Deconstructing, refocusing and reframing the postdramatic experience

Deconstructing, refocusing and reframing the postdramatic experience is an investigation of connections within hierarchy roles in Postdramatic theatre, and the relationship audiences have with those structures. The traditional hierarchy consists of director/playwright at the top, however the Postdramatic style is centred on images and symbols, therefore this existing structure must change. The overall objective of this investigation is to explore the balance between audience’s involvement in a live Postdramatic theatre piece and how much a purely scenographic and design based performance can influence that experience. And what the nature of that experience could be. Although there is an overall objective for this investigation, the project is divided into cycles of practice where each cycle will examine one particular technical design component in a certain context. Cycle One investigates sound and Cycle Two investigates lighting. The aim of this project is to examine relationships between the theatre scenographer and audience through an experimentation with aesthetic structures within theatrical works. The project aims are to highlight the hierarchy at play in different theatre styles, while putting the scenographer at the centre of the process and also to break down the assigned importance of the text in the process of a production. This investigation will have its base in a staged interpretation of Samuel Beckett’s Quad (1981). Due to the nonconventional nature of a piece, it is important to address the scenographic structures in relationship to the reception of a theatre work. It is also important to understand each role the technical components and design play within a Postdramatic theatre setting due to the strong reliance on non-text based components