Filming the Stage: Reflections on the Historical and the Aesthetic Perspectives of an Essential Archive of the Future

Since the appearance and growth of cinema, a close but sometimes ambiguous relationship has been forged between the “Seventh Art” and the performing arts. Although cinema evolved quickly to become an art form in its own right, the stage and the productions produced for this space remain an object of attention for film directors. The relationship between the audio-visual sector and the presentational arts torments historians, creators and aestheticians alike. Experimented with and made use of by some, with varying degrees of success, fully rejected by others, the filming of the stage always raises many practical questions as well as theoretical reflections. The purpose of this article is to tackle questions and the search for possible answers which illuminate the eternal dialectical tensions between performing arts and recorded performing arts