{"id":1078,"date":"2026-06-18T15:54:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T15:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/33\/?p=1078"},"modified":"2026-06-20T07:17:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T07:17:33","slug":"editors-introduction-multiple-faces-of-tempo-and-speed-in-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/33\/editors-introduction-multiple-faces-of-tempo-and-speed-in-theatre\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Editors\u2019 Introduction: Multiple Faces of Tempo and Speed in Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manuel Garcia Martinez<\/strong>*<\/a> and Annita Costa Malufe<\/strong>**<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technological, economic, and social acceleration analysed by sociologists such as Virilio, Aubert, and Rosa has transformed perceptions of time, placing an increasing emphasis on speed as a dominant mode through which other temporal dimensions are experienced. This acceleration and the rapidity of change have shaped both the development and representation of movement across a range of artistic practices; in filmmaking, for instance, they have influenced the duration of shots and sequences. By contrast, theatre has often been associated with temporalities that resist or complicate the logic of acceleration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the late nineteenth century, and particularly with the emergence of Symbolism, innovations in theatrical tempo have frequently been linked to slowness rather than speed. In many respects, theatre has responded to technological and industrial acceleration by preserving modes of temporality that lie outside its dominant rhythms. Consequently, speed has occupied a less prominent position in discussions of dramatic art, aside from notable moments such as the influence of Futurism in the early twentieth century. Yet a closer examination of dramatic texts and contemporary performance practices reveals that modern theatre has also been shaped by the conditions of acceleration, albeit in subtler and more complex ways, with significant implications for both dramaturgy and performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This special issue takes as its point of departure the observation that acceleration has left discernible traces in both dramatic writing and performance. Among the devices that contribute to a sense of speed are rapid plot progression, the reduction or absence of pauses, and the simultaneous development of multiple plotlines. Philosophical and sociological accounts of acceleration (Virilio, Aubert, Rosa), literary studies of narrative speed (Hume, Kukkonen), and the reflections of theatre practitioners such as Thomas Ostermeier have all identified such strategies as key means through which experiences of acceleration are represented and communicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In theatre, acceleration operates at multiple levels and assumes a variety of forms. At the textual level, it may be generated through dramaturgical devices such as lists, enumerations, brief lines and sentences, fragmentation, and interruptions, all of which can contribute to an impression of speed. Acceleration may also emerge as a thematic concern, either as the central focus of a play or through characters whose actions are shaped by urgency, deadlines, multitasking, and other manifestations of accelerated living. Similarly, relationships to the past and the future, as well as tensions between desire and fulfilment, often structure dramatic action in ways that intensify perceptions of temporal pressure. Yet the effects of such devices are never intrinsic or automatic. Whether they produce a sense of speed depends on their dramaturgical, performative, and cultural context. For this reason, the study of acceleration in theatre requires attention not only to formal devices but also to the conditions under which they acquire meaning and affective force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dynamics of acceleration are equally evident in contemporary staging practices. They can be observed in fundamental elements of performance such as lighting, where technological innovations have expanded creative possibilities and enabled increasingly rapid transitions. Set design has likewise benefited from digital technologies, facilitating faster scene changes and more fluid transformations of theatrical space. Advances in sound technologies have made it possible to construct increasingly complex sonic environments, often supporting the simultaneous development of multiple actions or temporal layers. The growing incorporation of film, video, and other intermedial forms further contributes to this tendency by creating parallel visual and narrative trajectories that intensify perceptions of movement, speed, and momentum. Taken together, these developments reshape the spatio-temporal organisation of performance and transform the ways in which theatrical time is represented and experienced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially associated with technological innovation and with theatres possessing the resources to adopt new techniques rapidly, these developments soon extended beyond a limited group of institutions and artistic contexts. Although scholarly discussions of acceleration in theatre have largely emerged from analyses of Western dramatic and performance