大象传媒

The nature of Physical theatre

At its simplest, you could define Physical theatre as a form of theatre that puts emphasis on movement rather than dialogue. But remember there are a huge number of variations as the covers a broad range of work. But essentially Physical theatre is anything that puts the human body at the centre of the storytelling process. As a result it鈥檚 often in style, using movement in a and way. With the expression of ideas choreographed through movement, such performers use very little or no dialogue at all.

DV8 are arguably among the main of Physical theatre as a 鈥榝ull鈥 art form. They focus on looking at the dramatic potential that can be unlocked from movement. Their work is often described as existing at a crossroads where dance, sound and drama meet. DV8 are well known for using Physical theatre to explore complex aspects of human relationships and social or cultural issues.

In DV8鈥檚 production, Can We Talk About This? the director and performers used Physical theatre to express extremely complicated and delicate political and social issues. The main theme of the production looked at , and militant . Words and bodywork were combined to express what鈥檚 sometimes difficult to put into words alone.

Two members of DV8 performing in Can We Talk About This?
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Hannes Langolf and Christina May in Can We Talk About This? Credit: DV8/Matt Nettheim
A member of DV8 performing in Can We Talk About This?
Image caption,
Lee Davern in Can We Talk About This? Credit: DV8/Matt Nettheim