I am a theater historian and theorist primarily examining the connections between performance and communication practices (communication technologies as used and organized in society). Philosophically, my theory is grounded in critical realism, which underpins both my historiography and my (ontological) definition of theater as distinct from other types of performance. Cognitive science also plays a role in understanding these connections.
This thoroughly revised and updated third edition of the innovative and widely acclaimed Theatre ... more This thoroughly revised and updated third edition of the innovative and widely acclaimed Theatre Histories: An Introduction offers a critical overview of global theatre and drama, spanning a broad wealth of world cultures and periods. Bringing together a group of scholars from a diverse range of backgrounds to add fresh perspectives on the history of global theatre, the book illustrates historiographical theories with case studies demonstrating various methods and interpretive approaches. IMPORTANT: This is a textbook and I am unable to provide copies. Theater history teachers can obtain a free copy from Routledge. Thank you.
From oral culture, through the advent of literacy, to the introduction of printing, to the develo... more From oral culture, through the advent of literacy, to the introduction of printing, to the development of electronic media, communication structures have radically altered culture in profound ways. As the first book to take a critical realist approach to culture, Theatre, Communication, Critical Realism examines theatre and its history through the interaction of society’s structures, agents, and discourses. Tobin Nellhaus shows that communication structure—a culture’s use and development of speech, handwriting, printing, and electronics—explains much about why, when, and how theatre has transformed.
Performing Democracy explores aspects of a developing form of performance that works to change so... more Performing Democracy explores aspects of a developing form of performance that works to change social conditions for marginalized groups or to preserve the traditions and cohesion of the community. The book combines critical analysis with field reports on specific projects and productions to explore the issues that confront community-based performance. The range of topics is impressive, and includes performances in North America, Australia, the Middle East, Bosnia, Taiwan, Korea, England, and the Netherlands.
Online role-playing games are a form of entertainment in which players create characters and impr... more Online role-playing games are a form of entertainment in which players create characters and improvisationally perform scenes together within a digital virtual world. It has many theatre-like aspects, which raises the question of whether it is in fact a form of theatre. To answer that question, however, one must first have a definition of theatre – an issue with disciplinary consequences – and in this article Tobin Nellhaus develops a definition founded on social ontology, suggesting that theatrical performance, unlike other social practices, replicates society's ontology. From that perspective, online role-playing meets the definition of theatre. But its digital environment raises another set of problems, since embodiment, space, and presence in online role-playing are necessarily unlike what we experience in traditional theatre. Here, Nellhaus brings these three aspects of performance together through the concept of embodied social presence, showing how they operate in both cu...
Abstract:Theatre is a distinctive type of social reflexivity. The question is how, like other soc... more Abstract:Theatre is a distinctive type of social reflexivity. The question is how, like other social practices, theatre s social function shapes its form. By examining theatre in relation to social ontology, the components of agency, and the requirements of an embodied form of collective reflexivity, one finds that theatre is characterized by a double homology with social ontology. Furthermore, conducting embodied collective reflexivity requires the performer/character distinction, which is fundamental to theatrical performance. Social ontology, then, sharpens our concept of theatre s structure and the meaning of its practice.
The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, 1989
The invention of Greek tragedy has been explained as a natural evolution from dithyrambs, Dionysi... more The invention of Greek tragedy has been explained as a natural evolution from dithyrambs, Dionysian rituals, or cults of the dead. These evolutionary ideas have received deserved criticism from Gerald Else; but his own theory makes tragedy the invention of two theatrical geniuses (Thespis and Aeschylus), which seems like a rare stroke of luck. Neither evolution nor genius explains what made this innovation necessary, how it was possible, and why it was accepted. These riddles concern tragedy's social circumstances. Two upheavals mark the sixth century, the period when tragedy arose. One resulted in tyrannies (and later, democracies), the other in widespread literacy. I believe that these changes in political-economy and communication conditioned the development of tragedy. Together, they created a need for a new cultural institution. In the midst of these shifts Athens occupied a special position, and became the only city able to fill that new need by inventing tragedy. My argum...
This thoroughly revised and updated third edition of the innovative and widely acclaimed Theatre ... more This thoroughly revised and updated third edition of the innovative and widely acclaimed Theatre Histories: An Introduction offers a critical overview of global theatre and drama, spanning a broad wealth of world cultures and periods. Bringing together a group of scholars from a diverse range of backgrounds to add fresh perspectives on the history of global theatre, the book illustrates historiographical theories with case studies demonstrating various methods and interpretive approaches. IMPORTANT: This is a textbook and I am unable to provide copies. Theater history teachers can obtain a free copy from Routledge. Thank you.
