Theatre Stage Design as the Hyperrealistic Social Imitation

  • Abstract:

    Since the second half of the 20th century theatre has started to use completely different form of its expression tools. Mostly in German theatre society critics have started to use a term that refers to this new practice as „Regietheater“ ‘director ́s theatre’. In these new directing tendencies of drama interpretation, intensions of all or most of the original authors changed or became re-interpreted. This means displacement of various structures of the story; starting with geographical location and history period and ending with the relationships‘ patterns. Theatre and opera especially as the most comprehensive artistic form have had always the biggest power and potential to discuss the most delicate and complicated political issues. Giuseppe Verdi or Richard Wagner are only two amongst other geniuses whose works have been used as important instruments to regimes or politicians in diverse aesthetical narratives. Music or story can be timeless, especially in the period of the 21st century, the century of most lively visualization. One of the ways to make the product more attractive and appealing, maybe deeper for us forming new questions and platforms for dialogue and understanding between different cultures is to transform theatre reality into the local portrait, visual frame that brings drama to the new dimensions. One of the biggest directors and scenographers in this field, Anna Viebrock, started to quote existing places, architecture and interiors connected mostly to the former Eastern Germany. With her usage of scenic space in various theatres across Europe, interesting questions and connotations are raised. This tendency is described as hyperrealistic social imitation. Where does this performing strategy have its own borders? How and when we could use „local architectural medium“ to discuss another „local“ stories not only as dramaturgical plan of theatres but as the dramaturgy of today’s Europe?