Dramaturgies of the spectator (public space, politics)

Abstract

A possible focus for this workshop could be the interdependence between the political and (in a broader sense) the critical function of theatre and the way how the position of the spectator is defined or questioned (as voyeur, witness etc.) What are the advantages and problems of the traditional idea of the spectator and which possibilities are there to create and provoke new modes of spectatorship? Is the “inter-active” mode the only way of intensifying the “inter-subjective” dimension of theatre? What are the functions of theatre in present social/political contexts? Can theatre work in fact create spaces of a transient public and how can it relate to the virtual, informational, and social spaces in which political life is being practiced? How can theoretical concepts of `the political' (as opposed to politics of defined purposes and institutional responsibilities) be applied to theatre and performance? How does the question of the spectator concern the institutions in which theatre is produced