(Re)Presenting Theatrical Concepts of Being.

Based on the fundamental anthropological question of existence, this research and habilitation project "(Re)Presentating Theatrical Concepts of Being: Histronic Explorations by Ariane Mnouchkine, Carmelo Bene and Jerzy Grotowski" will examine specific forms of theatre with regard to philosophical and historical-anthropological discourses. Its focus will be on theatrical practices that have been repeatedly employed since the 1970s, the traces and effects of which are to be made visible until our times. The goal is thus to develop a set of tools for an extensive discussion of the performing arts, as well as for the enhanced analysis of stagings and performances. This will include the reading of performing art theories that are on the sidelines of established methods of interpretation and evaluation, and the development of a reevaluated perception of theatre and the performing arts. Up to our present times, various philosophical, biological and medical disciplines have focused on humanitas as the center of their research. Surprisingly, the various approaches, methods and results all culminate in the inevitable finale of death. In an occidental context, this continuing humiliation of the individual subject calls for various different strategies and techniques to overcome it, depending on the cultural circle, place and time. A perspective on the dilemma of the inevitability of death in the scope of theatre studies illustrates that the inherent play instinct of humankind gives us the option of acting, meaning that the performing arts are one way of dealing with the knowledge of our finite existence. Not only do actors and actresses perform in place of others; they simultaneously draw our attention to "another world." The concepts they offer will be examined in this project according to three theatre practitioners: Ariane Mnouchkine (1939- ) and her theatre group "Théâtre du Soleil;" Carmelo Bene (1939- 2002) and his "Non-Teatro;" as well as Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999) and his focus on "art as vehicle." The analytical systematical research work will be based on the theatre anthropological studies by Eugenio Barba with his Odin Teatret and ISTA (International School of Theatre Anthropology) in Denmark; as well as studies by Piergiorgio Giacchè in Perugia on the performing machine (Antropologia di una macchina attoriale, 1997); and the work by theatre scholar Gerda Baumbach in Leipzig (Schauspieler, Historische Anthropologie des Akteurs 2012 and editor of Theaterkunst und Heilkunst, 2002), whose extensive research lies in the context of historical- anthropological studies. In addition, an interdisciplinary set of methods will be used for the hermeneutical approach. On the one hand this will be oriented to poststructuralist research (J. Baudrillard, J. Butler, H. Cixous, G. Deleuze and S. Zižek) and historical anthropology (C. Wulf), as well as taking into consideration applied psychological and neurological research in the science of sports, including flow experiences (M. Csikszentmihalyi and G. Hüther). Their results will be applied to performing arts and acting from the perspective of theatre studies in order to address our contemporary knowledge of human existence, the question of the historical-cultural-social subject and his/her despair, which is (re)presented by means of interpretations in the performing arts.

In the scope of the research project "(Re)Presenting Theatrical Concepts of Being," (theatricalbeing.univie.ac.at), the habilitation paper "Ephemeral and Physical Presence: Performative Explorations of Ariane Mnouchkine, Carmelo Bene and Jerzy Grotowski" came into being. It deals with the art of performance, which is - "fleeting, ephemeral, transformative" - enabling actors/actresses to refer to our existential horizon, our fleeting existence. The dual concept of "ephemeral and physical presence," which is considered basic vocabulary in the discipline of theatre studies, signifies that which is particular to and substantial in each and every theatre production. As such, it also refers to the activity of the actors/actresses and can be seen as a general characteristic of the human condition. Actors/actresses are furthermore defined by a fundamental ability: they are capable of transforming themselves. A human being is determined, in contrast to an animal - according to philosophical anthropology, later historical anthropology - by the knowledge of his final transformation - i.e. his knowledge of dying and death. The ephemeral nature of performing art, in connection with the actor/actress, comes together with that of man, who is aware of his fleeting existence. The European subject, a "single, individual, indivisible subject" reacts to this grievous fact with several different strategies. The habilitation paper illustrates the performative practices that can be followed beyond the irrational paths (millennia of contact with the dead throughout all cultures). This is elaborated on the three evident performative practices, which are able to bring about this impossible connection - without drifting into irrationality - on the contrary, while remaining in the realm of rationality and maintaining contact with the living. With regard to Mnouchkine, Bene and Grotowski, their search for an/other theatre (to be renewed in keeping with their times) focuses on "the actor." This credo distinguishes their (self-) understanding of theatre. "The question of the actor" refers to all actors/actresses in the case of Mnouchkine; to one individual actor or "doer" in the case of Grotowski; and in the case of Bene, it always refers to himself as the Great Actor (Great is capitalized), the acting-machine (maccina attoriale, Giacchè). They all undergo "transformations as live/living bodies," drawing upon their physical presence in action, in actu; they undergo transformation, a metamorphosis, which enables them to transcend human limits - temporally/spatially, although they are determined by this hic et nunc. In this sense, theatre can serve as a catalyzer, since - as with every form of art - theatre can also abolish limits, making it possible for one to step out of oneself. (Also a basic anthropological assumption.) The limitations of life are presented with an alternative, or at least they become easier to bear.