Comics as creative inspiration for performative art forms

134 COMICS AS CREATIVE INSPIRATION FOR PERFORMATIVE ART FORMS1 -Sosnowska The medium of comics has established a long tradition with foundational works that tic conventions. Comics have been gaining on popularity and recognition from various directions, which provided validation as an entrenched and autonomous art form. As such comics have also made significant contributions to creative imagination outside its own domain. Of particular interest is the mutual inspiration between different art forms and various genres, not only in its relationship with such narrative literary genres as the novel but also with less evident ones, namely performative genres and creative disciplines, e.g., scenography, design, film, aesthetics and performance. All instances of the comics theatre relationship are categorized under the not only allows to draw inspiration from other media but is also susceptible to adaptation Theatre, e framework of Prague Quadrennial (PQ) Talks 2019. The findings from the PQ panel are used to analyze three comics which include theatrical elements in light of the links of the comics with other media and genres. The article aims to reveal the complexity of the relationship between the comics and the theatre and to acknowledge the position of comics within the domain of performative genres. 1 Some observations presented here were initiated and inspired during the PQ Talks 2019 panel which took place on 14 June 2019 in Prague, and the discussions afterwards. Comics as Creative Inspiration 135 Introduction At first sight, theatre and comics do not seem to have much in common. Generally, it is believed that these two separate forms of art address different audiences with diverse interests. Comics and theatre seem to be different artistic entities, but because they are narrative arts they share such common features as characters, plots, fictions and storytelling techniques. They express human creativity, emotions as well as narrative potential. All these elements are common denominators of the respective forms of art. As a consequence, comics and theatre can be brought together in order to inquire into their similarities and mutual influences. This approach requires theoretical reflection with a special attention to comics as a medium and genre, problems of adaptation and the notion of hybridity, as well as an overview of comics displaying theatrical influences. My aim is to explore the potential and the extent of the theatre comics relationship. The article first focuses on the relationship of comics to theatre performance and explores some instances of theatrical adaptations of comics. The second part discusses theatrical influences on comics and their impact on the changes of their reception, focusing on three examples of comic-book and comic-strip adaptations of Shakes Shakespeare ohne Worte (Shakespeare without Words), Hamlet Kill Shakespeare. The Prague Quadrennial provides a platform for exchanging thoughts, experiences and sharing achievements in performance, stage design and scenography: both theoretical and practical approaches are welcome. During PQ Talks 2019 I convened the aim was to initiate discussions concerning theatre comics dynamics, especially the interaction of the two media and their mutual influences. The panel brought together theatre practitioners ( and adapted comics on stage, and - Sosnowska) to reflect, in practical as well as theoretical, and partially also historical terms, on comics theatre relationships and reciprocal influences between these media. The discussion after the panel raised significant questions concerning the presence of comics in theatre, theatre studies and scenography. The comics theatre relationship has proved to be deeper and more complex than initially expected. Thi -Sosnowska 136 The term refers to all influences and relationships between comics and theatre, including adaptation, plot construction, staging process or creating scenography. The scope and use of this term still need to be thoroughly discussed and require further explanations and exemplifications. In general terms, comics scenography refers to the process of adopting comics techniques in creating a theatrical performance. Hybridity of Comics The discussion of hybridity in comics has been mainly focused on the verbal visual dynamics, which, for some scholars, is a constitutive element of the entire medium. In comics, a story is told on two levels: image and text. For some scholars the image text relationship is vital. Harvey puts it straightforwardly: [c]omics are understood as narratives told by a sequence of pictures, with the dialogue of the characters incorporated into the pictures in the form of speech balloon. Comics are a hybrid form: words and 2 Putting emphasis on the relationship between text and images as pivotal elements of the narrative, Harvey understands it as a defining element: without the image text relationship comics does not exist. Similar ideas are expressed by Baetens and Frey who believe that [t]he hybrid quality of the graphic novel introduces a split at the level of the dispatching of information, which is presented through the visual as well as the verbal channel. What one needs to understand is that the story is provided not just by the images but also by the text [...].3 Baetens and Frey draw attention to the two levels at which information in comics is conveyed and, at the same time, charge the reader with the task of decoding the meaning on both of these levels. Hybridity was also of interest to Hillary Chute a hybrid word-and-image form in which two narrative tracks, one verbal and one 4 For her, hybridity also becomes a defining element of comics, and the attention it gains is more significant than the juxtaposition of images and comics sequentiality. 