Deleuzian Modulations: from the Image Figure to the Theatrical Image

Abstract

Contemporary theatrical practices are characterized by a strong coefficient of hybridization. This implies a constant rethinking of the categories that define theatricality. Within the framework of this problem, and considering the work of Gilles Deleuze, we want to think about the intersection between image and theater, understanding that this intersection allows a modulation between both. The fundamental aspect of this modulation is its disassociation from the notion of mimetic representation and its shift towards presence. From the notion of figure (analyzed by Deleuze in his work on Francis Bacon), we see that the image is modulated in a mismatch of sensation, the body and its rhythm. This indicates a theatrical operation: the dislocation of the mimetic representation and the staging of other types of rhythm and other types of corporality. Thus, we can establish that the logic of sensation in the figure shares the same scheme of variation as in the theater. Therefore, we establish the concept of theatrical image as an operator where the notions of presence, image, body and disfigurement resonate.