The Body in Pieces: Contemporary Anatomy Theatres.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Read More Add to Saved list
  • Author(s): Holzapfel, Amy Strahler
  • Source:
    PAJ: A Journal of Performance & Art. May2008, Vol. 30 Issue 89, p1-16. 16p. 1 Color Photograph, 2 Black and White Photographs.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      HUMAN body; PERFORMING arts; 21ST century art; HUMAN anatomy; THEATER history; SENSORY perception; IMAGINATION; INFLUENCE (Literary, artistic, etc.); MEDICAL drama; INTERMEDIALITY
    • Abstract:
      This article explores the appearance of the body in pieces in the historic anatomy theater form within modern performance. The author illustrates three productions form within the contemporary theatre which includes, "To You, the Birdie!" by Wooster Group, "Accidental Nostalgia" by Cynthia Hopkins, and "A Number" by Caryl Churchill. It explains that the history of the body in pieces is a history of the relationship between two concepts of the body, as fragmented and as holistic. These concepts are claimed indispensable modes of imagining and configuring the body. Furthermore, it claims that the body in the contemporary anatomy theaters becomes a medical subject and an intermedial construction that signal the downfall of autonomous subject in postmodern performance.