Aesthetics in Theatre Studies: Introduction

Idea

Aesthetics Definitions

Application
 Aesthetics is a term that is associated with the understanding and appreciation of beauty.
 Though aesthetics is a separate study by itself, it is closely associated with the arts in understanding the
subjective and objective of aesthetics.
 In performing arts, we may say aesthetics is a subject that allows one to understand the ideation and
manifestation of beauty in the respective forms of art.
 The concept of aesthetics has a very direct application in the literary and visual arts with the concept of
‘the philosophy of art’.
 But, it has a derived application in the performing arts, especially in that of theatre arts.
 In Dance, one may derive the ideas of aesthetics with relation to sculpting and apply them and in music it
would parallel with that of in literature in some ways.
 Aesthetics in theatre arts is a challenging area to understand as most the form is built and made-up of an
idea being translated into a multidimensional visual spectacle that cannot have single line of thought.
 However, it is imperative to include the study of aesthetics relative to theatre arts to make the education
of theatre arts wholesome.
 With time, the concept of aesthetics and its position in theatre arts has changed and has gained a more
substantial holding.
Definitions:
 “The formal study of the principles of art and beauty” – Cambridge Dictionary
 “The term aesthetic has come to be used to designate, among other things, a kind of object, a kind of
judgment, a kind of attitude, a kind of experience, and a kind of value” – The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy
 “A set of principles concerned with the nature and appreciation of beauty” – The Oxford English
Dictionary
 “The branch of philosophy which deals with questions of beauty and artistic taste” – The Oxford English
Dictionary
 “The word aesthetic comes from the Greek word ‘aisthētikos’. At the time, it was defined as ‘relating to
perception by the senses” – McMillan Dictionary
 “The set of principles on which an artist’s work is based” – McMillan Dictionary
 “Aesthetics refers to the theoretical analysis of the form, expression and symbolism in works of art” –
Social Research Glossary
 Iowa State University:
Aesthetics: Greek aisthesis = sensation. In Philosophy, the ideas about beauty in nature and in cultural
products. Pre-modern and modern sensibility argue there are absolute standards for determining that which is
beautiful, superb and excellent. Postmodernists hold that such definitions are a matter of power and
convention. In some cultures, heavy women are considered beautiful; in other cultures, slim women are so
considered.
 Alexander Baumgarten used the word 'aesthetics' to describe his process of understanding what makes
something beautiful or ugly and how we make these judgements.
 “Referring to the branch of philosophy dealing with the beautiful, chiefly with respect to theories of the
essential character of the beautiful and the tests by which the beautiful may be judged” – Stout
 “Aesthetics deals with the philosophy of the beautiful as well as with the standards of value in judging art
and other aspects of human life and culture” – Lawal
 “Aesthetics is both science and art. It has as its object the nonns of the Beautiful as they are revealed
throughout works of art. Thus its domain embraces the whole of artistic and literary expressim” – Mveng
 “The study of the physical properties of one or more affecting works is aesthetics” – Armstrong
 “Aesthetics usually points to those aspects of art that are left after function, ritual or otherwise,
iconography and meaning-if these indeed can be distinguished-are separated out’. Aesthetics is sometimes
made to include skill or the self-consciousness (on the part of the artist), or the admiration (on the part of
the audience) for skill, but only in so far as that skill is employed for the purposes of arrangement and
design and not in so far as it is devoted to the accurate making of traditional forms” - Goldwater
Ideas - Application

