In Fringe, Community, And Street Theatre Performances, The Scope For

In fringe, community, and street theatre performances, the scope for applying Schechner's performance theory is virtually limitless. The roots of street theatre are varied and eclectic, having both a primitive, ritualistic dimension, with antecedents in ancient and tribal cultures, as well as avant garde origins of performance art at the start of the 20th century (e.g. surrealism, dada, etc), culminating in the pop art, post-modern dance and 'Happenings' of the 1960s, a movement from which Schechner's early work in the theatre emerged.
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Street theatre performances contain some elements derived from Happenings, which Allan Kaprow outlined in The seven qualities of Happenings. (Kaprow, 1966)
There are essential differences. Street theatre is usually played out for the benefit of an audience, albeit one of a generally random nature, some of whom may become participants, but not in the same way as in Happenings with everyone performing and no audience. One element they do share is the idea of the 'found space', which is crucial to 'environmental theatre'. Kaprow stated, 'it doesn't make any difference how large the space is. It's still a stage'. (Kaprow quoted in Schechner, 1977) Schechner elaborated on this principle with his axiom that 'the theatrical event can take place in a totally transformed space, or found space'. (Schechner, 1977)
Whereas traditional theatre restricts the 'special place' to an area (the stage) marked clearly as the space for performance, new theatre creates a space that is 'organically defined by the action'. As in the Happening, and street theatre, space is transformed by the participants, who discover their own sets and scenery, using their surroundings, the various elements 'found in the environment of the space, including décor, textures and acoustics.
Outdoor stage performances have adopted this principle, with many touring theatre companies using castle ruins, woodland clearings and riversides to stage Shakespeare's Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice. This use of transformed space is perhaps a more conservative application of Schechner's theory, as it retains many of the conventions of traditional theatre. The theatrical stage is simply substituted for its outdoor counterpart. Much of street theatre approaches adopt a radical use of space in the environment.
There are innumerable ways in which performance theory and new theatre are a useful alternative to traditional theatre. The application of other (visual) media has already been noted, as in the example of A-Gender. Schechner proposes others:
'I suggest other tools, other approaches. Mathematical and transactional game analysis, model building, comparisons between theatre and related performance activities all will prove fruitful.