STREET ARTISTS IN EUROPE - Fondazione Fitzcarraldo

ANNEX 2 – SECTION A:
THE AESTHETICS OF STREET ARTS IN EUROPE
81
Street Artists in Europe
Contribution by Anne-Karine Granger – January 2007 – for the study on ‘Street Artists in
Europe’
1. The roots of street arts
Street arts undoubtedly have their roots in European theatre that developed in the streets. A
general historical outline, starting with the Greek theatre, will cast further light on these ancient
practices. It is commonly believed that that was where modern street arts originated. Certainly
there are links with some artistic forms – parades, travelling shows, circus arts – and the artists
see themselves as part of that tradition.
In her study entitled Qu’est-ce que le théâtre de rue, Anne Gonon takes a close look at those
connections. Is there a link between Greek theatre and present-day street theatre? ‘The fact that
they both take place in the open air does not make them similar because although Greek plays
were performed outdoors they were not street theatre.’ They were soon confined to
amphitheatres and so had their own setting. This form of theatre has a dual role of celebration
and protest: celebration of the unity of the town and questioning of its paradoxes, conflicts and
failings. That ambivalent theme is part of the fabric of modern street theatre.
In the same way, the festive processions in honour of Dionysus were probably the forerunners to
Carnival or the Feast of Unreason. They were similar to modern street parades by companies
that aim to build the crowd and carry it along with them. But again, the religious aspect of those
events must not be overlooked. Because of the codes and rules governing them, those ‘implicit
laws’ differ from today’s street theatre in two important respects. In other words, if there is a
connection, it is more in form than in substance.
Historians of street theatre also cite mediaeval theatre. An essential feature of those plays, which
underwent a renaissance around the 10th century, was that they were inspired by and for
religion. The early performances developed in churches and had liturgical themes. Gradually the
clerics established the foundations of theatre.
Is there a connection and a dramatic continuity between Greek performers and the mime artists
of the Later Roman Empire and medieval clerics and jugglers? That is extremely doubtful.
There were jesters and entertainers at court between the 5th and the 9th centuries, but they were
not actors. ‘It is true they were talented (impersonators), but it would be going too far to say
they were actors’ 90 . There are no references to theatrical performances in the west in that period.
It was the farce performed by brotherhoods that really heralded the start of character-based
theatre. In the Middle Ages, plays started to be performed on a platform (stage). Again, that
form of theatre is related only distantly to street theatre. Medieval theatre troupes performed in
the open air, but their aspiration was to perform in a theatre and they found ways to distance
themselves physically from the crowd, mainly by introducing boards to form a stage.
From the Passion plays to the Feast of Unreason, from Carnival to itinerant jugglers and
storytellers, the resemblance to present-day street arts is tenuous. One of the main differences
lies in the religious background to the development of theatre. Moreover, the theatricality of
90 Jomaron, Jacqueline, Le théâtre en France: du Moyen Age à nos jours, Paris, L.G.F, 1993.
PE 375.307