A Stage for Experimental Theatre

During its three-year existence, Kiasma Theatre has provided a forum for Finnish and international experimental performances and for discussions on the contingencies of the performing arts.

The performances seen in Kiasma Theatre have striven to redefine both acting and the concept of text, consciously tackling the practices producing and controlling a central field of drama, representations. An attentive, investigative relationship to the contingencies of the performance is characteristic of experimental theatre.

In Finland, there are precious few exponents of experimental theatre. Yet even they can hardly be considered a homogeneous group, for their activities and objectives vary. Despite the differences, the Finnish performances seen in Kiasma are connected to international trends, which can be best examined by postmodern theory.

The performer and the role

It has been argued that the epistemological difference between postmodern and modern drama lies in their attitude towards presence. In modern theatre, acting has been regarded as being based on the relationship between the role and the self of the actor/actress. In this tradition, the performer is experienced and recognised as significant in ways expressed through "what a risk she took" or "he really put himself into it". The performer's subjectivity to exposure as "real" or "true self" is the logos of the performance, the basis from which it draws its meaning.

Postmodernists deny the existence of such a basis, aiming to dismount the myth of "Western presence". Meanings are considered to invariably originate from something that is absent. The chain is infinite, and it is impossible to pinpoint a final signifier or basis.

The experimental performances seen in Kiasma have intentionally explored the relationship between the performer and the role. Roles have been taken, for example, as different, sometimes hierarchical positions which generate their own respective type of speech. A single performer may have adopted many such positions, thus producing a number of different types of expression. Another method has been to juxtapose a role with another role played by someone else, in which case they act as their own discourses encompassing their own expression. The role can also be taken as a simple task: the performer enters to play tennis, for instance.

Sometimes roles may be multi-layered: someone plays someone who plays a role. Where, again, is the self of the performer? Is there such a thing?

A critical approach towards the relationship between the role and the performer has often involved direct references to the performer: the role may be named according to the actor/actress, or carry references to his or her life. The apparent opposition between the role and the performer is discharged. The emergence of presence or charisma are rejected by discharging this binary relationship.

Keeping the text on display

Most performances seen in Kiasma have been based on texts written by the performers themselves. The use of classical texts is also typical of postmodern theatre. Classic dramas involve familiar roles subjected to innumerable interpretations, which - re-written and juxtaposed - provide good material for experimental theatre.

If, in modern theatre, the text is considered to "disappear" behind acting, in postmodern drama the roles' dependency on the text is manifested. The text is deliberately visible throughout the performance.
In experimental theatre, specifically produced scripts and texts based on classics are often self-referential. Texts are aware of their own perspectives and representations. Scripts may comment not only on themselves but also on other texts through direct quotes or allusions. The process of making the text can also be made visible.

The text and the performance strive to create critical representations, which contain a conscious statement on the object of the performance. It is characteristic of postmodern theatre to comment on itself: in this case, the field of drama and art, often Kiasma as a museum and a centre of artistic power.

Marja Silde
The author is a dramatist in Theatre Venus, which focuses on experimental theatre