when live theatre incorporates
immediate performance
and the re-play of video material
(material created earlier)
audiences are forced to recognize
that the immediate event
the live performance
is in more than one instance
a reenactment
a recovery
a recuperation
a repetition of work
created in the past
theatrical performance is invariably
the reproduction of work created
and codified at earlier moments
in my role as director
I rely upon the psychic and kinesthetic memory
of actors to record behavior generated in rehearsal
in rehearsal
persistent repetition
writes a sequence of movement
vocal patterns
in an actor’s memory
that plays back in the live performance
spectators sometimes forget that the illusion of immediacy
–behavior taking place spontaneously—
is an illusion
a première performance
references the past of rehearsal
attempts to recover a past
–the manifold sequence of moments–
where the material performance
was generated and polished
the following performances
attempt to recover
or regenerate
the details of the previous performances
in a serial repetition
changes
revisions occur
often in an attempt to realize
an idealized and unattainable idea of perfection
but the actors’ work
remains one of recuperation
recovery
repetition
the reenactment of the work of the past
in the labor of the present
a production of a performance
that is
a re-production of earlier work
an actor’s body
constitutes the primary technological instrument of theatre
is it useful
to conceptualize acting as a technology?
an action that functions
to reproduce voice and gesture recorded earlier
an actor’s body records the substance of the performance
in both mental and kinesthetic memory
in performance
actors play back the recorded data
that rehearsal and previous performances
inscribed in their minds and bodies
the French term for rehearsal is repetition
performance depends upon
the function of systems of memory
performance is the material embodiment of memory
I can make the distinction
between live performance
as a reenactment of the past
and the medium of either film or video
as a record of the past
this difference
takes into consideration the distinction
between the self-generated use of memory by an actor
to re-embody the work of rehearsal
and the recording of images on some medium
the point I am emphasizing
is that the actor’s body
is imprinted with material
by extensive repetition
to respond in performance
as closely as possible to some predetermined
previously generated sequences of behavior
such sequence of behaviors
may be contained within the field
of the actor’s psychic excitement
stimulated by an awareness of the situation
and the perception and response
of the audience witnessing the performance
audiences may recognize
that the actor’s work is energized by their presence
but
at the same time
they realize that the game of spontaneity
or immediacy
is part of the aesthetic lie
–that the performance is a repetition
not simply a creation of the moment
whereas audiences celebrate
the immediacy and spontaneity of live performance
they also return to performances
music
drama
dance
to experience the satisfaction of repetition
the reoccurrence of formal patterns that have
in some way
been inscribed into their memory
each production of a text
makes reference to the prior existence of the text
the prior incarnation of the text
in the labor of rehearsal
that produces the repetition
that is the performance
each performance
makes reference to each preceding performance
the pleasure of these aesthetic experiences
derives from the anticipation
the satisfaction
of experiencing the fulfillment of a formal structure
that has a prior existence
Freud’s theories of repetition
may be useful here
but not wholly necessary to understand this enjoyment
repetition
becomes a significant component of aesthetic experience
in repetitions within the performance
in repetitions of the performance
this significance reinforces that performance is
in concrete ways
an embodiment of the past
as much as an event in the present
one motive of attending performance
is to experience a past moment in the present
to experience one unit in a series of repetitions
while some may
in an attempt to validate live performance
in relationship to film and video
emphasize the uniqueness of each performance
the basic work of the actor is to repeat
to re-embody the work of the past
in the present work of this performance