Conclusion: From Theoretical Practitioners to Theorized Performance

Abstract

The best work of any practitioner might be considered theoretical, in the broadest sense, because it has a reflexive and thoughtful component to it. But it does not follow that all writing by practitioners is theoretical. Those theoretical practitioners that we have examined qualify for that description not just because they wrote down their ideas, but also because of the way in which they have expressed their thoughts. Their texts are sometimes prescriptive, often polemical, and frequently analytical. They have used written means to attempt to place their practice in a history or tradition of theatre (often one they re-make to suit themselves): to proselytize about their work, to quantify the purpose of their practice and to codify their working practices. The mode and rhetoric of this written material differ widely between practitioners, and may change through the working life of a given writer.