2 Robert C. Harvey, The Art of the Comic Cook. An Aesthetic History (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1996) 3. 3 Jan Baetens and Hugo Frey, The Graphic Novel: An Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) 143. 4 A PMLA, 123.2 (2008): 452. Comics as Creative Inspiration 137 Although comics is indeed a combination of verbal and visual language in order to tell a story, it is necessary to remember that there are instances of comics in which only one of these languages dominates The Arrival5 is deprived of any verbal signs and the responsibility for telling the story lies purely Watchmen6 where every issue/chapter is concluded with narratives: e.g., the fragments of one of the characters , Hood, an article from the fictional Journal of the American Ornithological Society, police files, letters, etc., which have no pictorial elements. These are incomprehensible without the context of the main story and the story would be incomplete without them. Hence, such sequences without images are integral parts of comic books or strips and can sometimes be referred to as imageless comics. However, Miodrag points out that hybridity is more complicated than a simple -verbal admixture, the debate is confused by a parallel d 7 A different approach towards hybridity is revealed by Neil Cohn who two 8 His approach focuses on the cross-cultural and structural combinations rather than on the linguistic 9 Levinso perception of hybridity influences the general approach to comics and is a point of departure for discussing intermedial relationships. Unfortunately, Cohn does not elaborate his approach by specifying which media it takes into consideration or explaining why the hybrid art forms are limited to a combination of just two media. In his view, comics is most often paired with literature, due to the narrative and storytelling dimension, and with visual arts (drawing, painting) essential for composing individual panels and pushing the story forward. Restricting the discussion of the hybridity of comics just to literature and visual arts will not reveal its greater hybrid potential. Possible hybrid relationships among diverse media are illustrated by a diagram whose main purpose is to position comics within a medial context which can inspire and influence it. 5 Shaun Tan, The Arrival (New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, 2006). 6 Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Watchmen (New York: DC Comics, 2008). 7 Hannah Miodrag, Comics and Language: Reimagining Critical Discourse on the Form (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2013) 84. 8 - , International Journal of Comic Art, 7.2 (2005): 237 (emphasis added). 9 The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 18.4 (1984): 6. -Sosnowska 138 Fig.1. Rethinking the relationship between art forms with comics as their synthesis The diagram places comics in the central position in order to demonstrate its relationships with all other media. Obviously, it can be redesigned with another medium in the centre. The diagram shows how comics selects elements from other media in order to improve the storytelling potential. Simultaneously it represents comics as providing inspiration for other media. For example, comics has adopted elements of film language, such as the camera angle and types of shots influencing the composition of panels. On the other hand, film is influenced by the comics techniques and conventions, e.g., telling the story through images or splitting the screen to present multiple actions at the same time.10 The proximity of comics with film and literature is caused by the popularity of adaptations. Literature and its narrative theories have impact on the storytelling 10 Film adaptations of comics which are popular (e.g., have a superhero) or universally praised by critics are quite commonplace. They can be very broadly divided into four categories: (1) adaptations of mainstream superhero comics (produced by Marvel or DC) which become blockbusters and create networks of characters and films called 300, Sin City or Watchmen; (3) adaptations of comics and graphic narratives in animated films, such as Persepolis or Alois Nebel; (4) comics retelling the stories in popular films and TV series, such as Game of Thrones, Twilight, or (interestingly, all those adaptations have a literary predecessor). Comics as Creative Inspiration 139 construction of characters and plot. The most surprising affinity exists between comics, theatre and performative arts, despite the general perception of theatre as a form of highbrow and comics of lowbrow culture. However, nowadays, the division into the high and low is losing its significance and the boundaries between cultural forms have become blurred. The increasing popularity of comics and more common links with theatre require a closer scrutiny of their relationship. Adaptations of Comics for the Stage: Theory and Historical Overview The most straightforward relationship between comics and theatre is focused around the notions of adaptation or appropriation. One of the most influential theoreticians of the field, Linda Hutcheon, states that in the postmodern era numerous media can become part of the adaptive process and the process of adaptation does not have to be unidirectional, because any source text can be transposed into another medium.11 Adaptations are characterized by shifts between media and genres which can be traced by intertextual exploration.12 The study of these