Introspective Theatre: The Theologies of Darkness of an Intangible Firefly

Battista, Silvia (2023) Introspective Theatre: The Theologies of Darkness of an Intangible Firefly. In: Interspecies Performances. Performance Research Books, Amsterdam. (Accepted for Publication)

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Abstract

This chapter stems from an autoethnographic account of a series of active-imagination-shamanic encounters with a disembodied being: a firefly. These encounters happened regularly for a series of months. After each encounter the author recorded the contents of these events, a documentation that eventually developed into the performance The Stories of the Firefly.

The writing consists in an analysis of these encounters as performance-research-occurrences during which the writer, as much as the reader, is asked to ‘suspend disbelief’. Playing with im-possibilities is the necessary quality for adventures into creative processes grounded in domains of consciousness that afford their inhabitants epistemological value, and creative agency. Indeed, a shift occurs in this zone, where the firefly rather than embodying the objectified specimen of studies, reveals herself as fully embedded with personhood, agency, and the ability to play the role of moderator, mentor, and guide. In such dynamic, the so called ‘I-human-agent-artist’ occupies the position of the guided into mythopoetic events that might bring unexpected awareness on issues relevant to contemporary life such as race, gender, ecological and social justice, and personal healing. The objective is to encourage interest toward what Battista refers to as ‘introspective theatre’, an ‘internal’ space of consciousness, or an immersive laboratory of the mind where unique perspectives can emerge.

There are several theoretical articulations that can sustain the complexity of the project. From the posthuman affordances offered by theorists such as Rosi Braidotti, Jane Bennett and Donna Haraway, the theories of Henry Corbyn and Federico Campagna to research coming from psychedelic and consciousness studies, they all wrestle to push the boundaries, set by positivism, of what we understand as ‘the real’. To conclude, from these premises, the writing develops through drawings, analysis, stories, and instructions to reveal a creative process that rely on ‘sites of emergence’ where other-worldly presences can operate as catalysts for cultural production.

Item Type:	Book Section
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Creative Arts & Humanities > School of Creative and Performing Arts
Depositing User:	Silvia Battista
Date Deposited:	02 May 2023 15:33
Last Modified:	08 Jun 2023 11:13
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3910

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