This indispensable student guide to the study of drama is the first to explain in detail the relationship between the drama text & the theory & practice of theatre in performance. The study of semiotics is an increasingly important area of critical practice & a vital component in any up-to-date drama course yet it poses a number of tricky & tantalising questions for the student approaching it for the first time. What is the relationship between theory & practice? How can an understanding of the text as a system of signs be related to the semiotics of stage performance? Can the performance of drama also be read as a sign-system? Beginning at the beginning with accessible explanations of the meanings & methods of semiotics Theatre as Sign-System addresses key drama texts from Sophocles to Caryl Churchill & offers new & detailed information about performance theory which can be related to textual practice.