Philosophers and Thespians: Thinking Performance (Cultural Memory in the Present)

The interaction between philosophy and theater or performance has recently become an important and innovative area of inquiry. Philosophers and Thespians contributes to this emerging field by looking at four direct encounters between philosophers and thespians, beginning with Socrates, Agathon, and Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium and ending with a discussion between Walter Benjamin and Bertolt Brecht about a short text by Franz Kafka. Rokem also examines in detail Hamlet's complex and tragic split identity as both philosopher and thespian, as well as the intense correspondence between Friedrich Nietzsche and August Strindberg. His investigations―which move between the fictional and the historical―culminate in a comprehensive discussion of the notions of performance and performativity as derived from the discursive practices of philosophy and performance. At times competitive or mutually exclusive, these discourses also merge and engage with each other in creative ways.

Literature & Fiction

Rokem, Freddie

History & Criticism

Stanford University Press

Collective identities grow from a sense of the past, and the theatre very forcefully participates in the ongoing representations of and debates about the past, sometimes by contesting them and sometimes by reinforcing them. In his examination of the ways in which the theatre after World War II has presented different aspects of the French Revolution and the Holocaust, Freddie Rokem shows us that by “performing history” actors—as witnesses for the departed witnesses—bring the historical past and the theatrical present together. Rokem analyzes the signiÞcance of stage representations of the French Revolution and the Holocaust in different national contexts: the United States and Europe for performances about the French Revolution and Israel for performances about the Holocaust. By pointing out both the great diversity and the common features of these performances, he draws attention to the complex collective efforts and the creativity of playwrights, directors, designers, and actors as they connect their theatrical energies to a speciÞc historical past. He also focuses on the ways in which audiences in different cultures have been affected by and even had an inßuence on the ideological debates embedded in these performances. Rokem looks at plays and performances by Yehoshua Sobol, Dudu Ma'ayan, and Hanoch Levin in Israel; Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine, and Ingmar Bergman in Europe; and Orson Welles, Herbert Blau, and Robert Wilson in the United States. Drawing upon these and upon his own life in Europe, Israel, and the United States, Rokem makes us aware of the critical interaction between the failures of history and the efforts to create viable and meaningful works of art.

Performing History: Theatrical Representations of the Past in

Humor & Entertainment

University Of Iowa Press

Research Award in Theatre Practice and Pedagogy from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education  In his examination of the ways in which theatre participates in the ongoing representations of and debates about the past, Freddie Rokem concentrates on the ways in which theatre after World War II has presented different aspects of the French Revolution and the Holocaust, showing us that by “performing history” actors bring the historical past and the theatrical present together.

Performing History: Theatrical Representations of the Past in Conetmporary Theatre (Studies Theatre Hist & Culture)

Movies

Geschichte auffuehren: Darstellungen der Vergangenheit im Gegenwartstheater

Arts & Photography

Performing Arts

Neofelis

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Books by Rokem, Freddie