ABSTRACT
This essay seeks to explore the influence and applicability of biomechanics training and approaches for performance in relationship to postdramatic texts and performances within the current theatre landscape. With psychologically whole characters no longer central, or even present, in many types of theatre since the 1960s, performers are having to look to alternative approaches to acting to provide them with the necessary tools and skills to be able to access and perform such pieces successfully.
Through the examination of four key aspects of postdramatic theatre, this essay will interrogate how biomechanical training can be used to provide performers with the required skills to successfully perform postdramatic texts/performances. It will argue that biomechanics training, with its move away from a ‘conventional’, psychological-based approach to acting, is especially necessary if performers are to be able to successfully perform increasingly abstract pieces, as well as highlight its growing relevance within today’s ever more experimental theatre and performance landscape.
