Glossary

Abstract

The book relies on a set of idealized performance kinds. These cases are introduced in chapter 3 and are referred to throughout the book. They are cases designed to highlight features needing analysis on any adequate general account of theatrical performance. The cases used in the book are idealized in three senses. First, they ignore the actual circumstance that might have prompted the kind of performance they illustrate. Second, they involve the use of scripts (which is not characteristic of all forms of theater). And third, they involve the reworking of material in previously written texts for performance (whereas that is a minority practice in the actual history of theater). The features they do illustrate are mentioned in the following brief descriptions. The idealized cases used in the book are as follows. Hedda-to-Hedda: a class of narrative performances involving the use of scripts written for performance in which performers play characters by uttering words assigned to those characters (by speech prefi xes) and moving in ways that will be grasped by spectators as the actions of the characters. The manner, rhythm, tone and speed of word delivery, as well as of movement, are usually governed by some interpretive ideas concerning the play as a whole. Gabler at a Distance: a class of narrative performances involving the use of scripts written for performance in which performers play characters