From oral culture, through the advent of literacy, to the introduction of printing, to the develo... more From oral culture, through the advent of literacy, to the introduction of printing, to the development of electronic media, communication structures have radically altered culture in profound ways. As the first book to take a critical realist approach to culture, Theatre, Communication, Critical Realism examines theatre and its history through the interaction of society’s structures, agents, and discourses. Tobin Nellhaus shows that communication structure—a culture’s use and development of speech, handwriting, printing, and electronics—explains much about why, when, and how theatre has transformed.
Performing Democracy explores aspects of a developing form of performance that works to change so... more Performing Democracy explores aspects of a developing form of performance that works to change social conditions for marginalized groups or to preserve the traditions and cohesion of the community. The book combines critical analysis with field reports on specific projects and productions to explore the issues that confront community-based performance. The range of topics is impressive, and includes performances in North America, Australia, the Middle East, Bosnia, Taiwan, Korea, England, and the Netherlands.
Online role-playing games are a form of entertainment in which players create characters and impr... more Online role-playing games are a form of entertainment in which players create characters and improvisationally perform scenes together within a digital virtual world. It has many theatre-like aspects, which raises the question of whether it is in fact a form of theatre. To answer that question, however, one must first have a definition of theatre – an issue with disciplinary consequences – and in this article Tobin Nellhaus develops a definition founded on social ontology, suggesting that theatrical performance, unlike other social practices, replicates society's ontology. From that perspective, online role-playing meets the definition of theatre. But its digital environment raises another set of problems, since embodiment, space, and presence in online role-playing are necessarily unlike what we experience in traditional theatre. Here, Nellhaus brings these three aspects of performance together through the concept of embodied social presence, showing how they operate in both cu...
Abstract:Theatre is a distinctive type of social reflexivity. The question is how, like other soc... more Abstract:Theatre is a distinctive type of social reflexivity. The question is how, like other social practices, theatre s social function shapes its form. By examining theatre in relation to social ontology, the components of agency, and the requirements of an embodied form of collective reflexivity, one finds that theatre is characterized by a double homology with social ontology. Furthermore, conducting embodied collective reflexivity requires the performer/character distinction, which is fundamental to theatrical performance. Social ontology, then, sharpens our concept of theatre s structure and the meaning of its practice.
The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, 1989
The invention of Greek tragedy has been explained as a natural evolution from dithyrambs, Dionysi... more The invention of Greek tragedy has been explained as a natural evolution from dithyrambs, Dionysian rituals, or cults of the dead. These evolutionary ideas have received deserved criticism from Gerald Else; but his own theory makes tragedy the invention of two theatrical geniuses (Thespis and Aeschylus), which seems like a rare stroke of luck. Neither evolution nor genius explains what made this innovation necessary, how it was possible, and why it was accepted. These riddles concern tragedy's social circumstances. Two upheavals mark the sixth century, the period when tragedy arose. One resulted in tyrannies (and later, democracies), the other in widespread literacy. I believe that these changes in political-economy and communication conditioned the development of tragedy. Together, they created a need for a new cultural institution. In the midst of these shifts Athens occupied a special position, and became the only city able to fill that new need by inventing tragedy. My argum...
Theatre is a distinctive type of social reflexivity. The question is how, like other social pract... more Theatre is a distinctive type of social reflexivity. The question is how, like other social practices, theatre’s social function shapes its form. By examining theatre in relation to social ontology, the components of agency, and the requirements of an embodied form of collective reflexivity, one finds that theatre is characterized by a double homology with social ontology. Furthermore, conducting embodied collective reflexivity requires the performer/character distinction, which is fundamental to theatrical performance. Social ontology, then, sharpens our concept theatre’s structure and the meaning of its practice.
Online role-playing games are a form of entertainment in which players create characters and imp... more Online role-playing games are a form of entertainment in which players create characters and improvisationally perform scenes together within a digital virtual world. It has many theatre-like aspects, which raises the question of whether it is in fact a form of theatre. To answer that question, however, one must first have a definition of theatre – an issue with disciplinary consequences – and in this article Tobin Nellhaus develops a definition founded on social ontology, suggesting that theatrical performance, unlike other social practices, replicates society’s ontology. From that perspective, online role-playing meets the definition of theatre. But its digital environment raises another set of problems, since embodiment, space, and presence in online role-playing are necessarily unlike what we experience in traditional theatre. Here, Nellhaus brings these three aspects of performance together through the concept of embodied social presence, showing how they operate in both customary theatre and online role-playing.
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