A different kind of stage

The act of writing is normally not considered part of the performative arts. To take St Augustine’s view, being alone with yourself, your inner voice and the outer blank page is as far you can get from the boisterous stage of the theatre.

But isn’t writing, solitary as it may be, a self performative act? In the stories we tell about ourselves, others or some other fiction, aren’t we engaging with the same material as an actor on stage? Aren’t we scripting parts, casting and enacting identities, roles and histories to confront each other across the page?

The act of writing goes beyond the simple transmission of information; it is a dynamic process that actively shapes and influences both the writer and the reader.

Writing is not a passive transfer of thoughts to paper (or screen) but an embodied, cognitive activity. It involves the writer’s entire being, from the mental processes of ideation to the physical act of putting words down.

The reader becomes an active participant in this enactive process, co-creating meaning through the act of reading. The words on the page come to life in the reader’s mind, and the writer’s intentions are realized through the interpretative engagement of the audience.

What is theatre if not pure metaphor? What is timeless drama if not myth? And what is an actor if not the embodied storyteller of the greatest story he or she can tell?