A Prop’s Story: from everyday life to the stage

An everyday object can be used in performance as a mediator between the reality of the stage and that of the narrative. It can go back and forward between these universes, allowing performers to play with the boundaries between presentational and fictional spaces, as defined by Gay McAuley in Space in Performance – re-positioning the narrative, either mentally or spatially. Performers can achieve this change by manipulating the perception of an object’s function, scale, sound and aesthetics. The performer uses the object’s original characteristics, such as colour, texture, form and design purpose, as potential clues, reframing them to establish new links with the main narrative. This process of transformation makes for a fluid scenography/dramaturgy relationship where performers, scenographer and, of course, spectators share the experiencee an emerging theatrical creation.