Histories, horizons, and the theatre arts

The purpose of this study is to explore the question: what are the ways in which the texts An Actor Prepares (1936) by Constantin Stanislavski and Theatre of the Oppressed (1985) by Augusto Boal intersect with each other and diverge from each other such that in their intersection/divergence a new horizons of understanding may emerge? This question is important in the context of rethinking theatre education. The principle methodology of analysis used is what Shaun Gallagher (1992) terms a "moderate hermeneutics" in which the aim is a "dialogical conversation" leading to a "creative communication between the reader and the text" (p.10). The reason for undertaking a hermeneutical analysis of the two texts is that hermeneutics offers an approach in which the researcher may deeply analyze texts and therefore create new understandings and meanings from those texts. Through the use of hermeneutical analysis, the relationship between the writer and text, and a reader and text becomes a dialectical relationship. A "dialectical relationship" is a conversation between writer, reader and the text. This conversation leads to new interpretations.