuade th e a tr e makers,
of the European Community once phrased it. critics and audiences, but in the final instance of
course never can. Still a language has to be mould th a t
Cr i t i c al t r a n s f o r m a n c e expresses the unique event and which has enough
Critics reinforce and enhance the th e a tr e vocabulary force to seduce the doubters into other perspectives
permanently. They ought to be receptive to each new or to convince them of the fa c t t h a t every intuition
theatrical challenge. They are curious about the and each evidently immanent quality most o f the time is
research procedures of th e a tre makers, and are the product of a long-lasting forgetfulness.
watchful for new approaches of young artists. This Underneath most intuitions lurks a cultural-historical
means t h a t they are prepared to abandon time and determined discourse, t h a t hides a specific idea of
again what is familiar in the th e a tr e language. They what the world and what man is and how both relate.
are willing to renounce fixed standards and co The selection procedure counts as a kind of
ordinates in order to concentrate on small changes, laboratory: new concepts of th e a tric a lity are proposed
new transformations, and unknown territories. Critics and te s te d. For each single production and for the
are no treasurers of theatrical knowledge, they are selection as a whole, concepts are suggested th a t do
first and foremost explorers of areas for which the justice to the specificity of a certain theatrical
terminology is still lacking. This means t h a t the critic season. Ideally, one could conclude t h a t the reading
needs the heart to ta k e the risk of suggesting of the ju ry’s reports should give a clear insight into the
concepts t h a t might turn out to be inadequate and development of an adapted discourse for a
useless afterwards. Their transformative powers match contemporary th e a tr e practice. That hypothesis is even
those of the artist: to g e th e r with them, they have to more legitimised because the reports as a te x t genre
seek without being on solid ground or without "recipes are holding the balance between a critical-journalistic
in his inside p oc k e t” (dixit Brecht). practice t h a t sticks closely to a daily reception o f the
productions, and a more essayist approach th a t
Cr i t i cal p e r f o r m a n c e describes the surge o f the seasons from a greater
The framework o f The Theatre Festival for this distance. I t is exactly this middle position between the
compilation o f essays on 'New Theatre Concepts’ is approach o f phenomena and the conclusion of
pertinent for several reasons. The Theatre Festival tendencies th a t should give an insight into the
indeed presents every year the most 'in te re s tin g ’ connection between concept development and
productions o f th e past season in Flanders and the theatrical evolution.
Netherlands, A nine-headed jury of th e a tr e critics and
publishers makes the selection. Every year, they see it Hypocritical e x p lo r a ti o n s :
as their task to te s t this exclusive, slightly vague criticising t h e critique
criterion from the ju ry’ s regulations, 'th e in te r e s t’ , The striking fe a tu re of ju ry’ s reports1 is the language.
against the th e a tr e productions o f t h a t season. The Apparently only very slowly these reports adapts
inherently meaningless expression 'remarkable’ has to themselves to what is happening on stage. Despite the
be concretised in more specific criterions th a t indicate fa c t t h a t the jury tries hard to stick closely to the
why a certain production is selected. To substantiate intrinsic and aesthetic shifts in the t h e a tr e , it is
t h a t choice, th e jury every year draws up a report in remarkable t h a t their jargon sometimes sounds
which each selected production is legitimised, fl conventional, even old-fashioned. At most they are
general S tate of the Arts about the singularity and able to ta lk in negative terms about recent
quality o f the past theatrical season precede specific developments, lacking positive descriptions. This is
production-oriented arguments. especially true when it comes to style of play. There are
On this performative level informance and a handful o f criteria th a t are handed over.
transformance are a t work. Also the jury o f a festival is Psychological realism still acts as a model against which
permanently developing new concepts. At d iffe re n t should be reacted. Descriptions of the 'n ew ’ style of
moments and levels of the selection procedure, play wear themselves out in negative constructions:
members of the jury construct arguments t h a t should genre 'n on-realistic’ . But also Bertolt Brecht’ s legacy
convince their fellow members and the th e a tr e circles still strongly defines the perception o f acting. The
of the importance of various productions. Or a t least shattered illusion and the commented role are
of their choice. Conceptualisation of why a certain qualifications th a t pop up regularly in the jury’ s
theatrical phenomenon is suddenly th a t 'in te re s tin g ’ report. Third engine in the negotiations on quality of
permeates all 'juridical’ activities: the individual style of play is Grotowski. His voice is heard whenever a
nominations of a certain production, the internal more 'mythical’ form of theatricality crops up: phrases
discussion o f the jury in which each nomination is like 'r i t e ’ or 'r itu a l’ pop up immediately.
