THE THEATRE OF MIXED MEANS

by Richard Kostelanetz ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1968

What was called mixed media only last week, Richard Kostelanetz now refers to as ""the theatre of mixed means,"" and that subtle distinction is about par with the ephemeral nature of his whole book. Kostelanetz is a popularizer of the ""new,"" earnestly quoting Giedion or McLuhan or Fuller, piously committed to the consummation of technology and aesthetics, the enlargement of one's sensory or perceptual responses to such multi-dimensional affairs as happenings, assemblages, and kinetic environments. Anyone who has read Sontag or Michael Kirby or even The Village Voice and Life magazine must surely be familiar with the theoretical aspects of these touted experiments in the so-called dissolving of the boundaries between life and art, and Kostelanetz adds nothing of note to the discussion. Actually, his book is really a collection of interviews (there are opening and closing essays by the author) with the most prominent practitioners of the movement, including Rauschenberg, Kaprow, Oldenburg, Whitman, La Monte Young, and, of course, the celebrated Rockland County guru, John Cage. Unfortunately, aside from comments by Kaprow and the group known as USCO, nothing particularly pointed or persuasive is said; even Cage does not seem his sprightly self. As an antidote, we recommend the issue the Tulanc Drama Review (Winter '65) devoted to The New Theatre, replete with examples, fold-outs, scripts.

Pub Date: April 1, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION