Environmental Theatre (Richard Schechner, 1994)

Introduction

• P.X In terms of performance, an environment is where the action takes place. But theorists recognize that this action is not localized to the "stage" nor limited to what happens to the actors. The action is also where the audience is, where the actors dress and makeup, where the theatre does its business (lobby, box office, administrative offices). Even the toilets and the transportation systems conveying people to and from the theatre are part of the "performance environment".
• A performance environment is a "position" in the political sense, a "body of knowledge" in the scholarly sense, a "real place" in the theatrical sense. Thus, to stage a performance "environmentally" means more than simply to move it off of the proscenium or out of the arena. An environment performance is one in which all the elements or parts making up the performance are recognized as alive. To "be alive" is to change, develop, transform; to have needs and desires; even, potentially, to acquire, express, and use consciousness.
• P. xii But Environmental Theatre is about more than performer training. It is also about directing, composing performances, designing spaces, site specific performances, and the formation (and destruction) of groups.
• P. xiv I remind readers that performance consists of four great realms: entertainment, ritual, healing, and education.

Schechner, R. (1994). Environmental Theater. New York: Applause Books.