This student guide to the study of drama explains in detail the relationship between the drama text and the theory and practice of theatre in performance. The study of semiotics is an increasingly important area of critical practice, and a vital component in any up-to-date drama course, yet it poses a number of tricky and tantalizing questions for the student approaching it for the first time. What is the relationship between theory and practice? How can an understanding of the text as a system of signs be related to the semiotics of stage performance? Can the performance of drama also be read as a sign-system? Beginning at the beginning, with accessible explanations of the meanings and methods of semiotics, "Theatre as Sign-System" addresses key drama texts from Sophocles to Caryl Churchill, and offers new and detailed information about performance theory which can be related to textual practice. This book should be of interest to students and teachers of theatre studies, English literature and the performance arts as well as theatre practitioners.

This invaluable student handbook is the first detailed guide to explain in detail the relationship between the drama text and the theory and practice of drama in performance. Beginning at the beginning, with accessible explanations of the meanings and methods of semiotics, Theatre as Sign System addresses key drama texts and offers new and detailed information about the theories of performance.