Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Spectatorship and the Real in French Contemporary Theatre

Spectatorship and the Real in French Contemporary Theatre

Mons, Amélie

Paperback

Series: Methuen Drama Engage

Theater History

ISBN10: 135030087X
ISBN13: 9781350300873
Publisher: Methuen Drama
Published: Aug 21 2025
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.56
Height: 0.46 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English

This book explores how avant-garde directors in French theatre play on their audiences' frustration to generate an encounter with the real.

Focusing on the work of directors such as Gisèle Vienne, Jan Lauwers, Rodrigo Garcia, Jan Fabre and Romeo Castellucci, the book looks at how these directors manipulate their audiences to experience a raw perception of materiality and physical bodies on stage, set within narratives of mystery and the uncanny. This approach has led to these directors' work described as 'obscene', 'pretentious', 'demagogic' and 'provocative'.

Because of this, the act of spectating and the nature of spectatorship itself becomes complicated and tends to leave French audiences doubting traditional codes and practices. It leads to the directors' work being misjudged and to contradictory discourses between critics, researchers and directors.

The book examines how directors implement strategies on stage to trigger such experiences, while evaluating how problematic these strategies are. It develops critical and philosophical tools that help spectators extend their field of perception and better engage with these contemporary practices. And, in doing so, it analyses a fascinating paradox: the French theatre scene hosting both active avant-garde practices, especially when it comes to spectator experience, and strong rejections from audiences.

1 different editions

Also available

Also from

Mons, Amélie

View All

Also in

Theater History

View All