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Theatre in film as intensification of senses. Othello in R. Eyre’s Stage Beauty
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2024-5-118-132
Abstract
The article considers the phenomenon of theatre in film, associated with the effects of sensory intensification. In her analysis of R. Eyre’s drama Stage Beauty (an adaptation of J. Hatcher’s play Compleat Female Stage Beauty), the author shows that a theatrical performance within a film proves to be especially effective in engaging various perception modalities and bringing the audience in touch with their own sensations. A fragment of Act V Scene II of Othello constitutes the structural core of Eyre’s film. Affectively charged with fear of death, jealousy, and revenge, this fragment makes five appearances in the film. The viewers learn about a reconstruction of a historic theatre, as well as the emergence of a new and more naturalistic tradition. The essay is divided into small sections according to the logic of sensory focuses, which, Rybina argues, reveal themselves at each new staging of the fragment. Tracing how the perception modalities (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) are activated, the author proves that the main goal of theatre in film is to enhance the viewers’ sensory awareness.
About the Author
P. Y. Rybina
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Polina Y. Rybina - researcher of film adaptation
1 Leninskie Gory, Moscow, 119991
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Review
For citations:
Rybina P.Y. Theatre in film as intensification of senses. Othello in R. Eyre’s Stage Beauty. Voprosy literatury. 2024;(5):118-132. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2024-5-118-132
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