i . We w i s h t o t h a n k A r l e t t e S c h i j n s f o r h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f t h e
j u r y ’ s r a p p o r t s in h e r f i n a l p a p e r : ' F o u r t e e n y e a r s ( 1 9 8 7 - 2 0 0 0 ) o f
j u r y ’ s r a p p o r t s o f t h e F l e m i s h - D u t c h T h e a t r e F e s t i v a l , fl d i s c o u r s e e
a n a ly s is ’ , U lfl, 2000.
2 INTERAKTA4
I t seems as if these three founding grammars of play between d iff e r e n t artistic disciplines and media. Also
(realistic, epic and ritual) define all possible styles, rhythm is a word th a t comes to the fo re , instead o f the
and th a t a renewal is only possible as a variant. The more general phrase 'musicality’ . Apparently, force,
jury’s reports illustrate this abundantly: phrases like drive and energy are supposed to be basic principles of
'natural distance’ , 'hilarious t h e a t r e ’ , 'composed the theatrical experience. Here and th e re , inroads are
play’ , 'expressionist style of play’ , 'simplicity’ , made on the still very semiotic discourse o f th e a tre
’ stillness’ , 'reductio n’ , 'intimacy’ , 'suggestion’ , are criticism. In s te a d of looking for meaning and decoding,
all attempts to quality the variants a t the level of every now and then there is spoken in terms of bodily
styles of play. They don’ t point a t sudden experience. These are indeed only minor changes th a t
transformations in the theatrical development, they give insight in marginal adjustments of the established
only indicate a t shifts within strongly established co conceptual th e a tr e frames.
ordinates.
In terestin g is also the a tt itu d e to the social/political Beyond o p p o s i t io n s
quality o f th e a tr e . In this area too, the jury’ s In general, standard concepts are still strongly
a tt itu d e and vocabulary is constant, with elbowroom influencing critical reflections on contemporary
for some variation. Involvement in social events, th e a tre . New terms o fte n arise as negatives o f existing
reflection and comments on what is going on in the categories, forcing the discourse into antithe tic a l
world, are frequently pointed out in the jury’ s favour. positions: either empathy or alienation, either
Theatre is not unrelated to reality, but should engage comment or going along with the role. Apparently, a
itself with performances th a t give cause to reflections 'categorical’ vocabulary catches up with a practice,
on tensions within society, as long as it is not too which deals much more compliantly with tensions -
explicit, too moralising or too unambiguous. In line rather differences than oppositions - without paying
with the shift towards the public/consumers the too much a tt e n t io n to 'purity of s tyle’ . The ju ry’ s
current th e a tr e gives more freedom to the spectator, permanent search for a new th e a tr e avant-garde - and
and also the 'message’ should be formulated with as the conclusion t h a t there is not such a thing and t h a t
much openness as possible. I t is in this respect th a t young th e a tr e makers stay within the lines, drawn by a
changes in the vocabulary occur. previous avant-garde - presupposes and time and again
fit th e start o f the ju ry ’ s selections, from 1987 reveals this oppositional, even dialectical way of
onwards, the phrase 'political t h e a t r e ’ is invariably thinking: either tradition or modernisation. A more
replaced by somewhat more vague and noncommittal ' t a i n t e d ’ th e a tr e practice, which combines mainstream
concepts such as 'socially relevant’ or 'en g ag ed ’ elements with other ingredients or which even uses
th e a tre . In the recent ju ry’ s reports, the term existing modes of expression virally, escapes from the
'political t h e a t r e ’ is again used in full, although it is established borders o f the avan t-g ard e framework,
filled in a t human level: it is a matter of 'minuscule used by the jury to grasp the theatrical tendencies. I t
politics’2 . Perhaps a more adequate term, introduced turns out to be extremely d iffic u lt to develop new
by French philosophers as Foucault, Deleuze and frameworks t h a t are adapted to the needs o f the
Lyotard, is more fittin g : 'micropolitics’ . But still the th e a tr e today, not in the least because it asks for a
same argument counts: can we only grasp contemporary non-psychological and non-dialectical approach.
