Between intervention and sharing: On the relationship of performances in public spaces to the milieu

Abstract

The article deals with performances in public space and their ways of interaction with the milieu. Based on interviews with directors and some audience members, it analyses the theatre actors’ perception of the milieu and discursive strategies for describing theatre’s penetration into urban space. The author analyses the performances To eat Rostov by Elina Kulikova, premiered during the Transformation festival in Rostov, Attentifs, ensemble by Ici-même, Paris, D’ici on voit la tour Eiffel by Deuxième groupe d’intervention, Malakoff, and the perception failures that occurred during those shows noted either by the audience or by the directors. Examination of these failures reveals some regularities of theatre in public space. First, the performance in situ disturbs the everyday life of the place and can lead to a conflict between the users of space and theatrical actors, who proceed to appropriate space and contest the codes and practices that exist in it, a conflict that is related to the objectification process. Second, the in situ performance can immerse the audience into space and reveal the problems contained therein through the incorporation of acting scenes, whereas the presence of external monitors, such as the police, in the view of the audience impedes the immersion. Third, a performance in situ can become a platform for communication with citizens and serve to valorise everyday routines, including itineraries in non-staged, out-of-centre locations.