An Analysis of “ Waiting for What? ” Illustrating the Metatheatre of Contemporary Taiwan Little Theatre

• Main Authors: Lin Chia-Chi, 林家麒
• Other Authors: 劉晉立
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/j6568d

碩士 === 國立臺灣藝術大學 === 戲劇與劇場應用學系碩士班 === 99 === This dissertation studies the meta-theatrical approach found in contemporary Taiwan little theatre, taking the play of Four Chairs Theatre in 2009 and 2010, Waiting for What!?, as the study object. The author explores the characteristics of metatheatre in Waiting for What? and how the play, through the methods of metatheatre and parody, reflects the theatre culture and social values in contemporary Taiwan. It starts with Richard Hornby’s theory of metatheatre, and examines the function and influence of the meta-theatrical approach in Waiting for What!? by basing on Hornby’s five distinct techniques, which are the Play within the Play, the Ceremony within the Play, Role Playing within the Role, Literary and Real-life Reference, and Self Reference. Additionally, the author intends to expand the boundary and possibility of metatheatre and seek out the meta-theatrical approach specially belonged to the play, setting a mirror of contemporary Taiwan little theatre. Therefore, in search of more possible methods for the play and the meta-study in present-day Taiwan, he studies the play in different perspectives, such as the relations of theatre environment, the unexpected situations happened during the performance, and the process of production. Through his analysis, the author discovers that the play draws on a lot of real-life materials and parodies them, including some popular symbols like contemporary movies, TV shows, and news media. The play’s meta-theatrical features contain a strong sense of immediacy, and reflect the values of the contemporary theatre, the society, and the culture. In the last place, he draws back the self-review function of metatheatre, finding out the universality of elements in films and TV, which has the potential to be the metatheatrical subjects for theatre, and develops different angles and possibilities for people who study or create metatheatre in Taiwan.