Metatheatre - Techniques

Techniques

Richard Hornby gave five distinct techniques that may be found in metatheatre. These include ceremony within a play, role-playing within a role, reference to reality, self-reference of the drama, and play within a play. In 'metatheatre' the inclusion of the play within a play provides an onstage microcosm of the theatrical situation, and such techniques as the use of parody and burlesque to draw attention to literary or theatrical conventions, and the use of the theatrum mundi (world theatre) trope. Two other scholars described these aspects, as well. First, Mikhail Bakhtin defined the burlesque and the use of carnival in literature, using folk humor as parody and the carnivalesque to depict comedic rituals and festivals, both secular and religious. Jose Antonio Maravall adds to the idea of microcosm stating that such a place, such as an inn, is where everyone joins in for reunion, lunacy, deceit, disorder, and confusion. Maravall shows that parties and festivals within such microcosms display the possibilities of society.