Reconstructing 18th Century Theatre In-Practice
Acting and Stagecraft
In this ongoing research project, we seek to revive the practices of teh eighteenth-century theatre for the historically informed production of opera, ballet, melodrama, and spoken dramas. This includes reviving a rhetorical acting style, and the stagecraft of the theatre practice itself.
Why? We believe that by presenting 18th century works relying on historical acting and staging practices will not only render them more faithfully to their conception, but also more coherently, such that poetry, music, visual arts, and performance can all work together to produce moving performances. Not only is this more faithful to the period, but we believe that this will lead to better understanding and appreciation of eighteenth-century works which can sometimes be ineffective or nonsensical out of their original context.
