Description
French Book
"A Magician in Theatres" by Alafrez and Alain Poussard describes thirty original illusions performed over the past 50 years for theatre, opera, music, dance, and exhibition spaces. Each illusion is analyzed from its genesis, production conditions, technical, dramaturgical, and aesthetic expectations, to its execution phases, using detailed and annotated diagrams, plans, and stage photos.
This book focuses primarily on capturing the thought process involved in the conception, development, and execution of illusions and stage special effects, emphasizing their integration into the projects that solicit and host them.
This opens perspectives on the following questions:
How can strictly "illusionist" effects align with the expectations of "theatrical illusion"?Conversely, what can these "target" disciplines (theatre, opera, dance, music, etc.) learn and receive from the perspective of an illusionist?How do the friction and exchanges between competing demands shift established disciplinary boundaries, inventing new forms?
Alternating between descriptions and interviews, this book explores a vast field previously neglected by critical studies, to uncover certain principles. It will interest anyone with an affinity for the performing arts, whether a director, choreographer, scenographer, lighting designer, technician, or performer. Not to mention historians and theorists of the various performing arts disciplines, or anyone interested in thinking about the conditions and limits of illusion.
503 color pages – 484 illustrations – Format 17 cm × 23 cm.
