Regarder, se laisser emporter : la catastrophe visible et tangible dans le théâtre de Romeo Castellucci
Watch, let yourself be carried away: the visible and tangible catastrophe in the theater of Romeo Castellucci

Summary/Abstract: If Walter Benjamin stated that “the concept of progress must be grounded in the idea of catastrophe. That things are status quo is the catastrophe,” theatre director Romeo Castellucci invites spectators to understand the theatrical act both as a means to watch the catastrophe and a means to possibly activate a change within the “status quo”. In what concerns the treatment of the historical references in connection with the concept of “catastrophe”, these are often adapted and filtered through a dramaturgic transformation process, rendering the precise event in question hard to read in a literal manner. As for the aesthetic representation of the catastrophe, Castellucci plays with the codes of violence in a way that distances the spectators from the perception of what could qualified as shock value. It is from the entanglement of light and sound design with scenic objects and with a certain corporeal quality of presence that a sensual effect evoking the catastrophe is generated. Whether the spectators are exposed to events that they can more easily identify as wars, natural disasters or to an ambiguous but imminent threat that cannot be fully designated, the catastrophe in the theatre of Castellucci acts as a vehicle for both awareness and transportation. We will illustrate the hypostases of catastrophe in the stage work of Romeo Castellucci mostly in reference to the Tragedia Endogonidia cycle, Inferno, and his more recent performance Bros.

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