Scenography explores and shapes the material world in and through the performative event. In site-specific performances, it transforms place and time to create an alternative reality in which the materiality of the artistic design and the performer's body intervene in the architecture of a place and the spectator's reception of meaning. In this course, we will study site interventions through the lens of street performance, immersive theater, and the theatrical apparatus to build a theoretical and direct understanding of the material potential and limitations of the four key elements involved in the scenographic project -- artistic design, the actor's body, local architecture, and time.
This course is divided into three units: (1) site-specific; (2) street performance; and (3) immersive theater. Each unit includes scholarly readings, assignments in performance and scenography, and specific showings. There will be two written responses for the course (5-to-7-page papers) on two of the works experienced at the festival that demonstrate the student's cumulative grasp of site specificity, scenography, and materiality. There will also be a final media journal showing. |