Podrobný výpis o publikaci

The study tries to define ways of becoming „political“ used by contemporary theatre artists based on detailed analyses of ten specific contemporary theatre performances from Czech Republic and other european countries, that show signs of „political“. These analyses try to examine activisating principles that repeat in more performances. The study tries to theoretically define them and deduce, how can they be used to mentally activate the spectator. In the preliminary introduction I will examine the terms „political theatre“, „mental activization“ and the reasons why this kind of activization is vital part of contemporary committed theatre. The reasoning behind this is based on the concept of relational art defined by Nicholas Bourriaud in his work Relational Aesthetics. The main five principles that lead to the activization of the public are blurring the border between presentation and representation, confronting spectators with the otherness, exposing spectators to the bodily violence on the stage, exhibiting individualisation and focusing on creating equality of relations in the space. These methods should, although through very different paths, lead to sharing of stories, thoughts and relations, which creates an atmosphere of equality: my opinion as a member of audience is no less important than that of an artist. Only then will the spectator become willing to consider his own opinion – when he is encouraged by the feeling that his opinion would be listened to. Analysed works include performances by established european political theatremakers like Oliver Frljić, Yael Ronen, Milo Rau and Belarus Free Theatre, but also other artists from Germany, Finland and Czech Republic, some of them in cooperation with artistic groups from China, Nigeria and Rwanda. The presentation further explores this thinking by incorporating the critique of relational aethetics by Jacques Ranciére and by drawing a conclusion from it.