Theatre At the Crossroads of Culture

Western culture has a long history of cultural appropriation, a history that has particular resonance within performance practice. In this new study, Patrice Pavis asks what is at stake--politically and aesthetically--when cultures meet at the crossroads of theatre. ? Pavis analyzes a series of major recent productions, including Brook's "Mahabharata," Cixous/Mnouchkine's "Indiande," and Barba's "Faust." These provide a starting point for discussions of translation, appropriation, adaptation, cultural misunderstanding, and theatrical exploration. Never losing sight of the theatrical experience, Pavis confronts problems of colonialism, anthropology, and ethnography. This signals a radical movement away from the director and the word, toward the complex relationship between performance, performer, and spectator. ? Despite the problematic politics of cultural exchange in the theater, interculturalism is not a one-sided process. Using the metaphor of the hourglass to discuss the traRead less