Afterword: Please Mind the Gap between Theatre and Philosophy

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The historical gulf and frequent antipathy between the practitioners of theatre and philosophy has been well documented. This article seeks to establish a framework for combining the two subjects that, rather than denying the gap between them, looks to that gap as a productive space. The first part of the article sketches a brief history of the engagement of the two disciplines, from Plato to contemporary academics, while noting that these successful engagements involve, not the erasure of the philosophical–theatrical boundary, but instead the deployment of one as a new lens through which to view the other. The article goes on to illustrate examples of the successful use of theatre in the work of several philosophers, then turns to thespians whose work productively engages philosophy. Each of these is considered, in turn, as an example of the practice of “minding the gap,” and the article calls for a continued interaction between theatre and philosophy that acknowledges their separation rather than trying to erase it.

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