I have been looking at how performers act in performances by The Wooster group to get an idea of what postmodernist performance can look like. I have watched this clip of The Wooster groups 2012 production of Hamlet.
- Elements of the meta-theatrical, the man who speaks at the beginning is supposedly speaking as himself, the actor, about what this performance of Hamlet is trying to achieve. He is playing an actor, playing a character.
- The performance uses videos projected on the back wall.
- The actors imitate exactly what happens on the screen in this video of Hamlet.
- The audio of the video plays and the actors on stage speak the same dialogue over the top of the voices from the video.
- The performance by the actors on stage is somewhat lifeless and robotic.
- The performance is lacking in emotion and becomes something of a mechanical procedure.
- This all works to eliminate the chance of a believable performance, which demolishes any sense of naturalism in the acting style.