Peter Weiss's Documentary Theater

The article considers an influence of the genre traditions and discurses on Russian drama of the late 20th and early 21st century. The influence of documentary theater and the illusion of non-fictional speech created in G. Sinkina, A. Rodinov, Yu. Klavdiev, L. Mulmenko drama is noted. Pedaling the authenticity of character’s word is manifested by the verbatim technique – and at the same time returns the drama to the strivings of the early Soviet theater. The article also considers a correlation of the verbal and written discourses, their genre diversity as well as the ratio of the monologue – and dialogic potential of the texts written by N. Kolyada, A. Slapovsky, V. Levanov, V. Zueva, Ya. Pulinovich, E. Grishkovets, I. Vyrypaev, E. Isaeva, N. Vorozhbit, S. Reshetnikov. It takes into consideration the genre forms mixing what determines the structure of the play and its perception by reader-spectator. In particular, the research focuses on the literary and stage manifestations of the diptych – play in works of A. Zenzinov and V. Zabaluev, S. Zlotnikov, D. Gumenniy . The author of the article refers to the interaction of drama with other arts, both the visual (O. Mukhina’s plays) and sounding (I. Vyrypayev “Oxygen”), as well as modern media formats that determine the genre nature of the latest works for the stage (plays by A. Vartanov, R. Malikov). Special attention is paid to “network drama”, which qualitatively changes the structural principles for works in that kind of literature and motivates to rethink the categories of “drama world”, “character”, “conflict”, “plot”.

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Shinpa

Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism ◽

10.4324/9781135000356-rem292-1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

David Jortner

Keyword(s):

Middle Class ◽

Domestic Life ◽

New School ◽

Documentary Theater ◽

Japanese Word ◽

Historical Dramas ◽

The Creation

Shinpa, the shortened version of the Japanese word shinpageki, or new school drama, was an early Japanese attempt at reforming the theater along modernist lines. The plays featured flamboyant kabuki performance styles and modern realistic dialog; they were a mélange of plays from domestic dramas, to documentary theater to the early Japanese adaptations of Shakespeare. Shinpa dramas were generally based on stories of contemporary domestic life instead of historical dramas. Its plays often exploited the traditional kabuki devices of social obligations conflicting with love or other emotions (giri vs. ninjō). Initially, plays were composed by company actors and modified during performance runs. Many shinpa playwrights were essentially adapters who took serialized fiction novels and rewrote them for the stage. Shinpa also staged adaptations of Western drama including works of Shakespeare, Maeterlinck, and Sardou. These plays were often heavily adapted attempts at interweaving classical Japanese performance forms with Western texts. Other authors focused on the creation of gendaigeki [contemporary plays], which were about domestic problems among Japan’s growing middle class.

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Theater and Imagination to (Re)Discover Reality

10.1093/oso/9780190468712.003.0011 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Tania Zittoun ◽

Adeline Rosenstein

Keyword(s):

Active Imagination ◽

Cultural Experience ◽

Documentary Theater ◽

Cultural Form ◽

Made In

Imagination plays a central role in theater. This chapter first examines how psychology has apprehended theater—as a metaphor, a tool, a cultural experience and as a sociocultural practice. It then examines the particular case of documentary theater, a genre used to bring on stage informative contents aimed at developing the viewer’s critical stance. Altogether, the authors propose a sociocultural understanding of imagination, and thus show how more specifically the theatrical choices made in the recent play Décris-Ravage triggers the viewers’ active imagination, invite them to reflect on the knowledge they have, or initiate a movement of further exploration. Finally, the authors sketch the consequences for an understanding of theater as a cultural form, and of imagination.

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The Performance of Life: Documentary Theater and Film

The Russian Review ◽

10.1111/j.1467-9434.2010.00584.x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 69 (4) ◽

pp. 615-637

Author(s):

BIRGIT BEUMERS ◽

MARK LIPOVETSKY

Keyword(s):

Documentary Theater

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“Third-class humanˮ: On representation of the image of ethnic migrant in modern Russian drama (on the example of the play “Khach” by U. B. Gitsareva)

Vestnik slavianskikh kul’tur [Bulletin of Slavic Cultures] ◽

10.37816/2073-9567-2021-62-246-257 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 62 ◽

pp. 246-257

Author(s):

Hesham M. M. Mohammed

Keyword(s):

Russian Literature ◽

Host Community ◽

General Tendency ◽

Host Environment ◽

Documentary Theater ◽

Literary Research ◽

Public Recognition ◽

The Given ◽

Ideological Context ◽

Modern Russian

The paper discusses artistic portrayal of an ethnic migrant in the modern Russian drama on the example of the play “Khach” (2014) by U. B. Gitsareva. The author focuses on the way migration is described and what are the meanings that inform this social phenomenon in the play. The play`s poetics is about giving a voice to migrants and distinguishing them from the mute mass, which organically fits into general tendency of Documentary Theater. The study highlights the concept of “strangeness” (“Otherness”), which is realized here both through a spatial chronotope and artistic objectivity; identifies and systematizes discursive means and mechanisms for constructing the image of an ethnic migrant, reveals perception and attitude of the host community towards the ethnic migrants, explores characteristics attributed to him in the host environment, analyzes how the topic of public recognition is embodied in everyday language and indicates strategies for migrants to overcoming “strangeness” (“otherness”). The author also substantiates the issue`s relevance for literary research. The choice of the paper`s subject is determined by the lack of studies of the given issue in terms of the modern Russian literature. As the analysis shows the play “Khach” is a comprehensive attempt at generalization, built into both the socio-psychological and ideological context.

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The Power of Documentary Theatre to Promote Cross-National Understanding: Personal Impact of Performing With Their Voices Raised by Japanese and American Youth Actors

Journal of Holistic Nursing ◽

10.1177/0898010120959871 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 089801012095987

Author(s):

Patricia Liehr ◽

Yui Matsuda ◽

Mio Ito ◽

Kathryn Morris ◽

Chie Nishimura ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Real Life ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Japanese American ◽

Youth Engagement ◽

Focus Group Study ◽

Documentary Theater ◽

Documentary Theatre ◽

Personal Impact ◽

Cross National

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to share descriptions of the personal impact for cross-national youth actors (Japanese, American) who performed With Their Voices Raised ( Voices), a documentary theater script that shares the stories of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima survivors who lived through the bombings of December 7, 1941, and August 6, 1945, respectively. Design/Methods: This was a descriptive exploratory focus group study conducted immediately after student-actors from Funairi High School in Hiroshima ( n = 15) and Farrington High School in Oahu, Hawaii ( n = 8), performed Voices. Data were content analyzed by a cross-national research team to address the question “What was the personal impact of performing Voices for Japanese and American youth actors?” Findings: There were three themes that crossed national boundaries: sense of power of the message from real-life people, new cross-national awareness, and moving beyond familiar history to engage and learn. The fourth theme distinguished the youth groups: for Japanese youth, performing Voices inspired an awareness of their local focus; for American youth, it enlivened youth-to-youth engagement as a learning approach. Conclusions: Documentary theater script is a creative, holistic approach with the potential to bridge divisiveness and promote cross-national understanding.

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