Theatre or Performance or Untitled Event?


1. Where does the debate over theatre studies vs. performance studies come from? What are its
roots?


2. Why does the author consider the debate a power struggle of a kind?


3. What is the difference between a ‘performance’ and ‘production’/‘mise-en-scène’?


4. Define the performance studies. What is it about? What are its origins? Who wast the first to
bring about the term? Who are some other scholars commenting on the topic? How does the term
‘theatricality’ fit into the concept?


5. What is the difference between the U.S. and European notion of theatre? Define the so-called
American legitimate theatre and contrast it with the European view of theatre art.


6. Describe the differences between drama-oriented and performance-oriented approach to theatre
studies.


7. What does the author suggest as a way out of the controversy whether the discipline should
rather be called ‘theatre studies’ or ‘performance studies’? What branch of theatre research does
she engage herself into?