1 the Puppet, the Cinematic and Contemporary Visual Theatre
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The Puppet, the Cinematic and Contemporary Visual Theatre: Principles, Practices, Logos. This thesis finds inspiration in practitioner academics such as Craig and Meyerhold, and is conceived as a practice-informed research degree, consisting of a written element and a practical element that draw on and inspire each other. That there is value in both practising and analysing an art form is argued, and ‘case studies’ are made of practitioner/theorists at either end of the genealogy traced in the research: both those at the beginning of the 20th century and those at the beginning of the 21st. A case is made for judging the work of artists such as Robert Lepage, Robert Wilson, Complicité, and Faulty Optic as exemplars of contemporary Visual Theatre practice, combining and being inspired by the twin modes of puppetness and the cinematic. Alongside case studies of these practitioners sits analysis of the practical element of the thesis: a work-in- progress piece of auteur-led Visual Theatre practice that questions and illuminates the written component of the thesis. The research takes the form of a historical survey followed by contemporary case studies, identifying the first adoption in Europe of the figure of the puppet (both literal and metaphorical) as a serious dramatic trope (as distinct from the puppet’s long history in religion, ritual and entertainment). The thesis agrees with the many writers on puppetry who cite Kleist’s On the Marionette Theatre (1810) as the turning point for the shift in the perception of puppets: from folk art or children’s theatre, to modes and devices rich in metaphor and suitable for the practice of a new generation of writers, artists and theatre-makers. While the lineage of ideas traced starts with Kleist, it gains critical mass with the championing of the figure of the puppet found in the Modernist theatre practice of the fin-de-siècle and early 20th century; in the works of practitioners such as Edward Gordon Craig and Meyerhold, and then in the theories and practice of artists that moved from theatre into early film such as Méliès and Eisenstein. The thesis argues that Modernist theatre and film practice both drew greatly on the figure of the puppet, and that although it was often the case that literal puppets were featured, equally or more important was the puppet as metaphor: central to these Modernist plays and films was puppetness. The thesis introduces, defines and defends notions of puppetness and close-control, and the connected concept of the cinematic, examining their relationship to a stage and screen that treats each of its elements as an equal and integrated part of its overall ‘vision’, and ‘animates’ both the figures and objects that occupy it. This thesis draws a constellation between three distinct though related practices and modes of production: looking at a period spanning roughly the last hundred years, it focuses on the emergence, trajectory and cross-pollination of avant- garde puppet, film and theatre art, and brings a fresh perspective to the study of this still emergent theatrical form. By exploring shared theoretical insights and practical modes, the thesis identifies a shared logos: an impelling, defining force that unites practices and sensibilities central to puppetry and cinema, in the genre of Visual Theatre. 1 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..6 Definitions…………………………………….………………………….……………11 A Practice/Theory Methodology…………………………………………………….14 Antecedents. 1.1 From Kleist’s Marionettentheater to Schlemmer’s Schaubuhne: The Resurgence of the Puppet and the Visual in Modernist Avant-Garde Theatre and Cabaret…………………………………………………………...24 1.2 The ‘Cinematified’ Theatre and the Puppetised Film: Meyerhold, Melies and Eisenstein’s Stage and Screen of Attractions…………………………...36 1.3 Visual Theatre’s ‘First Harbinger’: the Auteur and the Ubermarionette in Edward Gordon Craig’s ‘Stage Visions’……………………………………..43 Theory. 2.1 Modernist Puppet Logos in the Cinema: Puppetness, Close-Control and the Rise of the Auteur……………………………………………………………...53 2.2 What is Visual Theatre?.....................................................................................66 2.3 Visual Theatre as a Modern or Post-Modern Mode of Practice?.................81 2.4 The Animated Screen and the Animated Stage: Puppetness from Kunstfigur to Media Figure in the Manipulated, Mediated Image................89 Practice. 