The Provocation of the Senses in Contemporary Theatre

ISBN-13: 9780415872676 / Angielski / Twarda / 2010 / 238 str.

Stephen DiBenedetto

Opis

DiBenedetto considers theatrical practice through the lens of contemporary neuroscientific discoveries in this provoking study, which lays the foundation for considering the physiological basis of the power of theatre practice to affect human behavior. What do these theories enable us to see about the ways in which the theatrical event is created? DiBenedetto presents a basic summary of the ways that the senses function in relation to cognitive science and physiology, and then offers an overview of dominant trends of discussion of the realm of the senses in performance. Following on, he offers examples of how those ideas are illustrated in recent theatrical presentations, and how the different senses form the structure of a theatrical event. Finally, DiBenedetto suggests the possible implications that these neuroscientific ideas have upon our understanding of theatrical composition, audience response, and the generation of meaning.

Spis treści

Preface: Why Contemporary Performance Can Provoke the Senses Acknowledgments 1: Our Sensing Bodies: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Understanding Live Theatrical Experience 2: Scintillating Visions and Visual Perception: How Light, Movement and Stage Space Capture Our Attention and Stimulate Our Brains 3: Attendant to Touch: Cutaneous Stimulation and its Expressive Capabilities 4: Noses, Tongues and Other Surprising Possibilities: Harnessing Olfaction and Gustation in Performance 5: Aural Landscapes: Voices, Noises, Vibrations and Other Quivering Stimulators of Cochlear Perception 6: The Sentient Body: Guiding Somatic Responses Within Performative Structures Notes Bibliography Index

O autorze

Stephen Di Benedetto is an Assistant Professor of Theatre History and Theory at the University of Miami, and is the Book Review Editor (North America) for Theatre Research International.