The puppet, the cinematic and contemporary visual theatre: principles, practices, logos

Abstract

This thesis finds inspiration in practitioner academics such as Craig and Meyerhold, and is conceived as a practice-informed research degree, consisting of a written element and a practical element that draw on and inspire each other. That there is value in both practising and analysing an art form is argued, and ‘case studies’ are made of practitioner/theorists at either end of the genealogy traced in the research: both those at the beginning of the 20th century and those at the beginning of the 21st. A case is made for judging the work of artists such as Robert Lepage, Robert Wilson, Complicité, and Faulty Optic as exemplars of contemporary Visual Theatre practice, combining and being inspired by the twin modes of puppetness and the cinematic. Alongside case studies of these practitioners sits analysis of the practical element of the thesis: a work-inprogress piece of auteur-led Visual Theatre practice that questions and illuminates the written component of the thesis.

Date of Award	Sept 2009
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton