Theatre system

The term Theatre system (or Theatrical system), refers to the dynamic network of activities and interactions that go into the making of theatre industry in a country, shaping the nature of each of the specific performances or theatre events taking place.

Origins of systemic thinking

Based on early sociological thinking about open systems (or systems theory)[1], the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1901–1972)[2] developed a concept he called general systems theory[3]. These ideas were adopted by others in the 20th century, including people working in mathematics, psychology, biology, game theory and social network analysis, including Talcott Parsons and Niklas Luhmann, who used the approach in order to describe society.

It was first applied to literature and the arts by , **

Polysystem theory

A useful variation of this thinking is Itamar Even-Zohar's concept of polysystem theory[], which evolved from his attempts at modelling and describing the complexity and interdependency of socio-cultural systems. In his view such systems are heterogeneous, versatile and dynamic networks.

The Even-Zohar concept was adopted and first applied to South African theatre by Temple Hauptfleisch in the 1990s, in a series of models and articles in which he sought to articulate an encompassing view of complex dynamics active in the multi-cultural South African setting. This particular approach was most comprehensively articulated in his 1997 monograph Theatre and Society in South Africa: Reflections in a Fractured Mirror.

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