Engelska

This is an essay by the distinguished author and philosopher Allan Janik about how theatre can illuminate problems relating to knowledge or in other words: How does theatre connect to epistemology?

Scenography is not an autonomous art form. Its significance and capacity to visualise emerges through interaction with the actors on stage, and is preceded by the collaboration with directors and other artists involved in creating a performance. Therein lies its expressive complexity - and the challenge for the stage designer. In this book one of Swedens most acclaimed scenographers, Lars-Åke Thessman, discusses his profession from six different perspectives. In image and text, he guides us through the creative process, touching on the collaboration with the director and illustrating how sketches, models and drawings are translated into the magic of a full-scale stage design. The ephemeral nature of theatre means that it always stands in relation to time: artists of the stage draw in sand, but fleeting art also has a history that is well worth telling.

<p><b>1935. </b> Franklin D. Roosevelt is under pressure to combat the skyrocketing levels of unemployment in<br/>post-war America. He announces a sweeping range of revolutionary initiatives, known collectively as<br/>the New Deal. Among these initiatives is a landmark programme designed to bring innovative,<br/>experimental theatre to the American masses.<br/><br/>The Federal Theatre Project staged critically acclaimed and wildly popular productions across<br/>America - including Orson Welles' directorial debut, a landmark early modern dance programme, and shows that sought to tell the truth about racism, poverty and the rising tides of fascism.<br/><br/><b>1938. </b>An opportunistic Texas congressman, head of the newly formed House Un-American<br/>Committee, targets the Federal Theatre Project, enflaming rising tension about communism and<br/>creating a new political playbook based on sensationalism, misinformation and fear - a playbook that has proved instrumental in today's Culture Wars.<br/><br/>From one of the world's great storytellers, Playbook is an invigorating re-enactment of a terrifyingly<br/>prescient moment in 20th-century American cultural history, the dimensions of which echo through<br/>every democracy today.</p>