traditions, we anticipated that similar dynamics could be identified across a much wider range of theatrical cultures. The contributions gathered in this issue confirm the value of such a perspective. Taken together, they reveal the diverse forms through which acceleration manifests itself in different cultural and historical contexts, while also demonstrating the extent to which accelerated temporalities have become a global feature of contemporary theatrical practice. In doing so, the articles show that the effects of acceleration are neither uniform nor confined to particular traditions, but are instead negotiated and reconfigured in a variety of local contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increasing prominence of acceleration in theatre has been particularly marked since the early twenty-first century, although its intensity and forms have varied across different contexts. The Covid-19 pandemic, in particular, acted as a catalyst for new configurations of accelerated and mediated performance practices in diverse cultural settings, including Greece and China. This is evident, for instance, in the contributions by Sofia Karagianni <\/strong>and Marina Rigou <\/strong>, on digital radio drama during pandemic times, and by Manuel Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez<\/strong> and Yan Yan<\/strong>, on Wang Chong\u2019s The Plague<\/em> by A. Camus in Zoom theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both studies analyse the role played by different media and formats to contribute to this increase in speed, while also considering the creative solutions devised in each case to address the demands imposed by these new media environments. For example, Karagianni and Rigou examine how this dynamic emerged through the revival of radio theatre in Greece, a form traditionally associated with slower and more contemplative storytelling. Garc\u00eda Martinez and Yan Yan, on the other hand, explore how this historical context fostered changes in tempo, and situate them within broader processes of late-modern acceleration, while also identifying features specific to live online performance. Furthermore, their study provides an analysis of one of the first adaptations of online theatre productions in China, the epicentre of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New technologies have been central to debates on acceleration in theatre, both in terms of media and in relation to their impact on contemporary forms and content. This is evident in Richard Jordan\u2019s<\/strong> article, \u201c\u2018Bridget is there\u2019: Accelerating the Cybernetic Subject in Lauren Mooney and James Yeatman\u2019s More Life<\/em>,\u201d which explores, from a posthuman and futuristic perspective, how the individual in the cybernetic age is transformed and fragmented, and how subjectivity is reconfigured through interactions that unfold at the rapid pace of computational processes..<\/s><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patrick Rizzotti\u2019s<\/strong> \u201cScenographic Tempo and Digital Collaboration\u201d examines how digital tools are reshaping contemporary set design by accelerating both its processes and modes of collaboration. The article shows how scenographic production is increasingly structured by what the author terms a \u201cscenographic tempo,\u201d in which design decisions, exchanges, and iterations unfold at a significantly faster rhythm than in traditional set-making practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another perspective on this question is offered in Amarilis Felizes\u2019s<\/strong> article, \u201cFast, Short-Lived and Exclusive: Rethinking Arts Policy in Accelerated Time,\u201d which examines the production and circulation of performance art in the Portuguese context, focusing on how the Covid-19 pandemic intensified already existing processes of structural acceleration in cultural policy. Rather than counteracting these dynamics, the pandemic is shown to have reinforced temporal pressures, with significant artistic, social, and political consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contributions gathered in this issue explore a range of manifestations of acceleration in contemporary theatre, attending to the specific dramaturgical, performative, and cultural contexts in which they emerge. Rather than offering a unified model, the articles highlight the diversity of theatrical forms and the different traditions from which they arise. In some cases, acceleration takes on unexpected meanings, as in Kenneth Bamuturaki\u2019s<\/strong> \u201cKeeping Communities in Spontaneity Working on their Feet: The Concept of Acceleration in Applied Theatre Practice,\u201d which reads acceleration in the context of applied theatre in Africa as a form of collective energy capable of fostering participation, responsiveness, and group cohesion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional forms of theatre are also increasingly shaped by the temporal pressures of contemporary societies. This is illustrated in Bhaskar Jyoti Borah<\/strong>\u2019s article, \u201cAccelerated Rhythms: Performance, Tradition, and Transformation in 21st Century Assamese Theatre,\u201d which examines postdramatic experiments within traditional theatrical practices in Assam, India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cAnxious Times\/Anxious Timings: Nonorganic Rhythms in the Choreography