Modern Theater | Gender And Perform 1

Modern Theater & Folklore

Photo by Jonah Hopton. CC-BY SA 2.0, found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fabola/38711648964/in/photostream/

"... shape-changing is magical by definition, but gender-changing is exceptionally potent" (Senelick 2000).

Performing in the 20th & 21st Century

"performance is a mode of language use, a way of speaking. [...] it is no longer necessary to begin with artful texts, identified on independent formal grounds and then reinjected into situations of use, [...] Rather, in terms of the approach being developed here,

performance becomes constitutive of the domain of verbal art as spoken communication" (Bauman 1975).

Modern Folklore and the "Spoken art"

theater today is more widely accessible, and touches on a variety of expressive genres, such as song, dance, acting, and even puppetry.

Customary folklore:

theater today has many ritualized traditions that are practiced today: never say "good luck," but saying "break a leg"; never leave a stage completely dark; never use a peacock feather; never say 'Macbeth' (referred to as "The Scottish Play"; never whistle on a stage; never wear new make-up on opening night, among I'm sure many others!

Material Folklore:

drag has become a popular style of today's fashion, a way of entertainment, self-expression, and identity; the term "drag" originated in Victorian times when skirts used to drag on the ground, and males would over-exaggerate these for comedic purposes.

Image from https://www.brec.org/news/drag-a-theatrical-tradition.

Gender's Still Not Equal:

According to a study from plays in 2013-2015, women had only 35% of principal roles in plays, 42% in musicals, and 37% in stage manager roles. This does not include minorities.

The spectacle today:

"Theater is immediate, and no performance is the same. Basically, theatre is life happening in front of our eyes. Following a given script, yet intricately human." (Klenk 2022)