Post-dramatic Performance: Semantics and Pragmatics (Based on the Play Shpalikov Staged By the Yeltsin Center Theatre Platform “In the Center”)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the understanding of the phenomenon of modern theatre, defined by the German theater critic Hans-Thies Lehmann as “post-dramatic theatre”. The purpose of the article is to show the mode of existence of post-drama in the real theatrical process. From Lehmann’s point of view, post-drama is not a new direction in art, but a state of the theater in which it emancipates from the literary source. The post-dramatic theatre breaks the tradition of narrative art and abandons the rigid structure of the play. The semantics of post-drama is considered in the tradition of contextualism, when the meaning directly depends on the context. The contextuality of the play Shpalikov is its semantic field. The pragmatics of post-drama is in the creation of a new polylinguistic space. Post-drama changes all the language elements of the theatre, including the audience’s expectations.