The Semiotics of Performance by Marco De Marinis provides a thorough analysis of the theatrical communication process. I recommend this book with reservations, however. The information is not presented in a user-friendly fashion; few diagrams aid the reader in understanding some of the more complex concepts that De Marinis discusses. An index, always useful in interpreting scholarly works of this length, is not provided. Numerous references are made to classical works, such as those of Plato and Aristotle; more references should have been included that are recognizable to the modern reader.
On the other hand, the depth of De Marinis's analysis is clearly evident throughout his book. The author quotes extensively from a wide variety of sources; the endnote section is nearly 50 pages long. Unfortunately, most of the bibliography refers to works written in Italian, which hinders the English-speaking reader's efforts to do further research. According to De Marinis, a theatrical production must meet two conditions in order to be classified as a performance. First, the sender of communication and the receiver of communication must be physically present simultaneously. The sender group includes writers, directors, actors, etc. The receivers are the spectators to whom the performance is addressed. Second, the theatrical production and the communication must also take place simultaneously.
De Marinis sees theater as a theoretical object, the textual element of which can be described in terms of a model of performance. It is De Marinis's textual analysis of performance that readers may find most difficult to grasp. This difficulty is probably due to the fact that the average layperson is unfamiliar with the actual written text of theater performances, e.g., stage direction.
In terms of the book's significance for speech communication, I found Chapter Six "Toward a Pragmatics of Theatrical Communication" and De Marinis'...