The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Body Perception of the Actor in Theatre Performance
The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Body Perception of the Actor in Theatre Performance

Summary/Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed our perception of our own bodies and, implicitly, of the bodies of those around us. One’s body becomes a potential source of disease and needs to be protected, permanently isolated from the others and hidden behind different kinds of personal protection equipment. The aim of this study is to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our interactions with others and to outline the ways in which theatre can fight changes in body perception and social interaction. Another person’s body is perceived as a source of danger which needs to be pushed as far away as possible and must be put under intense scrutiny. In this context, theatre becomes an instrument that contributes to the healing of these ruptures, forcing spectators to have a kind of kinestezic empathy with the actor. Moreover, unlike other public spaces, theatre forces us to engage with those around us and with those on stage. Theatre forces us to watch and connect with the bodies on stage that act independently from our fears, outside of our own corporality. Through this and some other means, theatre can determine its spectators to reconsider and reconstruct their relationships with their own bodies and with the bodies of those around.

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