Precarious Spectatorship Theatre and Image in an Age of Emergencies

Precarious spectatorship is about the relationship between emergencies and the spectator. In the early twenty-first century, 'emergencies' are commonplace in the newsgathering and political institutions of western industrial democracies. From terrorism to global warming, the refugee crisis to general elections, the spectator is bombarded with narratives that seek to suspend the criteria of everyday life in order to address perpetual 'exceptional' threats. This book argues that repeated exposure to these narratives through the apparatuses of contemporary technology creates a 'precarious spectatorship', where the spectator's ability to rationalise themselves, or their relationship with the object of her spectatorship, is compromised. This volume focuses primarily on the framing and distribution of images, because they have become a pre-eminent tool in the performance of emergencies: they are cheap and easy to produce; they can be quickly and limitlessly distributed; they are instantly affective; and they can be easily overwritten. In response to this, the book proposes theatrical performance as a space in which the relationship between the spectator and emergencies may be critically examined, and analyses a range of contemporary theatrical pieces which challenge the spectator under the aegis of emergencies. Straddling multiple disciplines, this book will appeal to those with interests in performance studies, visual and media culture, critical theory and political science.