Experiencing Ourselves Behaving

Abstract

This M.A. thesis is based on the author Eva Rosemarijn Burgerhoudt’s practical research from creating the performance Go Away - See if I’m There. The aim of this paper is to describe the findings regarding experiencing human behaviour in the theatre, through analysing the process and results of this performance. The author mostly uses personal experiences, as well as conversations with performers and attendees of the performance. In addition to this main research she uses behavioural theory from Robert Sapolsky, and theory from Richard Schechner and Hans-Thies Lehmann about the relationship between the performers and the attendees in performances. The author also uses several other experiences as a creator, dramaturg, performer and attendee from other performances as examples in this thesis. Towards the end she makes some conclusions on what mechanisms and elements have to be in place in order to create space and time to experience human behaviour in the theatre, in addition to an exploration of how these findings can be developed in future work.