The Affective Public Sphere: Romeo Castellucci’s On the Concept of the Face Regarding the Son of God

Authors : Christopher BALME

Pages : 97-112

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Publication Date : 2016-05-24

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In this paper I want to look at the theatrical public sphere as a realm of extreme affective arousal. The theatre today, at least in its Western manifestations, is largely an autonomous sphere of aesthetic experience, which only on special occasions finds topics of interest to the larger public sphere. The relationship between the public sphere and the theatre is, in my understanding of the term, a relationship between inside and outside, between the internal dynamics of exchange between stage and auditorium, performer and spectator, and the more difficult interconnections between the generally closed realm of performance and the wider dynamics of political and social debate. A theatrical performance is something that normally takes place between spectators and performers who enter into an artistic contract, which is therefore outside and beyond state control and moral censure. I shall look at a recent example where this functioning contract was exploded. The production On the concept of the face, regarding the Son of God, created by Italian director Romeo Castellucci and his theatre Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio has led to violent protests in France and Italy coordinated by Catholic groups who have been joined on occasions by right-wing and Islamist groups as well. I shall examine the production and the public protests surrounding it in an effort to understand how the theatrical public sphere functions in a mediatized society.
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