of Lucy Guerin,\u201d Andrew Fuhrmann<\/strong> explores how Australian choreographer Lucy Guerin employs choreographic rhythm both to register and to critically interrogate the pressures of acceleration under late-capitalist regimes of communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar dynamic is explored in the study by Annita Costa Malufe<\/strong> and Eduardo Reis<\/strong>, \u201c\u00c9puiser l\u2019acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration: une performance du groupe br\u00e9silien Teatro da Vertigem,\u201d which examines acceleration in the context of an urban scenic intervention by the Brazilian company Teatro da Vertigem. In this case, acceleration functions both as a thematic concern and as a formal principle, reflecting the condition of the contemporary subject immersed in increasingly rapid flows of information and movement, and giving rise to a critical and immersive dispositif.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acceleration, as examined in this special issue of Critical Stages<\/em>, is likely to remain a defining feature of contemporary theatre, continuing to evolve alongside technological change and the increasing circulation of digital tools that facilitate rapid forms of communication across geographical and cultural contexts. Rather than a uniform or linear process, the contributions gathered here demonstrate that acceleration is continually reconfigured in diverse theatrical practices, where it is negotiated, resisted, and reimagined in multiple ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cover Photo<\/strong><\/strong>: Courtesy of Wang Chong. Reproduced from\u00a0Manuel Garc\u00eda Martinez\u2019s and Yan Yan<\/a>\u2019s article, \u201cTime Out of Joint: Zoom Theatre and the Aesthetics of Acceleration\u00a0in Wang Chong\u2019s\u00a0The Plague<\/em>,\u201d included in this special section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bibliography<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Aubert, Nicole, editor. @ la recherche du temps<\/a><\/em>. \u00c9ditions \u00c9r\u00e8s, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hume, Kathryn. \u201cNarrative Speed in Contemporary Fiction.\u201d Narrative<\/em>, vol. 13, n\u00ba2, 2005, pp.105-124.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kukkonen, Karin. \u201cThe speed of plot. Narrative acceleration and deceleration.\u201d ORBIS Litterarum<\/em>, n\u00ba 75, 2020, pp.73-85.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ostermeier, Thomas. \u201cLe th\u00e9\u00e2tre \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e8re de son acceleration\u201d. Le th\u00e9\u00e2tre et la peur.<\/em> Actes Sud, 2016, pp.45-59.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa, Hartmut. <\/a>Acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration: <\/em><\/a>Une critique sociale du temps<\/em>. La D\u00e9couverte, 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014. Ali\u00e9nation et acc\u00e9l\u00e9ration: Vers une th\u00e9orie critique de la modernit\u00e9 tardive. <\/em>La D\u00e9couverte, 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virilio, Paul. \u0152uvres<\/em> 1957\u20132010. Seuil, 2023. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*<\/a>Manuel Garc\u00eda Mart\u00ednez<\/strong> holds a PhD in Theatre Studies from the University of Paris 8 (France) and is a senior lecturer at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He is also a member of the Calder\u00f3n research group (GI-1377). He currently teaches courses on French literature and culture, as well as emerging literatures in the field of theatre. His research focuses on the analysis of the representation of time and tempo in dramatic texts and contemporary performances, with a particular interest in contemporary innovations and methodologies for analysing theatrical performances. He has been examining acceleration in performances and theatre making since 2018 and has published several articles about this topic since 2022. In 2023, he co-edited, with Cristina Vinuesa Mu\u00f1oz, a volume of collected articles on the subject entitled La representaci\u00f3n de la aceleraci\u00f3n en el teatro contempor\u00e1neo<\/em>. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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**<\/a>Annita Costa Malufe<\/strong> is a researcher at the University of Salamanca. She is a collaborating researcher at the Margarida Losa Institute of Comparative Literature at the University of Porto, where she is part of a group working on poetry and performance. She holds a PhD in Literary Theory and History from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil, and is the author of two books of essays: Territ\u00f3rios dispersos: a po\u00e9tica de Ana Cristina Cesar<\/em> (2006) and Po\u00e9ticas da iman\u00eancia: Ana Cristina Cesar e Marcos Siscar<\/em> (2011), both with funding from the S\u00e3o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). She has carried out two post-doctoral research projects: at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo, Traces of Beckett in Contemporary Literature<\/em> and at PUC-SP, Literary Methods in Gilles Deleuze<\/em>. She is the author of seven books of poetry and several articles and book chapters on poetry, voice and performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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