Madness at the Theatre
Femi Oyebode
Madness at the Theatre studies the
theatrical representation of madness from the classical Greek
period through to the 21st century.
Professor Oyebode charts the portrayal of madness by the world’s
great playwrights across the centuries and argues that whereas acts
of madness are described but unseen in Greek drama, Shakespeare
brought these behaviours to centre stage. In the 19th and early
20th centuries aberrant behaviour was portrayed in domestic
settings by Ibsen – theatrical madness became a family drama.
Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill drew on their own families
for their explorations of madness and addiction, which lent a
freshness and authenticity to their characters. Pinter’s masterful
use of the ambiguity of language finds strong echoes in the
psychiatric clinic. Soyinka approached the subject from a different
perspective, emphasising the social context – the personal malady
as reflection of a greater malaise in society. Finally, Sarah Kane,
whose own mental illness shaped her work, created plays that were
the physical embodiment of her inner world.
This book deals with an aspect of drama that
speaks to the fears, prejudices and insights of the audience. It
makes explicit the rules and models governing the appropriation of
madness as a metaphor within theatre.
Readership: It will be
essential reading for anyone interested in the language of drama,
the depiction of mental illness, and in the wider place of madness
as a concept within society.
About the editor:
Femi Oyebode is Professor and Head of
Department of Psychiatry, University of Birmingham. He has
published widely on the relationship between literature and
psychiatry. His research interests include descriptive
psychopathology and delusional misidentification syndromes. He is
also a poet and literary critic.
Contents
Preface
- Greek tragedy and models of madness
- Greco-Roman comedy and folly
- Jealousy the green-eyed monster and madness in
Shakespeare
- Ibsen and the domestication of madness
- Tennessee Williams and the theatre of the mind
- Soyinka’s theatre of the shadowlands
- Sarah Kane: the self in fission
See also:
Mindreadings: Literature and
Psychiatry
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"I would emphasise that psychiatry has
important links with all arts, especially opera and
literature. Understanding 'bizarre' behaviour of human beings
through the arts is an effective way to integrate psychodynamic
understanding."
- Dr Estela
Welldon
Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist in
Psychotherapy, The Portman Clinic (Tavistock and Portman NHS
Foundation Trust), London
(e-Interview from
The Psychiatrist 36:3, March
2012.)
Quote from the
author:
"Theatre is one of the greatest
achievements of the human spirit. It combines storytelling
with the concrete expression and enactment of the action. It uses
language, music, dance, dress, props, and lighting to create an
illusion and to influence the emotional life of the audience. It is
singularly the most exacting and thrilling of the arts. Mental life
is its source and its nourishment."
- Femi Oyebode
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