Performed Research: Audience as Investigator

Abstract

In this chapter, I will discuss two performances that I designed as research projects. One is a metaphysical inquiry and the other responds to a Cold War military site. Both serve as examples of engaging the audience in acts of performed historical research. They are not rehearsed performances, and the outcomes are not determined in advance. The works are primarily dialogic in nature and are designed so that the initial audiences engage directly in the investigation, sometimes with me and sometimes independently. Gathering audience responses afterwards is critical to understanding how the works operate and what was learned. It also becomes crucial to the ongoing life of each performance, as secondary audiences engage with documentations of these initial acts and conversations.¹