Site specificity in The Present of the Past: A critical reflection

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak made theatre and performance practitioners think to find alternate ways of performing for an audience. This article engages with the idea of site specificity in relationship with the living experiences of the residents’ pre- and post-COVID outbreak. It also illuminates the alternatives which were designed to bring the audience in a physical space following lockdown guidelines. The article investigates the different aspects of site-specific theatre, and seeks to understand what role site, space and place play in thinking about dramaturgy for a performance. Using a practice-based research example, The Present of the Past (TPOP), which was devised during the lockdown in the United Kingdom, I examine the potential of unconventional theatre lights (ceiling bulbs, table lamps), sound and pre-existing objects to find scenographic solutions in devising a site-specific performance.