The body of theatre technicians - reviewing theatre performances from the offstage

• Autor(a) principal: Demofonti, Silvia
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10362/23486
• topic: Theatre performance; Backstage labour; Theatre technicians; Technical theatre; Técnicos de teatro; Performance teatral; Bastidores de teatro; Técnicas teatrais; Domínio/Área Científica::Humanidades::Outras Humanidades

The aim of this thesis is investigating the actions performed by technicians during all phases of production of a theatrical performance. That is, the creative participation and embodiment of theatre technicians, whose participation in the creation and representation is often ignored or relegated to the more pragmatic aspects of the profession. The analysis contains academic contributions, fieldork research and interviews with theatre workers, which extend the theoretical discourse with direct testimonials of the life behind the scenes and, on a larger scale, of theatre professionals. The research is not limited to backstage labour during the theatrical performance, but also on the performative role of technicians within the larger framework of the theatrical community that gathers around a common goal, the production, and the society where it is embedded. In this community, everyone participates in the performance within the performance. The relationship between the three levels in action during the live event, stage/backstage/audience, is described as a flow of creation and recreation of symbols shared by the community.