15 Global Theatre
Missy Maramara
Isn’t Theatre all the Same?
As an art form, theatre is comprised of humans who perform a certain narrative of conflict and resolution through the use of audiovisual manipulations in a transformed space that is shared by an audience in real-time. In this sense, theatre is the same across the globe. However, while all theatre originated from ritual, the forms they evolved into throughout history vary according to the circumstances of the artists creating them in response to the societies in which they lived. In this manner, theatre is an elevated sublimation of the human struggle to understand experiences of conflict. Theatre artists create their art in order to grapple with a specific conflict in response to a specific set of circumstances for a specific audience. It is important to bear this in mind when watching plays from different cultures since their idea of conflict and set of circumstances are most likely different from yours, and you might not be the target audience.
This chapter is an introduction to global theatre and looks at five major areas. It begins with a delineation between the Western World as told by mainstream history as well as the non-Western world from a post-colonial perspective. Then it will look at several theatre forms found in cultures outside Europe and the United States of America, with one example from distinct countries to illustrate similarities and differences from Western Theatre. Finally, it will discuss Intercultural Theater, where different cultures are fused to produce plays. Each of those topics can stand alone and fill a whole library, so this chapter cannot be as exhaustive as one wishes. As an introductory level chapter, the next few pages will describe qualities of distinct theatrical forms attributed to the general contexts in which they were made. This will leave a lot of room for further exploration so feel free to let the ideas pique your interest and spur you on to further research.
West and the Rest
All cultures find ways of communal expression, and as such, it can be said that each culture has its own form of theatre. However, the history of theater often focuses on the Western development of the art form and tends to exclude forms that do not share the same formal elements as outlined by Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. This can be attributed to the tendency of historical accounts to focus on the different movements of power within the Western Hemisphere: from the Greeks to the Romans, to the Europeans, such as France, Germany, England, and Spain, and to Russia and the United States of America. The history of theatre follows mainstream historical accounts of the accomplishments in the arts as a reflection of a world power. In other words, history is told from the perspective of the global leader and highlights the accomplishments of its global power.
Power is the ability to influence others. World power is often manifested in the ability of one country’s gove