Protected: An Introduction to Theatre, Performance and the Cognitive Sciences

The relationship between theatre, performance and the cognitive sciences constitutes a new area of research. As such it is often considered as problematic. In fact the debate is threaded with a secular even if artificial belief that hard science and the humanities cannot work together. Venturing in the world of neurosciences is therefore a daring step for any humanities researcher. It is especially true in John Lutterbie’s case as he offers to provide a better understanding of the spectator and more specifically of her/his emotional responses to performance by arguing that they can be analysed rationally but -and here lies the paradox -without displaying any hard data about his subject. However, he warns the reader about this inconsistency and justifies his choice by reasserting the theoretical nature of his essay.