Read more
Situated at the interstices of music and theatre studies, Theatrimusicality: Spectauralising Performance reframes the dynamic interplay of theatricality and musicality and theorises theatrimusicality as a conceptual consequent of analysing contemporary performance practices that lie in the intersection between theatre and music. The book introduces theatrimusicality as a hermeneutic apparatus and a dramaturgical approach to examining these works of the in-between that defy neat taxonomies. Examining the co-transformative inter-workings, where the musical frames the theatrical even as the theatrical fashions the musical, Tan demonstrates how theatrimusicality allows new ways of meaning-making, interpretation and analysis. The book also introduces an accompanying concept of spectaurality, a mode of reception that involves seeing musicality and listening to theatricality. Encountering performance spectaurally engenders alternative interpretive and affective experiences. Through deep analyses of a range of performances from varying cultures and contexts, Theatrimusicality encourages an appreciation of the co-presence of listening and seeing where perception becomes intertwined and relational.
List of contents
1. Introduction: Theatricality, Musicality, Theatrimusicality.- 2. Theatrimusicality as Otobiography: Seeing the Music of Margaret Leng Tan.- 3. Theatricalising (String) Music: Choreographic Musicality.- 4. Reflexive Theatrimusicality: The Encounter as Sonic Theatre.- 5. Conclusion.
About the author
Marcus Tan
is Associate Professor of Drama at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University Singapore. His publications include
Acoustic Interculturalism: Listening to Performance
(2012),
Performing Southeast Asia: Performance, Politics and the Contemporary
(2020),
Music Theater and Politics: Restaging Histories, Decentering Perspectives
(2026) and
Devising in Times of Crisis: Practices for a Post-Pandemic World
(2026). He has also published in
TDR
,
Theatre Research International
,
Performance Research
and
Contemporary Theatre Review
. Apart from his research interests in theatre acoustemology, intercultural theatre and virtual performativities, Marcus is the Assistant Editor of
Theatre Research International
and the Secretary-General (Communications) of the International Federation for Theatre Research.
Summary
Situated at the interstices of music and theatre studies,
Theatrimusicality: Spectauralising Performance
reframes the dynamic interplay of theatricality and musicality and theorises
theatrimusicality as a conceptual consequent of analysing contemporary performance practices that lie in the intersection between theatre and music. The book introduces theatrimusicality as a hermeneutic apparatus and a dramaturgical approach to examining these works of the ‘in-between’ that defy neat taxonomies. Examining the co-transformative inter-workings, where the musical frames the theatrical even as the theatrical fashions the musical, Tan demonstrates how theatrimusicality allows new ways of meaning-making, interpretation and analysis. The book also introduces an accompanying concept of spectaurality, a mode of reception that involves ‘seeing’ musicality and ‘listening’ to theatricality. Encountering performance spectaurally engenders alternative interpretive and affective experiences. Through deep analyses of a range of performances from varying cultures and contexts,
Theatrimusicality
encourages an appreciation of the co-presence of listening and seeing where perception becomes intertwined and relational.
