"Bipolar Theatricalness" as a Phenomenon of Contemporary European Direction

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the features of the phenomenon of ‘bipolar theatricality’ in the context of the dynamics of the development of contemporary European theatrical direction and to outline the specifics of the formation of innovative artistic forms and performative modalities in the process of staging opera performances by theatrical directors. Research methodology. The method of analysis and synthesis, typological method, comparative analysis method, system analysis method, art history analysis method, genre-stylistic method were applied. Scientific novelty. The features of European theatrical direction in the context of staging opera performances by theatrical directors were investigated. The modifications of stage functions are analysed through the prism of the formation of new artistic forms and performative modalities of European directing. The creative approaches to the staging of opera performances by the Italian director D. Livermore are analysed. Conclusions. Modern opera directing is a unique entropic space that, intersecting with a general experimental trend, is capable of producing phenomenologies of enormous influence. The study revealed that the synthesis of opera performance with dramatic theatre (musical and stage interpretation) is the basis of the phenomenon of bipolar theatricality, in the process of which theatre directors activated the modification of stage functions within the opera system, which contributed to its opening for further artistic profiles and performative modalities. Theatre directing has made the spectacular practices of opera theatre eclectic and adaptable, opening up the possibilities of productions on opera stages for artists who were outsiders to the representative dynamics of dramatic theatre (film directors, avant-garde directors and choreographers). The experience of theatre directing, filtered through the structures of ‘stage writing’, collective dramaturgy and choreography, expands the possibilities of opera productions. Modern opera becomes a catalyst for directorial practices and ideas, experiments, a reservoir of usually stratified and elusive images, which changes the relationship with the viewer, as well as processes of ‘remediation’ between artistic languages. D. Livermore’s productions, in the constant renewal of technologies and images, represent the transversality of opera performance codes, a fascination with contamination, and the ability to harmonise musical and performative levels and practices.