Philosophy and Theatre: An Introduction

by Tom Stern

The relationship between philosophy and theatre is a central theme in the writings of Plato and Aristotle and of dramatists from Aristophanes to Stoppard. Where Plato argued that playwrights and actors should be banished from the ideal city for their suspect imitations of reality, Aristotle argued that theatre, particularly tragedy, was vital for stimulating our emotions and helping us to understanding ourselves. Despite this rich history the study of philosophy and theatre has been largely overlooked in contemporary philosophy. This is the first book to introduce philosophy and theatre. It covers key topics and debates, presenting the contributions of major figures in the history of philosophy, Including annotated further reading and summaries at the end of each chapter, Philosophy and Theatre is an ideal starting point for those studying philosophy, theatre studies and related subjects in the arts and humanities.

Genres: Philosophy

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

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Reviews

[Teresa]

Brilliant intro to the topic, covering lots of ground for further dissertation exploration..!

[Dirk Hennebel]

Interesting introduction to the relationship between theatre and philosophy covering in Part I ,'From the World to the Stage', the concepts of 'mimesis' (imitation and imagination), 'truth and illusion', 'theatre and the past' (historical plays). Part II, 'From the Stage to the World', covers the 'theatre as a school of morals' (?), 'emotions' and 'theatre and politics' (mainly Brecht). The introduction is clear and well structured, basically starting from existing theories and adding commentary or alternative insights. Many of these are well documented but sometimes the elaboration is rather limited in scope and consequently not consistently convincing. Undoubtedly required reading for anybody interested in theatre studies.

[Reza Divsalar]

تنها فصل ششم کتاب روشنگر بود، بقیه فصل‌های کتاب همونطور که در عنوان کتاب هم هست مقدمه‌ای بیش نیست و به دسته بندی تعاریف و ماسمالی کردن از طریق کثرت گرایی خلاصه میشه. ترجمه خوب بود.