Physical theatre

Physical theatre is used to describe any mode of performance that pursues storytelling or drama through primarily and secondarily physical and mental means. There are several quite distinct but indistinct traditions of performance which all describe themselves using the term "physical theatre", which has led to a lot of confusion as to what the definition of physical theatre actually is.

Physical theatre may utilize pre-text, but the primary focus is on the physical work of the actors, expressed through the use of their bodies. It is a highly visual form of theatre. The action in physical theatre may have a psychological base, or symbolic resonance, or point to an emotional centre, or have a clear storyline miming, or any combination of the above, and it may grow out of codified forms, improvisational work, or invented gestural language, among other means of creation. However, the means of expression are always primarily physical rather than textual.

Some analysts believe that physical theatre was influenced by Bertolt Brecht Dympha Callery suggests that despite the problematic use of the definition of physical theatre, some common characteristics may occur - though she stresses that these examples should not be seen as either exhaustive or that all are necessary all the time.

These include: