Document Type

Article

Publication Date

January 2017

Publication Title

Feminist Theology

Volume

25

Issue Number

2

First Page

170

Last Page

181

DOI

10.1177/0966735016673259

Keywords

Theatre, actor, character, rehearsal, the Sacred, bodies, women, sexual minorities, incarnation, LGBT, spiritual practice

Disciplines

Practical Theology | Theatre and Performance Studies | Women's Studies

Abstract

The theatre actor’s process in a rehearsal hall is reality and metaphor. It can be a rehearsal for justice, where we can live freely. In this laboratory the actor becomes all of us. Like the actor, we inhabit our bodies and our sexualities, sometimes as spiritual practice, or as sacred and creative, even as incarnations. In particular, women’s bodies remember what it is like to be no-body and what it is like to be a some-body. The texts of women’s bodies contain their history of pain, wellness and illness.In creating a character, the actor creates a biography, an inner life, and the actor’s imagination aligns with the character’s situation. This is the creation of a character’s ‘living story’. Similarly, for all of us, this is akin to self knowledge. When women and sexual minorities tell their stories and listen to each others’ self knowledge, they are reading their bodies as texts. And worlds split open.

Comments

This is the Accepted Manuscript of an article that was published by SAGE Publications in the journal Feminist Theology, volume 25, issue 2, 2017. The Version of Record can be found here.
SJSU users: use the following link to login and access the article via SJSU databases.

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