shifts as intertextual processes tests the possibilities and limits of adaptive media. In view of these features, adaptations can be included in the ranslations.13 Thomas Leitch shows that adaptations are viewed differently depending on the source medium or genre and their position in value hierarchies: already an honorific, however, any discussion of literature on screen, as opposed to journalism or comic books or video games on screen, will begin willy-nilly with a bias in favour of literature as both a privileged field (literary texts are what movies normally adapt) and an aesthetically sanctified field (literary texts have already been approved by a jury whose verdict on their film adaptations is still out).14 The process of adaptation consists of three modes: showing, telling and interacting,15 to follow Hutcheon. A source text can be presented in a new medium (e.g., a transposition from novel to film) or genre (tragedy to a musical): such a 11 Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Adaptation (London and New York: Routledge, 2012) xiii. 12 Julie Sanders, Adaptation and Appropriation (London and New York: Routledge, 2006) 1. 13 Selected Writings II, Word and Language (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1971) 261. 14 Adaptation, 1.1 (2008): 63. 15 Hutcheon 22-27. -Sosnowska 140 change may enrich the understanding of the source text which is viewed as fluid, ology. He explains that fluid text is [which] is the sum of its versions; creativity extends beyond the solitary writer, and writing is a cultural event transcending media 16 Hutcheon has laid theoretical foundations for the description and interpretation of the stage adaptation of comics. In her theory the reception of the new text depends on the awareness of the source text(s): without it, the meaning of the adaptation may be elusive. Obviously, the audience does not need to be acquainted with the source in order to enjoy the adaptation. The difference between adaptation and appropriation is based on a conscious link of the former with the source text, established by the adaptor and noticed by the audience. Theatrical adaptations of comics are on the increase and they are not limited only to productions intended for young audiences. Numerous examples can be provided which vary in terms of style, genre, and theme best known examples of such performances in the late twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries.17 One of these was a Broadway musical by Charles Strouse titled (1966) and based on characters from Superman comics by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Another musical, created by Lisa Cron and Jenine Tesori, was based on a well-known graphic narrative Fun Home written by Alison Bechdel. It premiered in 2015 at Circle in the Square Theatre. Adaptations of comics is not solely a domain of American theatres. Belgians staged their most famous comics, Tintin, written by Herg . Tintin. Le temple du Soleil, premiered in 2001 at the Stadsschouwburg in Antwerp. It was directed by with lyrics and scenario by Seth Gaaikema and Frank van Laecke. Polish theatres have also staged productions based on comics; however, they still focus on works for children, such as w to Become an Artist)18 adapted by Teatr -Badura, or 16 John Bryant, Adaptation Studies: New Challenges, New Directions, ed. Gjelsvik and Erik Frisvold Hanssen (London and New York: Bloomsbury, 2013) 47. 17 Speech Balloons: Comics on the Polish Theatrical Stage), , 2015, https://kzet.pl/2015/07/dramatyczne-dymki-czyli-komiks-na-scenach-polskich/ (accessed on 25 May 2019). 18 was written by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski (better known as Papcio Chmiel) and published in 1957-2009. Comics as Creative Inspiration 141 19 (written by Karol KRL Kalinowski) which was adapted twice: first, in 2013 by and in 2017 by Teatr , directed by J 1988. A more recent example is the Czech hlavolamu (The Mystery of the Conundrum, 2017) in Divadlo Minor in Prague, Apart from being adapted for the stage, comics can also have other kinds of impact on theatre productions. In 1991, in Brussels staged the ballet The Hard Nut. The scenography and stage design of this adaptation of The Nutcracker were influenced by the works of a comic artist, Charles Burns. Scenography was inspired It imitated his works that are deeply instilled with archetypal concepts of guilt, childhood, adolescent sexuality, and poignant, nostalgic portrayals of post-war America.20 The ballet was set in 1950s United States and in order to create its atmosphere, the scenographers worked with comic them in a disturbing yet funny ways. It appears that comics can not only inspire theatrical adaptations, but also function as a visual inspiration for scenographers. The comics theatre relationship thus extends beyond a mere adaptation process, but such an influence requires further analysis and explanation. Moreover, the impact is not unilateral: comics can influence theatre as well as theatre comics. Comics Theatre Apart from adaptations, comics can influence and inspire theatre through characteristic features that facilitate the creation and reception of a theatrical performance. Both comics and theatre have to deal with the limitations of space: in case of theatre, a three-dimensional theatrical space which requires careful planning and adopting the space to various places in the performance. In comics, artists have to tackle the limited space of the page and the panel, working on their composition and layout. Furthermore, comic authors always design a sequence of panels, and, despite changing perspective, they are never able to depict the full extent of the plot setting. In addition, both theatrical and comics spaces use synecdoche in order to represent chosen places, since it is naturally impossible to fully encapsulate the spaces in which the plots are taking place. The signs in 19 ma is a Baltic goddess of earth and childbirth, a patron of witches and mysticism. r does not appear in the comics. 