The world of the pose: constructing a dramaturgy of the pose

Kovacs, Nicole (2024) The world of the pose: constructing a dramaturgy of the pose. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This is an interdisciplinary practice led study (actor training/theatre/visual arts). The study asks, what does the treatment of the pose as a dramaturgical tool offer the contemporary practitioner? It examines the impact of a pose dramaturgy on a dramatic text, characterisation and performance practice. In addition, it explores the pose as a tool to investigate performance practice and aims to engage its spectators in co-creation. This aspect is guided by the principles of Sanford Meisner’s actor training strategy: the Meisner technique. Furthermore, the Meisner technique is explored in an unconventional way, both as a theoretical tool to think through a devising process, and as a tool for the actor to engage with the self in the creative process and on the stage. The study offers a sensory approach to text exploration, characterisation and performance practice. The study privileges and foregrounds the actor’s embodied learning processes as an important (underrepresented and undervalued) knowledge producer in the theatrical discourse. The study’s aim is to create a practice mode in which actors/practitioners may extract their own unique creative practice explorations, and language.

Using desk-based, fieldwork and practice investigations, the study analyses and attempts to codify the pose in theatrical performance, which includes how performance structures support the pose moment and the pose template.

The codified structures derived from this study of the pose could be applied to other art forms. Due to the status of the pose as an image, the theatrical performance might not be the finite event, as the image (the pose) can be transferred and re-investigated through other art forms, such as visual arts, interactive events and film.

The study posits that, while modern technologies are available, there is still much to learn about actor and spectator engagement from the sensory world of the pose.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from Augustinus Fonden.
• Keywords: Meisner technique, Pose, mie pose, Attitude pose, tableaux vivant, actor training, dramaturgy, sensory, Sanford Meisner, co-creation, diversity, inclusivity, devising, practice, kabuki, Caravaggio and theatre.
• Subjects: N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR; P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The Theater
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts
• Supervisor's Name: Eatough, Dr. Graham and Murray, Dr. Simon
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84165
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 27 Mar 2024 11:54
• Last Modified: 27 Mar 2024 11:57
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84165
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84165

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