 “The branch of philosophy dealing with such notions as the beautiful, the ugly, the sublime, the comic,
etc., as applicable to the fine arts, with a view to establishing the meaning and validity of critical
judgments concerning works of art, and the principles underlying or justifying such judgments.” -The
Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary
 The above definition is to the point and centres on the idea but eliminates the experience. But, the
purpose of theatre culminates in the experience, so the inclusion of aesthetic experience becomes a
critical point of discussion along with aesthetic enquire.
 Aesthetics took a form as the ‘philosophy of beauty’ during the 20 th century where design took the
forefront in the presentation of art.
 Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon and the Stravinsky’s ballet music were two examples of non-
aesthetic art thus laying down what is and is not aesthetic in art.
 Aesthetics as discussed earlier has a multi-directional application in the performing arts which leads to the
question ‘what is the nature of the art?’
 This question yet again highlights upon the importance to understand the genesis and evolution of an art –
‘aesthetic enquire’
 Through detailed study that go back to the times of Plato, scholars have identified categories and pattern
in the ideas of aesthetic norms which can allow a clearer understanding of ‘nature’ of the arts.
 Aesthetic experience or the resonation of the work with the receiver is another important question in the
study of theatre aesthetics.
 Realism, representation and the impact of these on the audience is what primarily constitutes the aesthetic
experience of theatre.
 As a culmination of these ideas, we arrive at:
“a group of concepts for understanding the nature of art. Aesthetic concepts address virtually all aspects of
art, from process to product to response, and embrace both individual experiences and social phenomena.” –
Louis Lankford in Aesthetics: Issues and Inquiry
 To understand the aesthetics of theatre, we break it down into 4 important questions:
1. WHAT is theatre?
2. HOW is it created?
3. WHAT and HOW is its reception?
4. WHERE and FOR WHOM is it created?
 Concepts to distinguish theatre from other arts forms – the isms of theatre arts.
 Every science stream has the concept of theory and application of theory. Likewise, theatre aesthetics
and the art from itself has a few theories of philosophies that give clarity to the purpose, technique,
presentation and experience of the form.
1. Instrumentalism:
Theatre arts was looked as a tool to teach, preach and provoke in the right line of thought.
The primary purpose of a play as per this theory is to affect the attitude and awareness of people.
“Many plays written for children and youth have a primary purpose of teaching values and behavior ranging from
good etiquette to racial tolerance, but instrumentalism exists in adult professional theatre too. Twenty years ago, we
had many plays on Broadway such as The Normal Heart, As Is, and Jeffrey that were meant to increase awareness of
AIDS and its effects on society.”
-Is it beautiful? - Aesthetics in theatre education BY JEFFREY LEPTAK-MOREAU
2. Expressionism:
To express, what to express, why and how to express became the primordial ideas of expressionism.
It took birth in the visual arts stream and eventually spread across all art form giving emotions the limelight.
The purpose of didn’t lies in the accuracy of the event but in the emotion of the people involved in it. For
instance, in a script, the accuracy of dialogues would not be more important than reflecting the state of mind of
the writer.
Another side of expressionism focuses upon the ability of theatre to evoke the intended emotions in the
audience.
This further leads up to the factors that can evoke a strong emotion – the plot itself, sequence of events,
lighting and sound effects, etc.,
The success lies in the intensity of emotions – either of the actors or that brought out in the audience by the
performance of the actors.
3. Formalism:
As the term suggest, this deals more with the format of the play itself.
Structure, design and composition are the key factors.
It derives its roots yet again from the art movement that includes impressionism (colour and light) and cubism
(line and shape)
Impressionism and cubism principles can be seen the designing and spatial use in a play.
The strength and quality us judged by how well the story, plat and performance captivates the audience.
“For example, the oldest concept of theatre in European tradition is Aristotle’s theory of tragedy with its six
parts: plot, character, theme, diction, music, and spectacle. Aristotle believes that the proper combination of
these formal elements would result in an effective, meaningful tragedy.”
-Is it beautiful? - Aesthetics in theatre education BY JEFFREY LEPTAK-MOREAU
4. The Institutional Theory:
 This theory lays emphasis on the context if the performance to decide whether it is a professional
theatre show or an informal act.
 The aesthetics depend upon and come to exist only if the context of the performance is set to be on a
proper stage
5. Critical Theory:
These are a group of ideas such as feminism, Marxism and other inter-disciplinary lines of thought that
have applied to the understanding of the nature of the play.
This hold good and validates the play from a social and political relevance point of view.

 These concepts are some of the most important in the study of theatrical aesthetic concepts and stand
critical to both theatre making and the audience experience.
 Aesthetics being a very vast concept, has some juncture where it meets with some psychological
concepts.
 Some of these overlapping concepts become important and relevant in understanding the how to create
and portray a character and the corresponding audience reception.
1. Metaphysics, philosophy of reality: The actor here is posed with question how much of the character dies
he or she need to be? Must the emotions be experienced or portrayed to be an experience for the on-
looker.
2. Axiology, philosophy of values: Is the liking towards one performance or production purely individual
preference or are they norms that impact that kind of preferences? Who or what decided the quality and
value of a production and its actors?
3. 3. Epistemology, philosophy of knowledge: What is the meaning of a play and how has one related with
it? Why and how is that meaning perceived? What is the creator’s actual intent and thought?
 These concepts of psychology, if understood well become tools to reflect on one’s own work in a critical
and meaningful manner thus enhancing personal and artistic development of an individual.
“The admonition to include aesthetics in the art curricula is a direct result of the
belief that one crucial element of artistic activity is thinking about it.”
- Marcia Muelder
Eaton, a past president of the American Society for Aesthetics