What does 'Theatre Semiotics' means?
The analysis of theatre semiotics is a methodology developed by Elaine Aston and George Savona that considers performance as a system of signs that create meanings.
In their book Theatre as a Sign-System, Aston and Savona explain that everything that happens during the performance is a signifier and it is used to express a particular concept either by the director or by the writer. For this reason, a semiotic analysis does not only take account of the text, it also investigates everything else that make the performance.
Those visual signifiers are divided into two categories:
Synthesis, which is everything involving the staging (including costumes, props, sets, lights and venue).
Kinesics, which is every aspect of the space in relation to the actors (including the bodies and movement of the actors).
Related Drama A Level answers
All answers ▸Briefly outline and justify your casting decisions for Nell and Mrs Farley and then explain how you would direct the spoken and unspoken interaction of your actors in Act One, Scene Seven in order to reveal their attitudes to one another
As a director, outline your objectives for the use of two design elements in your production of the play and give examples, supported by reasons, of how your ideas might be achieved in performance.
What should I base my ideas for set and costume design in a production on?
Modernise the Greek comedy, Lysistrata.