Theatre studies and interdisciplinarity

Two broad areas within Theatre Studies have been characterized as interdisc iplinary. The first concerns approaches inspired by the human and social sc iences, and, mor recently, cultural studies. The second concerns artistic p ractices that may be described as interartistic, intermedial (since they in volve different media and, thus, different technological developments), and intercultural. It is argued that the epistemological paradigm for theatre studies has changed over the last thirty years, and can be broken down roug hly according to decades, each defined by its particular contribution to th e interdisciplinary thrust of theatre studies. Most current theoretical deb ates no longer deal with epistemology or methodology, but almost exclusivel y with the extension of the field of performance. It is suggested that the theoretical and practical worlds must be connected more closely, 'actor' an d 'text' here serving as examples.