Sacred ‘Idiocy’ the Avant-Garde as Alternative Establishment

1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (28) ◽  
pp. 348-352
Author(s):  
Graham Ley
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Corporate Finance ◽  
University Of Chicago ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Contemporary Theatre ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Alternative Theatre ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Chicago Press

Is there a postmodernist theatre – and if so, what was the modernist theatre? What qualifies as avant-garde – and for how long? And why does the ‘established’ alternative theatre lean so heavily on appropriation, whether of ancient myths or contemporary ideologies – such as postmodernism? Graham Ley uses analogies from dance and design to explore our perceptions of and attitudes towards those contemporary theatre practitioners who may once have broken boundaries, but now often head the queue for lavish corporate finance. Graham Ley has taught in universities in England, Australia, and New Zealand, and his Short Introduction to the Ancient Greek Theatre will shortly appear from the University of Chicago Press.

The Significance of Diderot

1995 ◽  
Vol 11 (44) ◽  
pp. 342-354
Author(s):  
Graham Ley
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Denis Diderot ◽  
Empty Space ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
French Writer ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Chicago Press

Best known in his own times as an encyclopedist, the eighteenth-century French writer, philosopher, dramatist, and critic Denis Diderot (1713–84) was to emerge a century later, though his Paradoxe sur le comédien, as a posthumous protagonist in the debate launched in Britain in William Archer's Masks or Faces? (1888). That debate – on the role of feeling and instinct versus craft and technique in acting – has been taken up and sustained by many theorists and practitioners in the succeeding century. In the following article, however, Graham Ley is more concerned with Diderot's wider role as theatrical theorist, suggesting that he offers – as also in his defence of pantomime, his proposal for the ‘serious genre’ which anticipated realism, and his advocacy of scenographic reform – not a unified vision of the nature of theatre but an enduring sense, precisely, of its paradoxical and ironic qualities. Graham Ley has just joined the Department of Drama at the University of Exeter, having previously taught in London and New Zealand. He is currently completing a book on theatrical theory, on which he has previously also published in NTQ, most recently on ‘The Role of Metaphor in Brook's The Empty Space’ (NTQ35, 1993). Among his numerous publications on ancient performance, A Short Introduction to the Ancient Greek Theatre appeared from the University of Chicago Press in 1991.

A Saturated Time: Three Festivals in Poland, 2007

2008 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 307-321
Author(s):  
Murray Edmond
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Associate Professor ◽  
Contemporary Theatre ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Theatre Company ◽  
Street Performance ◽  
The University ◽  
Special Time

What different kinds of festival are to be found on the ever-expanding international circuit? What companies are invited or gatecrash the events? What is the role of festivals and festival-going in a global theatrical economy? In this article Murray Edmond describes three festivals which he attended in Poland in the summer of 2007 – the exemplary Malta Festival, held in Poznan; the Warsaw Festival of Street Performance; and the Brave Festival (‘Against Cultural Exile’) in Wroclaw – and through an analysis of specific events and productions suggests ways of distinguishing and assessing their aims, success, and role in what Barthes called the ‘special time’ which festivals have occupied since the Ancient Greeks dedicated such an occasion to Dionysus. Murray Edmond is Associate Professor of Drama at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His recent publications include Noh Business (Berkeley: Atelos Press, 2005), a study, via essay, diary, and five short plays, of the influence of Noh theatre on the Western avant-garde, and articles in Contemporary Theatre Review (2006), Australasian Drama Studies (April 2007), and Performing Aotearoa: New Zealand Theatre and Drama in an Age of Transition (2007). He works professionally as a dramaturge, notably for Indian Ink Theatre Company, and has also published ten volumes of poetry, of which the most recent is Fool Moon (Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2004).

Theatre of Migration and the Search for a Multicultural Aesthetic: Twenty Years of Tara Arts

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (52) ◽  
pp. 349-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Ley
Keyword(s):  
Empty Space ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
The Core ◽  
Press Reactions ◽  
Twentieth Anniversary ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Chicago Press ◽  
Selection Of

This year sees the twentieth anniversary of the foremost British-Asian ‘company of identity’, Tara Arts, directed throughout that time by Jatinder Verma – a major interview with whom forms the core of this celebratory feature. This traces the history and evolving philosophy of the company, from its origins in outrage at a racist murder, through changing perceptions of how multicultural identity can best find its dramatic expression, to a discussion of Verma's own recent work for Contact Theatre and the National. Contributions from other leading participants in the company's work are complemented by a selection of press reactions to major productions, and a survey of bibliographical and other resources. The compiler of this feature, Graham Ley, presently lectures in the Department of Drama at the University of Exeter, having previously taught in London and New Zealand. He is currently completing a book on theatrical theory, on which he has previously also published in NTQ, most recently in ‘The Role of Metaphor in Brook's The Empty Space’ (NTQ35, 1993) and ‘The Significance of Diderot’ (NTQ44, 1995). Among his publications on ancient performance, A short introduction to the Ancient Greek Theatre appeared from the University of chicago Press in 1991.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document