An uncanny site/side: on exposure, dark space, and structures of fear in the context of performance

This article approaches the site as a corporeal component of theatrical praxis. It seeks to acknowledge that a subtle dimension of space, the 'bodily' and unmediated, can trigger an experiential mode, infused with feelings, and bearing on the ontological. From this perspective, the site is conceived as an artefact not only because it constructs the presentation of the theatrical work, and assists the unfolding of a multi-dimensional performative event, but also because, as space that is formalized, qualified and effective, it performs as a dynamic constituent of experience. This article proposes to substantiate such capacities of the site by way of a dramatization of the effects of space, through fear. This offers the opportunity to grasp, within the spatial economy of theatre, certain less-explored operations of space as discrete phenomena that recur, and configure a relatively autonomous layer of experience for all participants involved. These phenomena render audiences productive, invigorated through fear, and engaged in the performance. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.