Theater Studies from the Early Twentieth Century to Contemporary Debates

The complexity of theory pales by comparison to the abundant wealth of theatrical experiments in our times. Many of these are having some success, whether research into space, body expression, rereadings of classics, or the fundamental relationship between actor and spectator. But beware those who proclaim the death of staging or history, the disappearance of theater, a return to the evidence of the text or the incontestable supremacy of the actor, for underlying such statements is often a rejection of reflection and meaning, a return to a critical obscurantism with sinister echoes. In these times of ideological uncertainty, as the humanist heritage is liquidated between two fire sales of concepts too soon shop-soiled, of hermeneutical gadgets and flashy postmodern devices, a process of historical and structural reflection seems ever more necessary to stave off the vertigo of theoretical relativism and aestheticism. ¹