Site-specific theatre – sometimes called
environmental theatre – is a
performanceA performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people behave in a particular way for another group of people . Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of "participatory theatre" where audience...
which can only be done in a particular place or site. The physical constraints and characteristics of the site are used as part of the performance. One of the greatest dramatic opportunities of site-specific theatre is that, by staging its action in appropriate real-world settings rather than in emulations of those settings within traditional theatre spaces, it may invest its performances with greater authenticity and audience engagement.
It is believed that much early theatre that took place before the advent of the professional theatre and the
now familiar theatre spaceA theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be given...
could be seen as site-specific.
Site-specific theatre – sometimes called
environmental theatre – is a
performanceA performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which one group of people behave in a particular way for another group of people . Sometimes the dividing line between performer and the audience may become blurred, as in the example of "participatory theatre" where audience...
which can only be done in a particular place or site. The physical constraints and characteristics of the site are used as part of the performance. One of the greatest dramatic opportunities of site-specific theatre is that, by staging its action in appropriate real-world settings rather than in emulations of those settings within traditional theatre spaces, it may invest its performances with greater authenticity and audience engagement.
History
It is believed that much early theatre that took place before the advent of the professional theatre and the
now familiar theatre spaceA theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be given...
could be seen as site-specific. In more recent years, site-specific theatre has been garnering increasing amounts of mainstream support. The opening passage of
Peter BrookPeter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is a British theatre and film director and innovator.-Life:Brook was born in Chiswick, west London, the second son of Simon and Ida Brook, and educated at Westminster School, Gresham's School, Holt, and Magdalen College, Oxford.While at Gresham's he directed The...
's "The Empty Space" can be linked directly to site-specific work, and many
UniversitiesA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
are including site-specific work in their theatre degree programs, in turn encouraging an up-surge of site-specific work being performed by new companies.
Examples
Examples of site-specific theatre include
Psycho-So-Matic and
Downsize, staged by Chicago's Walkabout Theater in a landromat and a series of public restrooms, respectively ;
Girls Just Wanna Have Fund$, staged by Women's Project in the lobbies, escalators, and bridges of New York's World Financial Center ;
Supernatural ChicagoSupernatural Chicago, currently in its sixth year of performances, has become a mainstay of the Chicago theater scene. The show opened on the appropriately superstition-tinged date of Friday the 13th in February 2004, and continues in an open-ended run....
, staged in an allegedly haunted nightclub; and
Small Metal Objects, staged by Australia's Back To Back Theater at the Whitehall Ferry Terminal.. Another example of this form is the
RamlilaRamlila is a dramatic folk re-enactment of the life of Lord Ram, ending up in ten day battle between Lord Ram and Ravan, as described in the Hindu religious epic, the Ramayana...
, dramatic enactment of Hindu epic,
RamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon . The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being Mahabharata...
, started in 1830 by
Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh'Maharaja Udit Narayan Singh' , of the Royal House of Benares, was the Kashi Naresh from . He was the eldest surviving son of Mahipat Narayan Singh.He had a great contribution in the culture of Varanasi....
of Varanasi. It is held each year over the period of 31 days, during autumn festive season of Dussehra at
Ramnagar, VaranasiRamnagar is a city and a municipal board in Varanasi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ramnagar has a fort known as Ramnagar Fort which is still the residence of King of Varanasi . He was known as Kashi Naresh meaning king of Kashi and is still regarded by old residents of the city of...
in India, and is staged in permanent structures created as sets throughout the three square mile area, where the audience follow the actors. Ramlila has been declared by the
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
as a
Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of HumanityThe Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness on intangible cultural heritage and spur the local communities to protect them and the local actors who sustain these forms of cultural...
in 2005 .
A secondary definition of environmental theater is used to describe any production that attempts to immerse the audience in the performance by bringing the action off the stage area. For example, some acting may happen in aisles. In the case of a
black box theaterThe black box theater is a relatively recent innovation, consisting of a simple, somewhat unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls and a flat floor.-History:...
acting platforms may even be built between audience section. Sometimes a performer will talk to, or otherwise involve an audience member in a scene. This can be a real audience member, as in
interactive theaterInteractive theatre is a presentational form that breaks the "fourth wall" separating performer and audience both physically and verbally.In traditional theatre, performance is limited to a designated stage area and the action of the play unfolds without any interplay with audience members, who...
, or an actor planted to appear as an audience member.
A subset of this is
promenade theater, in which there is little or no seating for audience members, who watch the action happening among them and may follow the performers around the space. An example of promenade theater is the performances put on by
PunchdrunkPunchdrunk are a British theatre company, formed in 2000 with the aim of creating "immersive" productions "in which the audience are free to choose what they watch and where they go". This format is closely related to "promenade theatre"....
, a UK based theater company.
Different Levels of Site Specificity
- Studio/Stage based Production - not site specific at all
- Studio as site - e.g. using the theatre space in an unusual way, for example, performing in the aisles
- Site as contextual container - e.g. Outdoor production of Shakespeare
- Site Generic - using a particular kind of site, e.g. Street Theatre, or Steven Koplowitz's "Grand Staircase" performance
- Site Responsive - using the site as resource for the performance material
Different Ways of Using the Site
- Site as Thematic or Narrative Resource
- Site as Architectural Space
Companies performing site-specific work
-
- Dogtroep(Netherlands)
- Walkabout Theater (Chicago, USA)
- Supernatural Chicago
Supernatural Chicago, currently in its sixth year of performances, has become a mainstay of the Chicago theater scene. The show opened on the appropriately superstition-tinged date of Friday the 13th in February 2004, and continues in an open-ended run....
(Chicago, USA) http://www.supernaturalchicago.com
- Scrap and Salvage (San Francisco, USA)
- Wilson+Wilson (UK)
- Back To Back Theater (Australia)
- Skewed Visions
Skewed Visions is an arts company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota which produces site-specific performances and other multimedia works. Formed in 1996 by the artists Charles Campbell, Gülgün Kayim and Sean Kelley-Pegg, the group produces site-specific works that have sometimes been seen as...
(Minnesota, USA) http://skewedvisions.org
- Grid Iron (Scotland, UK)
- Semper Fi (Ireland)
- Forster & Heighes (England, UK)
- Reial Companyia de Teatre de Catalunya (Barcelona, Catalonia)
- The Sans Walk Project (London, UK)