Abstract
This study examines the results obtained after the conclusion of the first phase of the Research Project CIRCE (CIGE/2021/086; University of Valencia). In the light of the results obtained after examining data concerning the screen adaptations of early modern European theatre plays made during the early decades of cinema, I argue that traditional views which have established a split between ‘the theatrical’ and ‘the cinematic’ are lacking in nuance insofar as they treat the theatrical hypermedium and the art of cinema as incompatible. During the early decades of cinema, the view was widespread that films evolved from theatrical to pure cinema. The evidence thus far gathered for the database of “CIRCE: Early Modern Theatre on Screen” (a database, at present, in the making) shows, as a matter of fact, that our understanding of the contribution of early modern European theatre to the development of the European and the worldwide cinemas may be expanded by taking into account the stage tradition, which has proven to be determining not only for the adaptation and transposition of theatre productions onto the screen but also for the appropriations of characters, plots, themes and concerns associated to the early modern European theatre which have been appreciated in the cinema. Such stage tradition may be observed in the fact that films may be stage-to-screen transpositions of prestige theatre stagings of plays or may be embodied in the bodies of performers themselves (often, clowns, typecast characters, theatre stars).
Presenters
Víctor Huertas MartínAssistant Lecturer, English and German Philology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
THEATRE, CINEMA, INTERMEDIALITY, EARLY MODERN THEATRE