20 -Sosnowska 142 theatre as well as in comics have to be clear enough for the audience. In the case of theatre, the situation complicates as the space (stage) remains the same. In the case of comics, the artist/writer also has to struggle with composing panels, considering what to include or what part or fragment, even symbolic, would function best to illustrate the events of the plot. In her book What is Scenography?, 21 She described her own preparations for staging her play The New Jerusalem where she used pictures (from the same, unchanged point of view) in order to trace the movement (blocking) of actors on stage.22 The pictures include speech balloons, in order to correlate and synchronize the movement with speech. These juxtaposed images resemble very simple comi scenographers and stage directors may adopt comics techniques when preparing for new performances: the comics panel may be helpful at an early planning stage as far as scenography or movement of actors are concerned. Conscious readers and audience members constantly question themselves whether the line of interpretation they have adopted is comprehensible. In other words, the audience may not always fully understand what they are seeing and/or reading. In the case of comics, the fact that only fragments of reality depicted in panels can be shown highlights the importance of the page layout, where panels to fill the gutter, to understand the link between the two, or more, pictures together with the events and actions that are depicted. McCloud has named this offering a jagged staccato rhythm of unconnected moments. But closure allows us 23 The idea of closure, relying on the audience to actively search for and create meaning, can also be applied to a theatrical performance in which the audience faces changes on the stage, such as the changes of scenes, or, in the case of role doubling, recognizing the convention and identifying the characters played by the same actor. The idea of closure, so characteristic for comics, belongs to the domain of reader-response and reception theory which, according to Fortier, is associated with most theoretical approaches and their representatives: semiotics (Peirce, 21 Pamela Howard, What Is Scenography? (London and New York: Routledge, 2019) 37-38, 244-45. 22 Howard 314-35. 23 Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (New York: Harper Perennial, 1993) 67. Comics as Creative Inspiration 149 fictitious reality, as well as an unpredictable ending and outcome.40 Apart from these qualities, Kill Shakespeare: The Board Game also realises the adaptive potential by embodying fictive characters and acts in the manner intended by the authors of the story. While this element is not crucial for the enjoyment of the game, it is a welcome addi rience. Kill Shakespeare is a significant example of a complex adaptive path plays, through comics and dramatic reading, to a board game. It is clear that the links between these entities are not direct; however, the authors of Kill Shakespeare may have been influenced by theatrical productions and films, as well as by other works unrelated to Shakespeare. Kill Shakespeare establishes a link to theatre in a slightly different way than F the same time it stimulates a further development of approaches to comics leading to performative and game studies. Conclusion Continuing the discussion initiated during the panel at the Prague Quadrennial Talks in 2019, the article has traced the relationship between comics and theatre. Although the initial idea to compare the two media may have seemed unrealistic, a closer inspection of their relationships has revealed their surprising complexity, reaching far beyond mere staging or adaptation. Establishing the links between the two media has also provided a basis for further investigations and explorations. The discussion first concentrated on the influence of comics on theatre, focusing on adaptation. It documented numerous examples of theatrical performances inspired by comics, either as source texts or as an aesthetic inspiration. The latter part of the article has examined the influence of theatre on comics including the theatrical elements found in comics. A particular attention was paid to the comics Hamlet references to theatre and theatrical performance. The research outlined in the article is by no means exhaustive as it has chiefly concentrated on textual examples. It would have to be supplemented and expanded with analyses of theatrical performances showing the traces of comics influence, as well as of the theatrical elements in comics that have not been adapted for the stage. The link between comics and theatre has revealed even greater possibilities of interdisciplinary and inter-arts creativity, which spreads across various media, such as the Kill Shakespeare project. All instances of the 40 Roger Caillois, Men, Play, and Games, trans. Meyer Barash (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2001) 9-10. -Sosnowska 150 discussed relationships can be subsumed under the hea zes the interrelationships between the two media. Although comics explorations in theatre, as well as theatrical ones in comics, still need to be developed and refined, the term comics scenography has proved itself a useful general reference to those influences and relationships.