Postmodern theatre

Postmodern techniques

A postmodern theatrical production might make use of some or all of the following techniques:

1. The accepted norms of seeing and representing the world are challenged and disregarded, while experimental theatrical perceptions and representations are created.
2. A pastiche of different textualities and media forms are used, including the simultaneous use of multiple art or media forms, and there is the 'theft' of a heterogeneous group of artistic forms.
3. The narrative needs not be complete but can be broken, paradoxical and imagistic. There is a movement away from linearity to multiplicity (to inter-related webs of stories), where acts and scenes give way to a series of peripatetic dramatic moments.
4. Characters are fragmented, forming a collection of contrasting and parallel shards stemming from a central idea, theme or traditional character.
5. Each new performance of a theatrical pieces is a new Gestalt, a unique spectacle, with no intent on methodically repeating a play.
6. The audience is integral to the shared meaning-making of the performance process and its members are included in the dialogue of the play.
7. There is a rejection of the notions of "High" and "Low" art. The production exists only in the viewer's mind as what the viewer interprets – nothing more and nothing less.
8. The rehearsal process in a theatrical production is driven more by shared meaning-making and improvisation, rather than the scripted text.
9. The play steps back from reality to create its own self-conscious atmosphere. This is sometimes referred to as metatheatre.

While these techniques are often found in postmodern productions they are never part of a centralised movement or style. Rather, they are tools for authentic introspection, questioning and representation of human experience.