University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Literary criticism, theatre theory and the director’s task: Katie Mitchell’s production of Chekhov’s The Seagull

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 23:42 authored by William McEvoyWilliam McEvoy
This article looks at how Chekhov’s play The Seagull thematises the challenges of translating and directing theatre texts, focusing specifically on Katie Mitchell’s 2006 production of Martin Crimp’s version of the play. It suggests that literary criticism remains an important tool for theorising theatre texts and performance. By focusing on the frictions between analysis of the text as language and approaches that equally emphasise the visual, the embodied and the performative, we can develop interesting theoretical perspectives on the relationship between words as material to be read, and the broader functions of the words of theatre texts in performance. In this case in particular, the article works through some of the challenges and choices a director like Katie Mitchell faces when converting a passion for literature, via a play that reflects theoretically on the relationship between writing, acting, and directing, into performance.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Studies in Theatre and Performance

ISSN

1468-2761

Publisher

Routledge

Issue

2

Volume

36

Page range

118-129

Department affiliated with

  • English Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-12-08

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC