Going (Neo)Baroque the Foreman Way: A Case Study of Panic! (How To Be Happy!)
Going (Neo)Baroque the Foreman Way: A Case Study of Panic! (How To Be Happy!)

Summary/Abstract: Panic! (How to Be Happy!), Foreman’s 2003 theatrical “piece,” written, directed and designed by the playwright himself, tests the conventional limits imposed by both the characters’ bodies and the very structure of the theatrical stage. The present article proposes to re-appraise this composition as a new form of a theatrical work, that is, not a purely avant-garde or neo-surreal play, but a (Neo)Baroque dramatic phenomenon only seemingly restricted to and framed by the principles of spatial geometry. By celebrating the idea of fragmentation through the construction of the play and its short dialogues, and by accentuating and cherishing the creative potential of linguistic and set-design “rubbish,” Foreman encompasses in his work both the (Neo)Baroque and surreal art, and transforms them into an altogether new category. I shall call that new type of a dramatic creation a (Neo)Baroque play.

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