The Potentials of Theatrical Acting Performance in Overcoming Alienation: A Descriptive Study of the Reflections of Alienation in the Performance of the Iraqi Theatre Actor

Abstract

This study examines the potential of theatrical acting performance in overcoming alienation by revealing the dialectical relationship between human existence in reality and the artistic existence of the character in theatrical performance. It proceeds from the premise that alienation constitutes an existential, psychological, and social phenomenon manifested in the individual’s separation from the self and the surrounding environment, accompanied by a loss of meaning, identity, and will. In this context, acting performance emerges as a super structural formation that seeks to construct the relationship between the individual and the self on the one hand, and between the individual and the existential environment on the other. Accordingly, the study consists of four chapters.

Chapter One, the Methodological Framework, addresses the research problem, formulated through the following question: What are the potentials of theatrical acting performance in overcoming alienation, in light of examining the reflections of the dialectic between human existence (the human being in reality) and artistic existence (the character in theatrical performance)? It also addresses the significance, objective, and limitations of the study, as well as the definition of terms.

Chapter Two, the Theoretical Framework, examines in its first section the concept of “Alienation: The Dialectic of the Self and the Other” in light of philosophical propositions and psychological concepts. The second section, “Acting Performance: The Dialectic of Transformation between the Self and the Other,” examines the processes of transformation between these two dimensions. The third section addresses “The Hypothesis of Alienated Performance: The Potentials of Theatrical Acting Performance in Overcoming Alienation.” In the Research Procedures, the study analyzes the research sample, represented by the Iraqi theatrical production Cholera, adopting the descriptive (analytical) methodology.

In Chapter Four, Results and Conclusions, the study reached a number of conclusions, including:

Conclusions:

1- Acting performance reveals the potential to overcome self-alienation by transforming the character’s internal conflict into a tangible performative action, thereby generating awareness of its existential condition, revealing manifestations of its separation from the self, and paving the way for the recovery of its awareness of its essence and identity.

2- Acting performance demonstrates the potential to overcome human alienation from existence by reaffirming the individual’s presence as an active subject and transforming the body and action from manifestations of separation and meaninglessness into means of apprehending existence and engaging with it.

3- Acting performance reveals that overcoming alienation is not limited to restoring the individual’s relationship with the self; rather, it extends to reshaping the individual’s relationship with the world and the conditions of existence, thereby rendering performance an aesthetic space for apprehending reality, questioning it, and seeking to transform it.