Drama and performance

The geography of drama and performance is unusual in that it is often created not only through the language spoken by actors but also through scenic devices, through props and costumes, and through the theatre building itself. In addition, in most instances, the site of the performance in some way informs the fictional location conjured through that performance, and this has the potential to deepen and enrich a production’s geographical meanings. This essay explores some of the various ways through which performance can create geographical space, asking how those experiencing theatre are asked to ‘see’ location, and examining what is at stake—both aesthetically and politically—in the creation of geographical space within different kinds of theatre spaces. Following a wide-ranging discussion of the strategies for location-creation across various theatrical cultures, it focuses on a single case study, William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra (1607), demonstrating how this play thinks through the relationship between the cultures of Egypt and Rome and how it reflects on the process through which geographical meaning is made.