theatrical phenomena by modifying existing phrases? Language might be much slower than th e a tr e practice,
but conceptuality and reflection is presupposed by
Making n e w s e n s e s : s e n s o r i t y , both o f them. We are f a r - o f f from Adorno’ s craving for
sensuality, interdisciplinarity, a form of criticism t h a t runs in fron t o f the practice. I t
rh y th m , body is an illusion t h a t criticism is able to establish
That does not mean t h a t there is no evolution in the prospective frameworks t h a t leave room for artists to
theatrical discourse a t all in th e ju ry’ s reports o f The create new work. Creativeness has its own medium.
Theatre Festival. Like we said before, they deal with Reflectivity has its own medium.3 We are beyond the
language very finely, and try to define as accurately as dialectical idea th a t theory opposes - or leads -
possible why the selected productions are interesting. practices. In s te a d o f 'th e o ry ’ it is fa r more instructive
Among other things, it is striking how o fte n the word to use terms like 're f le c tio n ’ or 'conceptuality’ .
'e v e n t’ is used in the last jury’ s reports and how the
'te n s io n a l’ quality of pieces are valued: the 'e v e n t Tracing an d m ap p in g :
u ality’ o f th e a tr e is important, something is a postdram atic cartography
happening, the spectator is bathed in conflicting and There is need for the th e a tr e practice to be followed
confusing impressions. Less radical terms like daily, as well as for a more perspective view. The
'montage’ , 'perform ance’ , 'fe e lin g ’ , 'atm osphere’ and critical activity of permanently being a tte n tiv e to
'excitement’ are more frequently used. A stronger pointing out theatrical changes is a necessary
appeal is also made to 'sensority’ as a concept to grasp condition for an updated discourse on th e a tre .
the abundance o f impressions, th e evident importance Changes in course and shifts o f emphasis in the oeuvre
of sensuality, with its reception-aesthetic o f individual th e a tr e makers need this impressionistic
connotations o f sensibility and sensitivity in all areas criticism. But it is a t least as important to connect the
o f the th e a tre . outcome of these circumscriptions in order to figure
Another recurrent conclusion is the crossing over out concepts th a t hold across individual differences
2. J u r y ’ s r e p o r t 1 9 9 » , p. 1 2 . 3. Se e f o r a m o r e d e t a i l e d e x p l o r a t i o n o f t h i s ' m e d i u m - s p e c i f i c
r e f l e c t iv it y ’ : P o l i t i e k g e v o e l i g . I n t e r m e d i a l i t e i t in t h e a t e r , d a n s e n
l i t e r a t u u r . Henk O o s te rlin g G R ichard de B ra b a n d e r ( r e d .) ,
I n t e r P k t a 2, CFK, R o tte r d a m 199 9 .
INTERAKTA4
and t h a t give an idea of what th e a tr e looks like in a New c o n c e p t s :
certain place or time. Given the proper distance, tensional explorations
pointillist details built a conceptual landscape. To this Enough reason to deal with this publication a t great
end, one has to look back a t the th e a tr e for decades. length. We linger over the question whether Lehmann’ s
This retrospection not only presupposes concepts, but study has created a framework with which
also produces new concepts in which the individuality contemporary th e a tre can be understood, or whether
o f a whole generation of th e a tr e makers, of th a t framework should be laid on the table or
movements and genres within the global development completed with other more tapering categories. For
of the performing arts can be grasped, A more th a t purpose, his analytical conceptual framework is
generous scale, capable of mapping the d iff e r e n t screened critically from d iff e r e n t points o f view.
perspective lines, should be used, rather than zooming Several contributors will throw more light on the
in on the detailed s tre e t map. necessity of an adapted conceptual framework for the
I t is useful to distance oneself every now and then contemporary th e a tre practice.
and to look a t the scenery from bird’ s-eye view. This collection of essays consists o f two parts. Part
However, these broad perspectives in the one takes Lehmann’ s undertaking as a starting point.
