metatheatrical

Metatheatrical, or metatheatre, refers to a mode of performance and analysis in which a theatre piece deliberately draws attention to its status as theatre. It foregrounds the constructed nature of performances, the script, and the roles of actors, often interrupting the narrative to remind spectators that they are watching a staged event. Common devices include breaking the fourth wall, direct address to the audience, a play-within-a-play, self-referential commentary on authorship and acting, and scenes that reveal or mock stage conventions.

Historically, metatheatrical elements appear in various forms before the term existed. Early modern plays occasionally broke the illusion; Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921) is frequently cited as a foundational example, in which fictional characters confront their creator and demand a place on the stage. In the 20th century, the concept was elaborated by critics such as Lionel Abel, who popularized the term and defined metatheatre as theatre that makes the artificiality of theatre a subject of the work itself.

Techniques and purposes: metatheatrical works invite critical reflection on the nature of theatre, authorship, and representation, and may challenge audience assumptions about realism. They are associated with direct audience address, actors acknowledging themselves as performers, plays about writing or staging, and experimental staging that questions traditional dramatic illusion. Notable practitioners include Bertolt Brecht, Tom Stoppard, and Pirandello; representative works include Brecht’s epic theatre, Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author.

Criticism: metatheatre can be seen as inventive and liberating, or as self-indulgent and distancing. It remains a versatile approach for exploring how theatre constructs meaning.