1 Introduction ...9 // 2 Why Mainstream ...15 // 3 The Old Messenger ...19 // 4 The Poetic Tradition ...29 // 5 The Prague School Theory of Theatre and Drama ...37 // 6 Morphology and the Theory of Actants ...45 // 7 Brecht’s Heritage ...51 // 8 Reportage ...59 // 9 Introducing New Messengers ...65 // 10 New Messengers on the Stage ...71 // 11 Pushing the Action Forward ...73 // 12 Interpreting for Others ...85 // 13 Informing (about) the Actual World ...111 // 14 The New Messenger’s Applications: a Conclusion ...125 // 15 Epilogue ...129 // Works Cited ...131 // Index ...137