PLAYING CULTURE: THE RETURN OF/TO THE HOMO LUDENS1

The idea of playing culture is profoundly connected to the Theatrical Event, the core concept of the IFTR Theatrical Event Working Group. In this article I first reconsider the contribution of the Theatrical Event concept to theatre and performance studies. I discuss the similarities and the differences between the theatrical event, which was crystallized during the 1960s and 1970s by the artists of the new theatre and later formulated by Richard Schechner as part of Performance Studies, and the Theatrical Event that has been conceptualized since 1997 by The Theatrical Event Working Group convened by Willmar Sauter within the framework of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR/FIRT). An intertextual dialogue with Sauter's approach to playing and playing culture follows, conducted in light of contemporary performing society and within it the performing self. On the basis of this argument I present my idea of the playing self that signals a return of/to homo ludens.