Out of face: a very theatrical turbulence

This paper explores two distinct but interrelated performative moments. Drawing Goffman’s model of ‘faces’ and Bourdieu’s habitus it presents an exchange of two parts: Part I considers corpsing and stage fright to propose that these phenomena constitute a theatrical traumatic split. In corpsing the actor becomes ‘out of face’ and this not only amounts to a traumatic event but is also a site of physical exchange between performers on stage and between audience and performers. This first thesis exposes the inherent and specific trauma of the theatre (especially in playing a character) and considers the possibility that this might not only unravel the performance event but also impact, repeatedly and violently on the performers themselves in an uncanny echoing of trauma-symptoms. Part II uses photos from Abu Ghraib explored in relation to Goffman and Bourdieu to consider how theatricality/performativity can be employed as a mechanism by which ‘traumas’ might be inflicted. In parallel, this second part looks at how theatrical apparatus might help us to recognise the performativity of trauma in everyday life. The paper explores the impact of these particular aspects of theatrical exchange and further offers each an exchange between the two parts in order to illustrate their proximity and at the same time their opposite facing nature