3.1 Analysing the Process: a Methodology for Visual Theatre-Making Observed and Questioned in my own Practice……………………………..96 3.2 The Animated Stage of Complicite’s The Street of Crocodiles: Object Performance and Metaphor at Play in Early Visual Theatre……………..112 3.3 Kleinkunst on the Visual Theatre Stage: Shockheaded Peter as fin-de- millennium Artist’s Cabaret…………………………………………………121 3.4 Cynosure of the Visual Theatre Stage: Puppetness and the Cinematic in the Solo Theatre Practice of Robert Lepage………………………………..134 2 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….147 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….158 Appendix 1: Work-In-Progress Storyboards……………………………………..178 Appendix 2: Stage Design Sketches……………………………………………….183 Appendix 3: Sphinx Zoetrope Sequence……………………………………….…184 3 The Puppet, the Cinematic and Contemporary Visual Theatre: Principles, Practices, Logos. Thomas Butler Garrett A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Brighton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2009 The University of Brighton/University for the Creative Arts 4 Declaration I declare that the research contained in this thesis, unless otherwise formally indicated within the text, is the original work of the author. The thesis has not been previously submitted to this or any other university for a degree, and does not incorporate any material already submitted for a degree. Signed Dated 5 Introduction This thesis grew from my work as a practitioner of what I go on to define as Visual Theatre, and my spectatorship of performances by a number of contemporary British and international theatre companies that seemed to share common practices and ideals. As the research progressed, links between the practices, companies, histories and ideas became clearer, and more material emerged that did some of the work of linking older modes of practice to contemporary work; still there remained gaps in the explication of what Visual Theatre was, what constituted its essential elements and what came before that directly or indirectly inspired it. What Visual Theatre needed was a genealogical investigation, a discovery of a lineage that traced its influences and illuminated its nature. That cinema (both contemporary and historical) is a factor in the conception of contemporary Visual Theatre work is not a contentious claim, but this thesis looks beyond the many examples of filmic recreations on the contemporary stage1 and establishes a key notion of Visual Theatre as being what I term here the cinematic. This term specifies not just a way of creating and presenting cinematic visions on stage, but relates to a particular history, which is traced in the first section of the thesis. The second element that this thesis links to Visual Theatre and its antecedents is the figure of the puppet, and the notion of puppetness. A detailed argument is made concerning the meaning and scope of puppetness, and the application of the (metaphorical) figure of the puppet to theatre and film production and analysis. The evolution of thinking concerning puppetry and puppets is traced, and related to the contemporaneous emergence of Modernism and its adoption of the figure of the puppet, both as a literal and metaphorical device. Much of my 1 These recreations exist for a number of reasons, from a Post-Modern idea of the interest or value in ‘pastiche’, to commercial theatre’s attempt to compete with the cinema for an audience: or if not compete, then to pander to a multi-media sophistication on the part of its audience, who ‘need’ filmic close-ups or Matrix-like choreography and trick camera work. 6 own theatre practice has involved puppets in one form or another, and I have variously conceived, built, operated and directed them. From this experience as a practitioner came a sense of the wider influence of puppets and puppetness on experimental, avant-garde theatre. While good work has been done on the history of Modernism and puppets, by writers such as Segel (1995), Bell (2008) and Shershow (1995), there has been relatively little that connects these researches to the wider fields of theatre and cinema, and this thesis breaks new ground in its inter-disciplinary approach to creating a genealogy for Visual Theatre. Central to this project are the notions of puppetness and the cinematic, and the hitherto little recognised connections between the two. The first section of the thesis takes the form of a historical survey and analysis. 1.1, From Kleist’s Marionettentheater to Schlemmer’s Schaubuhne: The Resurgence of the Puppet and the Visual in Modernist Avant-Garde Theatre and Cabaret analyses the emergence of a theatre made both by established theatre artists such as Edward Gordon Craig, and by collectives (mostly in the form of avant-garde Cabarets) of visual artists, musicians, writers and performers; the chapter explores the reasons and methods through which the figure of the puppet became a kind of talisman for these Modernist theatre makers. 1.2, The ‘Cinematified’ Theatre and the Puppetised Film: Meyerhold, Méliès and Eisenstein’s Stage and Screen of Attractions traces