Modernism and Performance: Jarry to Brecht

by Olga Taxidou

The idea of performance as distinct artistic practice emerges in the context of modernity. This guide to modernism and performance introduces key developments and debates of the period (the rise of the director, new theories of acting, new modes of production, complex relationships to classical and oriental drama); debates that helped to create new languages of performance. It suggests that our understanding of the workings of performance in the period might help to reconfigure our general understanding of modernism.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2007

About the author

Olga Taxidou was a lecturer in the Department of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, where she taught drama. Her main research interest was in performance and cultural theory and she published on classical Greek drama, modernist performance, and contemporary epic and political theatres. She co-edited the journal Studies in Theatre Production and Modernism: An Anthology of Documents and Sources. She was a member of the executive committee of the International Federation of Theatre Research and worked on translations and adaptations for various theatre productions.