Plague: A Tragic Way to Empower the Artistic Imagination and to Deliver Hope

Öz

This paper examines the impacts of the plagues in dramatic literature and performance art beginning with ancient Greek Theatre and ending in Contemporary Theatre. It addresses the traditional application of the metaphorical employment of the plagues and a shift towards the pronunciation of the space in Contemporary Theatre. This research exposes the existential concerns that threaten humanity, such as fascism, marginalization, and the catastrophic consequences of climate change. To clarify the main argument, the classical and modern texts, along with the opinions of legendary theater theoreticians, directors, and artists, are examined. These sources range from Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year, Albert Camus’ The Plague, and Ann Bogart, to Robert Wilson. These existential concerns, along with possible artistic responses to the current problems of climate change and COVID-19, inspired them to start a discussion through more ecologically concerned theater practices.. Keywords: Plague, Margin

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Plague
• Marginalization
• Metaphor
• Space
• Eco-Theatre

Kaynakça

1. Camus, Albert. The Plague, n.d. Accessed February 7, 2022. google scholar
2. Commons, HowlRound Theatre. “Directors Lab West Connects - Anne Bogart and Jessica google scholar
3. Hanna on Sunday 24 May 2020.” Video. YouTube, May 24, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=UUHOSjT5HX8. google scholar
4. “Segal Talks with Robert Wilson at the Martin E Segal Theater Center on Thursday 8 April google scholar
5. 2021”. Video. YouTube, April 8, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDYSPXp0Zc0. google scholar
6. Cooke, J. Legacies of Plague in Literature, Theory and Film. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. google scholar
7. Cummings, Scott T. Remaking American Theater: Charles Mee, Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. google scholar
8. Defoe, Daniel. A Journal of the Plague Year: Easyread Edition. Dover Thrift Editions. 2001. Reprint, London: Dover Publications, INC., 2020. google scholar

9. Idaszak, Kristin. “ECODRAMATURGY.” Kristin Idaszak. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://www.kristinidaszak.com/ecodramaturgy. google scholar
10. Mitchell-Boyask, Robin. Plague and the Athenian Imagination: Drama, History, and the Cult of Asclepius. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. google scholar
11. Schafer, R. Murray, Eleanor James, and Sarah Ann Standing. “Eco-Theatre.” PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 36, no. 1 (2014): 35-44. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26386662. google scholar
12. Sontag, Susan. Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors. Macmillan, 2001. google scholar
13. Sophocles. Oedipus the King. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. google scholar
14. Tapia, Daniel. “Centre for Contemporary Art DOX+ / Petr Hajek Architekti.” ArchDaily, December 13, 2018. https://www.archdaily.com/907565/centre-for-contemporary-art-dox-plus-petr-hajek-architekti. google scholar
15. The Segal Center. “SEGAL TALKS: Anne Bogart (New York, USA)”. Video. YouTube, May 29, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E38Ft3pQGJg. google scholar
16. The Segal Center. “SEGAL TALKS Richard Schechner (NYC).” Video. YouTube, April 22, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oznSzKhiw8c&t=1763s. google scholar
17. “What Is Ecotheater?”, Superhero Clubhouse.” Accessed February 7, 2022. http://www.superheroclubhouse. org/what-is-ecotheater/. google scholar