Ariane Mnouchkine

Judith G. Miller is Professor of French and Francophone Theatre in the Department of French Literature, Thought and Culture at New York University, New York, and Affiliate Professor at New York University Abu Dhabi.

1. INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC BIOGRAPHY: NOMAD OF THE IMAGINATION Beginnings Mnouchkine and her times Theatrical influences and affinities 2.IDEAS ON THEATER: THEATER AS COLLECTIVE HISTORY AND THE QUEST FOR FORM Theoretical propositions The creative process Paradoxes and tensions 3. FOUR KEY PRODUCTIONS: MNOUCHKINE’S "FANATICALLY THEATRICAL" 1789: collective creation, audience involvement, and comedic form Richard II: mythic storytelling, hybridizing Asia, and geometrizing power L’Indiade ou l’inde de leurs rêves: the Cixousian partnership, aesthetics of the hyper-real, and border crossers Drums on the Dam: In the Form of an Ancient Puppet Play, Performed by Actors: theatrical self-questioning and the actor as puppet Conclusion 4. PRACTICAL EXERCISES Principles of theatrical creation Mask work A basic rehearsal vocabulary