Difference Between Metaatheatre And Metadrama

Introduction This paper will focus on metatheatre and metadrama and their effects on theatre, and more specifically, Anne Washburn’s 10 Out of 12. Metatheatre and Metadrama are two names for a specific genre of theatre coined by Lionel Abel in 1963 (Rosenmeyer 87) that have been used for almost as long as theatre has been around—most famously used by Shakespeare (Lipmann 232). Among scholars, there have been debates on the exact definition of the term and its merits of application, but generally speaking, it refers to theatre that somehow references its own theatricality. Some scholars refer to metatheatricality as a distraction or as being too busy (Rosenmeyer 87) whereas others refer to it as a tribute to the history of theatre (Stephenson

Metatheatre will be distinguished as theatre that is self-aware whereas Metadrama will be considered as drama that is self-aware; theatre being the art form and drama being the form of writing. The two will be considered separately as metatheatre pertains more towards the performance, actor’s choices, production, sound, lighting, etc. and metadrama pertains towards the written word, the script and the playwright. At times, this distinction will blur, but for the most part these two worlds can exist as separate

In interviews, Washburn has revealed that this particular work is meant to show the different costs that a production can put on a theatre worker (Essin 119). Through the lines, Washburn attempts to illustrate the emotional toll, through tedium and boredom, as well as the physical dangers of the kind of work that actors and technical workers complete (119). The play within the play was used by the author in a way that many others do not; many playwrights use the play within a play to reference its own material or other important works of theatre, but this is not the case. In 10 Out of 12, the metaplay is meant to serve as a background in which the conversations between workers can be seen and chaos could ensue