Contemporary Mise en Scène

Contemporary Mise en Scène is Patrice Pavis's enlightening and penetrating analysis of the role that stagecraft plays in the creation of drama.
Pavis explores the complex relationship of mise en scène to different performance forms throughout history. He focuses on the traditional elements employed in stagecraft and studies the dramatic impact of actors, costume, lighting and set design on performance.
This powerful new translation explores the changing possibilities for stagecraft through new media forms in the twenty-first century and critically examines contemporary stagecraft today in the context of performance art, physical theatre and postmodern theory.

Patrice Pavis is Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Kent. He was formerly Professor of Theatre Studies at Paris VIII University. His Dictionary of the Theatre has been published in 30 different languages.

1 Where did mise en scène come from? 2 On the frontiers of mise en scène 3 The difference between mise en scène and performance 4 Tendencies in French scenography 5 The mise en jeu of contemporary texts 6 The intercultural trap: rituality and mise en scène in the video art of Guillermo Gómez-Peña 7 Theatre in another culture: a Korean example 8 Media on the stage 9 The deconstruction of postmodern mise en scène 10 Physical theatre and the dramaturgy of the actor 11 The splendour and the misery of interpreting the classics 12 Staging calamity: mise en scène and performance at Avignon 2005 13 Conclusions: Where is mise en scène going?