Is Every Performance "Site Specific"?
Chloe Veltman recently posted an interesting commentary on the notion of "site specific theatre" with reference to the recent production of Dido and Aeneas by San Francisco's Urban Opera ("Not All Site Specific Theatre is Created Equal"). She proposed that "in order for a theatrical production to be site specific, it needs to be conceived specifically for the space in which it is produced," and therefore "space becomes a performer, with the potential to change the entire relationship between text, visuals, sounds and the human body in fascinating ways." In the context of her article I personally like her narrow definition, but it got me thinking that since any work of performance art exists only in the moment of performance, each performance is in some sense a new work, created freshly in a new "site" and therefore "site specific" for that performance. Of course what Chloe was refering to with her definition ...
