Dreaming as Performance
Dreaming as Performance

An Attempt to Explain the Phenomenon of the Inner Mental Theatre Stage

Summary/Abstract: This article addresses the phenomenon of sleeping performance artists. Several performance artists have investigated or included sleep in their performance art. These artists radically transform Eric Bentley’s conventional theatre model from ‘A impersonates B, while C looks on’ into “A impersonates A, while A looks on.’ The sleeping performer builds a mental inner theatre stage inside their body, becoming the ‘spectActor,’ who simultaneously embodies both the performer and the spectator. The spectActor’s consciousness is generated by memories stored in his or her body. He or she is in the state of aesthetic inner-bodymind.

• Details
• Contents