La singularité en relation : la performance dans le théâtre et la société contemporains

Abstract

Relational Singularity: Performance in Contemporary Theater and Society

This article addresses the question of consistent presence of “postdramatic” performative elements in contemporary theater staging. It considers artistic production and everyday behavior as two related processes supported by individual creative capacity inherent to every human being. Both an individual self in its day-to-day exchanges, and a theater character within a play are maintained by this capacity to process the unknown and function in the presence of the unpredictable. In the “postmodern” interrelated and multifaceted world this ability becomes crucial for an individual as well as for the society. It is made possible by a relational network created by continuous performative actions and relies on a cultural space relatively free of codified behavior that can be defined as liminal. Contemporary theater in its staging practices and in its active involvement of the spectator can arguably function as this liminal space indispensable for culture as a whole.