Peculiarities of the Sound Space of Ritual Actions in Richard Schechner’s Theatrical Performance “Dionysos-69”

Abstract

The article dwells upon the issue of the specificity of sound space in Richard Schechner’s
theater. Upon examination of the history of formation of performativity as the most important
component of the nature of contemporary culture, the factors which have stipulated its
transformation in interaction with the relevant forms of theater are highlighted. The peculiarities
of the development of performative practices in the history of theater, the chronotope of
theatrical communication are studied based on the research works of Daria Demekhina, Hans
Thiess Lehmann, Dmitri Trubockin, Erika Fischer-Lichte, Richard Schechner and others. During
the process of research of the sound component in Schnechner’s productions, special attention
is given to the ritualistic elements, which create the compositionally-dramaturgical framework
of the theatrical performance. In her conclusions the author notes that the reconstruction of
the Ancient Greek myth in the context of the space of Schechner’s theater has created unique
conditions for the interaction between the visual and the sound components of the performance,
which disclosed new possibilities for theater as one of the forms of communication capable of
uniting society. Research of the sound space of the performance makes it possible to determine
the conditions of formation of a special chronotope of performative practices as a significant
component of the nature of contemporary art.

Keywords: “Dionysos-69,” the works of Richard Schechner, the sound space of ritual actions,
the history of performance.