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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.
