This article analyses tensions between programmatic texts written by contemporary directors, by focusing initially on the dispute over the meaning of theater. Constantin Stanislavski, Bertolt Brecht, Antonin Artaud, and Jerzy Grotowski elaborated meanings of theater in different ways and, in doing so, they made their propositions extemporaneous or transhistorical. From these several proposed meanings, the texts assign specific functions and places to actors, dramaturgy, designers, among others, which enables the reader to identify theatrical programs by analyzing these materials. Lastly, I'll examine the problem of "the boundaries of theater", as it is present in the texts analyzed, and which is central to the history of contemporary theater.
theater; actor; drama; Constantin Stanislavski; Bertolt Brecht.