Over the past three decades, theater studies has undergone a radical worldwide development and renewal. This happened through two different yet complementary paths: the first (North American in origin) led to the birth of the discipline of performance studies; the second (European continental) is what Marco de Marinis calls "new theatrology." New theatrology arises from the dialogue between theatre history and the humanities and social sciences, yet de Marinis also characterizes it by a strong experimental imprint resulting from a close and participatory relationship with theatrical practice and its players.

The first part of Understanding Theatre retraces the main steps that brought theater studies to make the transition from performance to the audience to their receptive act, giving proper attention to the documentary element. In the second part, de Marinis tests the new perspective of investigation on some fundamental innovative theatrical experiences of the twentieth century. In this way, the volume collects de Marinis's essays--written for magazines, conference programs, and edited collections--from a span of almost thirty years and documents key post-semiological developments in how we understand theater today.