Towards witnessed thirdness in actor training and performance

Abstract

This article discusses the importance of understanding immersive, interactive and participatory performances as environments of potential witnessed thirdness between actors and spectators. It draws on the dynamic interconnection between my teaching experience as somatic movement educator at East 15 Acting School in London and my practice research on the modification of somatic practices into contemporary actor-training and performance contexts. Situating my practice in the lineage of modern somatically informed and embodied actor-training pedagogies, the article outlines how we can revisit actor‒spectator intercorporeal dynamics based upon principles of witnessing in the practice of Authentic Movement and Jessica Benjamin’s concept of thirdness. The last part of this article considers practical examples in relation to the discussed witnessed thirdness, integrating my classroom experience with material from my recent piece Monotime (Performing Architectures, Ugly Duck, London, 18‒19 June 2016). The discussion ultimately suggests a methodological expansion of intercorporeal actor-training practices through the acknowledged third co-presence between diverse actor-witnesses and spectator-witnesses.

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