Approaching Theory: Scholar and Practitioner

Abstract

The relationship between theory and practice—theorists and practitioners—is a tenuous one, full of contradictions and mistrust, both in the United States and beyond. Theory is generally seen as the prerogative of the scholar. Practice, on the other hand, is bound up with the artists and the artistic output. Many scholars feel that they do not necessarily need the practice to theorize or produce scholarly work. Many artists may feel that theory or scholarship is not important for their specific field. Some people contest the mere idea that one person can combine both scholarly and practical/artistic work and question if one can truly activate two halves of the brain at once. Nevertheless, the most exciting developments in theatre in the twentieth century came exactly from the interaction of theory with practice, often combined in the same person or group of persons. This interaction of theory and practice is demonstrated and documented in plays, manifestos, treatises, paintings, eyewitness accounts, histories, case studies, videos, audios, and reviews. These marriages were never easy and were filled with challenges and tensions within the theorists/practitioners themselves as well their relationship with the outside world. All the same, we find numerous examples that suggest that theory and practice are more inherently connected than is often assumed. This article gives a general overview of the historical relationship between theory and practice and will end with some personal reflections on how I see the relationship between scholarship and practice in my own work in theatre for young audiences.

La relación entre la teoría y la práctica —la relación entre teóricos y ejecutantes— es endeble, llena de contradicciones y desconfianza, tanto en Estados Unidos, como en otros territorios. La teoría se considera generalmente como la prerrogativa del académico. La práctica, por otra parte, está ligada a los artistas y a la producción estética. Muchos estudiosos creen que no necesitan de la práctica para teorizar o producir su trabajo académico. Muchos artistas pueden sentir que la teoría o la erudición no son importantes para su campo específico. Algunas personas cuestionan la simple idea de que una persona pueda combinar tanto la academia como la práctica/trabajo artístico, preguntándose si verdaderamente se puede activar las dos mitades del cerebro a la vez. Sin embargo, las innovaciones más interesantes en el teatro del siglo 20 provinieron exactamente de la interacción de la teoría con la práctica, a menudo combinadas en una misma persona o grupo de personas. Esta interacción de la teoría y la práctica se demostró y documentó en obras de teatro, manifiestos, tratados, pinturas, testimonios, historias, estudios de casos, videos, audios y reseñas. Esos matrimonios nunca fueron fáciles y estuvieron repletos de desafíos y tensiones entre los teóricos/ejecutantes mismos, así como en su relación con el mundo exterior. De todos modos, encontramos numerosos ejemplos que sugieren que la teoría y la práctica están más intrínsecamente conectadas de lo que a menudo se supone. Este artículo ofrece una visión general de la relación histórica entre la teoría y la práctica, y concluirá con algunas reflexiones personales sobre cómo veo la relación entre la teoría y la práctica en mi propio trabajo en el Teatro para las Jóvenes Audiencias.

Notes

¹The focus of this chapter is the relationship between product-oriented theatre and theory. The many forms of applied theatre and drama during the last five decades or so show a far less tenuous relationship between theory and practice.

A previous version of this article was published in Playing With Theory in Theatre Practice, edited by Megan Alrutz, Julia Listengarten, and M. Van Duyn Wood, and published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2012. It is reprinted here with the permission of the editors and the publisher.

²Etymologically, the origins of the word “theory” are directly related to theatre. The word theory derives from the Greek “theorein,” which means “to look at.” According to some sources, it was used frequently in terms of “looking at” a theatre stage. Scholars in ancient Greece also used the noun “theoria.”

³Idea: “a thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action; an opinion or belief; a feeling that something is probable or possible” (Oxford American Dictionary).

⁴Although this too, of course, is highly contested. See, for example, Holland and Worthen (2003).