Richard Schechner's Performance Theory

Discuss ways in which Richard Schechner's 'Performance Theory' may be of use to contemporary practitioners. Illustrate your answer with reference to at least one dance or theatre performance which you have seen 'live'. The influence of Richard Schechner(b. 1934) on both theatre production and academic theory has been profound and,in some ways, revolutionary. Schechner has consistently challenged traditionalpractices and perspectives of theatre, performance and ritual for almost half acentury. His principal contention is that drama is not merely a province of thestage, but of everyday life, and is a cross-cultural phenomenon. 'It isimportant to develop and articulate theories concerning how performances aregenerated, transmitted, received and evaluatedIn pursuit of these goals,performance studies is insistently intercultural, inter-generic andinter-disciplinary'. (Schechner, 1995) As with all academicstudies, performance theory is founded on certain key principles, which includesuch terms as 'presentation of self', 'restored behaviour' 1 and'expressive culture', and incorporates social drama and ritual. His concept ofperformance, which contrasts sharply with previous, principally modernist,approaches to the arts, asserts the importance of different 'systems oftransformations', which vary enormously from culture to culture, and throughouthistorical periods and movements. The radical nature of performancetheory is demonstrated by its all-encompassing, even holistic, approach totheatre and performance, with popular culture, folklore, and ethnic diversityincorporated into the cross-disciplinary mix. In examining the ways in whichthe theory can be useful to theatre practitioners, it is important to examinein more detail the main strategies it deploys, including the concept of'performativity'. The word 'performative' was originatedby J.L Austin, a linguistic philosopher, who coined the term for the first timeduring lectures at Harvard University in 1955. Expressions such