The display of violence on contemporary stages meets a growing perplexity from a public that does not easily accept theatrical practices which he thinks uselessly aggress him and for which he does not find any justification. Opinions are...
moreThe display of violence on contemporary stages meets a growing perplexity from a public that does not easily accept theatrical practices which he thinks uselessly aggress him and for which he does not find any justification. Opinions are divided however and those who believe theatre can have a concrete social impact don't rebel against such violence directed towards them but rather defend its artistic interest, its accuracy or even its absolute necessity. Thus reconsidered, violence holds—according to them—a mobilising force which is perhaps not to be shun. Generating a tension amongst audiences it is susceptible to awake indignation and to arouse reflection. Does violence have the capability or not to raise awareness, to turn spectators into actors? Or is the public on the contrary forced into a king of voyeurism? Is his taste for sensationalism more flattered than criticised? Contemporary artistic creation is crossed by radical trends and it is around some of their best known avatars—Jan Fabre and Rodrigo García amongst others—that we will discuss these questions.
