The oscillation between dramatic and Postdramatic Theatre: Mark Ravenhill's Shopping and F∗∗∗ing

Abstract

Drama and theatre, which are distinctive forms of art, stand among those concepts which are often used interchangeably regardless of their uniqueness. In order to contextualize and reassess this relationship between drama and theatre, Hans-Thies Lehmann, a German scholar and theoretician, has provided a useful formulation in his ground-breaking study Postdramatic Theatre. He claims that theatre has been subordinated by drama particularly in western cultures until the 1960s. This has naturally resulted in a domineering position of the dramatic text and the playwright in the final production. Lehmann argues that since the 1960s western theatre has demonstrated an interest in creating theatrical productions which display an equal treatment of the playtext, playwright, director, performers, costumes, décor, etc. in order to subvert the rooted hierarchal order. In his book, he does not neglect to mention that British "in-yer-face" dramatists are also among those who have influenced the emergence of German-based productions with their shock tactics to capture the audience. In such productions, the events happening on the stage make the audience feel as if they are attacked. The British playwright, Mark Ravenhill, is one of such in-yer-face dramatists. This study will offer an exploration of Ravenhill's Shopping and F∗∗∗ing in the light of Lehmann's theory of postdramatic theatre. The study puts forward that the play under examination goes beyond the confines of in-yer-face sensibility and exhibits a tension between dramatic and postdramatic theatre.