ABSTRACT

Realistic acting, realist set and costume design, realism and naturalism, the politics of realism… there are, it would seem, any number of links to be drawn between realism and theatre. In this chapter, the author talks about realism and theatre, namely, that theatre can’t (not shouldn’t, but can’t) be realistic because what realism wants for art is irreconcilable with how theatre works as an art. All casting is interpretation; and castings of this type – especially when, as is often the case, the matchup between actors and roles is close but a little “off” – carry interpretative force. Peter Handke’s mime-play My Foot My Tutor consists entirely of stage directions to be executed by its two mute characters, “the warden” and “the ward.” For the most part this script, when performed, is, like any script, going to produce one after another disparity of the “prepared actor/startled king” variety.