Oldal 10 [10]
INTRODUCTION
theatre in its three-dimensional form, i.e. as a complex art form — even in
the method of research. So Philther has been developed for the Web, but as a
method of approaching theatre (history), it is not completely dependent on it
and can be demonstrated in the good old way. This monograph, mainly aimed
at the English-speaking world, tries to prove this.
Based on the now far too obvious realization that “the typical and
central subject of theatre studies” is performance itself,? Philther focuses on
examining the outstanding and historically paramount theatre productions
of the past few decades. The investigation mainly follows the visual and
textual traces left to us, and in some cases it considers individual memories
(the researcher’s own previous experiences, as in the last few chapters of this
book) and uses Oral History (i.e. the experiences of others, either creators
or spectators). It explores the genealogy of contemporary Hungarian theatre
(in the Foucaultian sense of the word) — i.e. those latent and manifest
forces that form even the present in manifold ways —, and its performance
analyses bear in mind both the aspects of dynamic usability and the norms
of disseminating scientific knowledge. Although Philther is not a database, it
provides certain data about the analyzed productions, which are, according
to the orientation of theatre studies, specified by the name of the director,
the title of the production and the time of its opening, so e.g. Gabor Székely:
The Misanthrope, 1988. These data, based on the consideration of several
sources, sometimes question and correct the information provided by
the theatre databases that serve as starting points for the research. Each
performance analysis comprises six units, which detail (1) the context of
the performance in theatre culture, highlighting the significance of the
production and giving reasons for its selection for analysis, (2) dramatic text
and dramaturgy (i.e. the relationship of the dramaturgy of the play and that of
the production), (3) staging, (4) acting, (5) stage design and sound, (6) impact
and posterity. These units provide an elaborate and systematic description
of the production as an event, as an aesthetic structure, as a part of artistic
attempts, oeuvres, social and political processes, etc. They contain numerous
references to other productions, which give a continuously broadening view
on history, setting in motion a network of events connected to each other.
This network sheds light on the main trends of theatre in the second half
of the last century, together with the keywords and various ways of their
approach. The special structure of the website (www.theatron.hu/philther),
the analysis and even the research preceding it, reflect the changes in writing
theatre history in the past three decades, and the whole intellectual matrix
of Philther aims to develop knowledge based on the altered expectations.
® Hans-Ihies Lehmann: Die Inszenierung: Probleme ihrer Analyse, Zeitschrift für Semiotik
11:1 (1989), 29.