contemporary th e a tr e landscape are not th a t easy to Part Two focuses on Flemish th e a tr e and consists of an
pin down: we are standing right in the middle o f them. interview with Jan Fabre and Jan Lauwers as they are
Moreover, in post-modern times we are more interested both discussed a t length in the book P o s t d r a m a t i s c h e s
in differences than in resemblances. Every e f f o r t to T h e a t e r . To what e x te n t does Lehmann’ s discourse
summarise and create an overview is supported by the contribute to the experience of th e ir works, according
paradoxical insight th a t we can only value as long as we to them? Three essays follow this interview: two
are involved. This tension marks every retrospective concerning work of Fabre and Lauwers and one on Di e p
analysis. Given this paradox, intersections in the in h e t b o s o f Eric De Voider.
theatrical tr a f f i c can be constructed, and a In Part One Suzanne Winnacker in accepting the
conceptual framework denoting a global theatrical primacy of the actoral expression poses the question
evolution comes into being. I t is exactly this search for on the urgency of new concepts, when everything stays
new frames - we are using the plural on purpose, for d iff e r e n t, as in th e case o f a rt. She briefly comments
there is always more than one frame a t work a t the on Lehmann’ s idea of the crisis o f the subject. To her
same tim e -w h ic h necessitates to answer in language Lehmann is reflecting upon the potentials o f crisis
to the changing th e a tr e practice. By being open to new within the idea and the construction o f drama itself.
frameworks and exploring them, it is possible to She embeds this existential and epistemological
distance oneself from old viewing and judging habits. tension - canonised during the past decades - already
In this way, standards t h a t have become silted in and in the Greek tragedy th a t distanced its e lf from myth.
obvious through many years’ use can be brought under The subject, she cites Lehmann, exists in the
discussion again. inbetween and this is a tensional force th a t can never
A radical methodological analysis o f frameworks of be covered by any concept.
contemporary th e a tre terminology inevitably ends up Henk Oosterling’ s contribution also starts with the
posing questions on mankind and world views: th e a tre tragedy and focuses too on the 'primacy’ of tension.
always reflects the position o f th e individual in He aims a t enhancing and expanding the notion o f the
society, the destiny o f th e body in a culture, the value Greek p ro tag on ist/actor, called the 'h ypokrites’ . In
o f the unknown versus the familiar, in short, order to throw more light on contemporary tendencies
existential tensions and social-political dilemmas, to mix and in teg rate d iff e r e n t artistic disciplines and
characteristic o f a juncture. These philosophical media, and to understand the search for new
enterprises - anthropological, epistemological and engagement in theatrical practices, he introduces
political - are the selfreflective touchstones of every concepts a s 'informe’ , 'interm ediality’ , 'hypocritical’
conceptual e f f o r t to map the th e a tr e landscape of and 'inb etw een ’ . With this minimal concept he
recent decades. interrogates Lehmann and evaluates the work of
Hans-Thies Lehmann’ s P o s t d r a m a t i s c h e s T h e a t e r Theatergroep Hollandia.
(1999) is an impressive a tte m p t to see th e wood for the Emil Hvratin focuses on other tensions th a t reveal the
trees. To describe, explain and in terpret all this, inadequacy of thinking in oppositions. In search o f the
Lehmann uses all kinds of concepts. These concepts ultimate and paradoxical goal o f the avant-garde - the
should be able to express the singularity of the current reconciliation o f life and art - he deconstructs the
th e a tr e and the way in which th e a tr e makers have opposition between private and public and configures
given form and content to th e questions o f man and both in his neologism 's p e c ta c to r’ , bridging the abyss
world. I t is the firs t work th a t tries to gain an insight between spectator and actor. He tak e s the
into the specificity of most recent th e a tr e performance art B i o m e c h a n i c s N o o r d u n g by Dragan
developments on a vast scale. I t is one o f those few Zivanidov as a te s t case for his search for the 'terminal
books th a t want to understand the individuality of spectactor’ .
current th e a tr e . Not by dwelling upon various Maaike Bleeker also takes Lehmann’ s book as a
particular routes or by losing its e lf in a survey o f all starting point in her article on perspective. In making
sorts of movements, but by g etting down to the very an argument for the discursive structure o f 'just
root o f what is happening on stage these days. looking’ she agrees with Lehmann t h a t in postdramatic
INTERHKTB 4
th eotre there is a multiplication of frames. But she 'i n t e r ’ lacks the reassuring comfort of a clear-cut
also throws up the question whether Lehmann really reality and an unshakable moral foundation. As such
INTERAKTAi 5
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