Performance Theories

History of Performance Theories

Performance theory is by no means new and can be traced both to cultural performances in antiquity as well as to more modern times. Contemporary performance scholars such as Judith Hamera and Soyini Madison point to the elocution movement, with its roots in North American and European cultures, as a modern tradition that can be understood as an early form of performance.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, public speaking in the European context was considered an art form, a formal discipline called elocution, as well as a social event. The public speaker sought to entertain, educate, inform, or persuade an audience who came to the event to listen, experience, and be inspired by the speaker. In this manner, the public speaking event was an important social practice that joined people together. Central in the European movement was a desire to demonstrate eloquence through the speaker's articulation, inflection, accent, voice, and gesture. Also, the speaker's ability to convey emotions such as anger, sorrow, joy, and disgust was considered a sign of communication eloquence. Audience responses from laughter to cheers to insults were other vital parts of the ritualistic aspects of the event. Today, traces of this form of audience participation can be found in some European contexts such as the communication practices of the British parliament where cheers and disagreements are frequently voiced.

Elocution as an art form and discipline bears a strong resemblance to oral interpretation and has found its institutional roots in primarily speech communication and theater departments in the United States. In this tradition, the speaker or performer is trained to interpret and dramatize a piece of literature. Performance is the display of communication skills that brings written material to life. This approach has recently extended itself to other disciplines such as history. Within the United States as well as within Europe, living history, for instance, is performed by people in period costumes who act out or improvise historical events. Although they stay close to the historical accounts, they dramatize these to help educate (and entertain) audiences [Page 740]about how life was lived at that particular place and point in time. The performance enhances visitors' experiences and, as such, it adds an interesting aspect of what performance scholars see as a form of staged authenticity to the event.

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