The Rhinoceros and The Regime Posthuman Bodies on Stage and Screen

Authors

  • Alina Gabriela MIHALACHE Lecturer: Center of Excellence in Study of Image, Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, Romania, alina-gabriela.mihalache@litere.unibuc.ro

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24193/subbdrama.2023.1.04

Keywords:

posthumanism, performative body, postdramatic theatre, Eugène Ionesco, Rhinoceros.

Abstract

Ever since its first representation on stage, Ionesco's play Rhinoceros became a mirror to the anxieties haunting the societies that it was held up to. Back in the 1960s, it would symbolize (Neo-)Fascism and Far-Right dangers in the Western countries, while subversively pointing at Communism and Far-Left ideologies in the Central-East European cultures. The text's versatility was highly praised by the literary and theatrical criticism, and allowed for its re-enactment in shows and films produced over the globe, in the most diverse social-political contexts. This study aims to revisit some of the first play stagings from the current perspective of post-theatre, pointing out how the early post-War productions are contributing to rewriting of the performative code in the language of posthumanism and post-drama.

References

Barrault, Jean-Louis. L΄acteur: “Ahtlète Affectif” [The Actor: “Affective Athlete”]. Cahiers Renaud-Barrault. Paris: René Julliard, no. 29, February, 1960.

Féral, Josette. Întâlniri cu Ariane Mnouchkine [Meetings with Ariane Mnouchkine]. Translated by Raluca Vida. Oradea: ArtSpect, 2009.

Fischer-Lichte, Erika. The Transformative Power of Performance. Translated by Saskya Iris Jain. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Huston, Nancy, Latour, Geneviéve, Haïm, Victor. Jaques Noël. Décors et dessins de théatre [Jaques Noël. Theatre Decors and Drawings]. Paris: Actes Sud, 2007.

Kérchy, Anna (ed.). Posthumanism in Fantastic Fiction. Americana e-book, 2018.

Lehmann, Hans-Thies. Postdramatic Theatre. Translated by Victor Scoradeț. Bucharest: Unitext, 2009.

Stalpaert, Christel, van Baarle, Kristof, Karreman, Laura (ed.). Performance and Posthumanism. Staging Prototypes of Composite Bodies, Palgrave Macmillan, 2021.

Thores, Niels. Rhinocéros (Analyse approfondie) [Rhinoceros (In-depth Analysis)]. e-book, 2015.

Journals Cited:

“The Boston Sunday Globe”, February 19, 1961.

“La Croix”, February, 1960

“Croix de Toulouse”, February 21, 1965

“L’Express”, January, 1960

“Figaro Littéraire”, January 30, 1960

“Le Monde”, January 25, 1960; April 27, 1965

“The New York Times”, January 10, 1961; January 22, 1961

“The New York World Telegram, January 10, 1961

“The New York Journal-American”, January 15, 1961

Downloads

Published

2023-03-30

How to Cite

MIHALACHE, A. G. (2023). The Rhinoceros and The Regime Posthuman Bodies on Stage and Screen. Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Dramatica, 68(1), 87–102. https://doi.org/10.24193/subbdrama.2023.1.04

Issue

Section

Articles

Similar Articles

<< < 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.