Between Structure and Eccident: Communication in Street Theatre Exemplified by the Theatre of Dreams

Abstract

Barbara Świąder-Puchowska’s article focuses on indicating the most important elements characterizing the specificity of communication in street theatre, determining in what circumstances the message is built in performances from this trend and what constitutes and influences it. Assuming the aesthetics of theatre as a research perspective and, in context, the semiotics of theatre and performance studies, the author considers how the means used in street performances and open space shape the communication of creators/performers with the audience. At the beginning, a synthetic characteristic of street theatre and the specificity of communication in this trend of theatre are presented, in which unpredictability and chance play an extremely important role. Next, the author compares the situation of the viewer of a street and stage performance, indicating the difference in reception in the former, also in the context of its greater spontaneity and openness. The case study of the Gdańsk Theatre of Dreams serves as an example here, as it uses the widest possible range of means in its performances – from the most characteristic for street theatre performances (including stilts, flares, tall structures) to those more subtle and demanding from the perspective of reception (including linear narration, precise movement and facial expressions). The author comes to the conclusion, among other things, that the Theatre of Dreams reverses the typical communication strategies of street theatre, focusing the viewer’s attention through silence, which is a counterpoint to the chaos and noise of the street.