Radical Theatricality: Jongleuresque Performance on the Early Spanish Stage (Prudue Studies in Romance Literatures)

Radical Theatricality argues that our narrow search for extant medieval play scripts depends entirely on a definition of theater far more literary than performative. This literary definition pushes aside some of our best evidence of Spain's medieval performance traditions precisely because this evidence is considered either intangible or "un-dramatic" (that is, monologic). By focusing on the dialogic relationship that inherently exists between performer and spectator in performance -rather than on the kind of literary dialogue between characters traditionally associated with drama- Radical Theatricality diachronically examines the performative poetics of the jongleuresque tradition (broadly defined to encompass such disparate performers as ancient Greek rhapsodes and contemporary Nobel Laureate Dario Fo) and synchronically traces its performative impact on the Spanish theater of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Taking as its point of departure the debate over the existence of a medieval Hispanic theatrical tradition, Radical Theatricality argues that the search for extant medieval play scripts depends on a definition of theater more literary than performative. This literary definition-largely established by the myth of Thespis's "invention" of Western theater in his dialogic interaction with his dithyrambic chorus-pushes aside evidence of Spain's medieval performance traditions because this evidence is considered either intangible or "undramatic" (that is, monologic). The emphasis on written, dialogue-based texts has left researchers unprepared to deal with the clowns, mimes, acrobats, jugglers, troubadours, and singers that, in one way or another, have continued to perform their arts from well before the fall of Rome up through the present day. By focusing on the dialogic relationship that exists in performance between performer and spectator-rather than on the kind of literary dialogue between characters that is traditionally associated with drama-Radical Theatricality diachronically examines the performative poetics of the jongleuresque tradition (broadly defined to encompass such disparate performers as ancient Greek rhapsodes and contemporary Nobel Laureate Dario Fo) and synchronically traces that tradition's performative impact on the Spanish theater of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Chapter One. Reinventing Thespis -- Chapter Two. Singers Of Tales On Simple Stages -- Chapter Three. Picaresque Actors And Their Theater -- Chapter Four. Corralling The Jongleuresque -- Chapter Five. Playwrights And The Actorly Text. Bruce R. Burningham. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 231-246) And Index.