The Semiotics of Performance by Marco De Marinis

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

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genre, e.g., tragedy or comedy. Distinctive conventions involve rules imposed by the performance itself. General and particular conventions transform codes while distinctive conventions institute codes (p. 117). Distinctive and particular codes are present in all performance texts. Also influencing the performance text are cultural context and intertextual practices. Cultural codes precede the performance text and its conventions and are a part of a general text. Intertextual practices consist of involuntary similarities and influences and voluntary references. Intertexuality is multiple and can include texts from another performance, artistic and architectural works, and literary texts. The subjects of intertextual practices are also multiple and can include playwrights, actors, costume designers, and musicians (De Marinis, 1993, p. 133). The theater's performance text presupposes a Model Spectator. This Model Spectator is familiar with all the performance codes and conventions and is able to interpret correctly the sender codes in the frame of reference intended by the receiver. As De Marinis observes, " . . . the usual noncoincidence between sender codes and receiver codes means that numerous analyses and readings a
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)