THE PHILOSOPHY OF BASICS AND FRAGMENTS IN PLAY-DIRECTING: CIRCUS OF FREEDOM SQUARE PRODUCTION AS PARADIGM

Abstract

The essence of drama is communication and this communication must be done in a manner that the audience will understand because they are the one will communicate to through the drama that we perform. In communicating this message, the director must understand the nature of his audience. It is these understandings that will prompt him in using the best style that will enable them decipher the message of the performance. If otherwise, the message will be lost. Basics and Fragments is one of the styles that a director can use to interpret his message to the audience. The philosophy of Basics and Fragments is to detach the audience emotion from the performance they are watching so that they can watch critically and be able to relate what they have seen in the theatre to their society which is what is what Bertolt Brecht clamours for; and this is the reason why Berltolt Brecht's Epic Theatre is the theoretical framework of this work. Against this backdrop the director need to understand the level of exposure of his audience to the theatre so that he will know if they are familiar with the style he wants to use and maybe it will communicate the message to them well. This research work will look into the performance of Bode Sowande'sCircus of freedom square which adopted Basics and fragments as the directorial style. This work will use interview and library materials as the method to look into this philosophy, to know if the message was well delivered, and if not, what the challenges are.