Actor Performance Techniques in Monodrama Shows in Arab Theater A Study of the Play, The Fourth Estate as a Model

Abstract

This study aims to identify the actor’s performance techniques in Arab monodrama productions, highlighting the aesthetics of performance and its interplay between narration, characterization, and the multiplicity of dramatic levels in this unique theatrical form. The research uses a descriptive-analytical method, selecting the play The Fourth Estate, presented at the Monodrama Festival in Amman (2024), as a case study because it clearly reflects the research problem and allows for an objective examination of performance techniques in line with the study’s aims. The analysis focuses on deconstructing the narrative structure of the monodramatic text and examining the techniques the actor uses to animate the narrative while deepening the character’s intellectual and dramatic dimensions. The findings show that the actor breaks theatrical illusion through direct address to the audience, creating a balance between narration and characterization via performance techniques and granting the spectator an active interpretive role. The results further confirm that monodrama performance combines critical expression with emotional control, intersecting with but not reducible to epic theatre techniques. This enables the actor to transcend the constraints of traditional performance, revealing renewed aesthetic possibilities that merge narrative function with dramatic depth and reinforce the artistic value of monodrama as a powerful tool of theatrical expression despite its solo nature.