An interrogation of the body archetypes in theatre making

Abstract

This practice-based research framed as a phenomenological approach, aims to examine the elements that contribute for the physical expression of the body in the theatre. As such it investigates the role body archetypes play in theatre performance as visual and plastic materialisation of the text and the extent to which they participate in generating meaning in theatre making. By investigating selected theories, principles and strategies, it constructs a theoretical frame for the understanding of the body archetypes principle. With reference to the areas of archetypes and phenomenology this research constructs the argument for the centrality of the body as a meaning maker. The study presents a working method and analyses examples from a synthesis of reflections generated from the performance laboratory embedded in a case study, with specific reference to the creation of Franz and Marie – A Kind o Woyzeck. The research highlights the process through which the body can access the archetypes and also makes explicit the contributions of the principles of body archetypes in the realm of theatre.