Place in the Performance Experience

Theatre and performance are art forms that play intensively with space and place. Central to each is the live presence of performers and spectators, which means that space becomes a vital factor in the performance experience. because it is the performance space that makes this co-presence possible. The nature of the theatre building and its location within the civic space of the community are significant elements in the performance experience for spectators, and theatre historians and semioticians have produced an impressive body of scholarly work exploring the ways in which theatre buildings can be seen to manifest prevailing philosophies of representation 'and to reflect the functions fulfilled by theatrical performance in the society in question. In the second half of the twentieth century, theatre practitioners all over the western world engaged in an enormous amount of exploration and experimentation with the material realities of the performance space.