ABSTRACT
Given our insistence that all theatre is physical, it may be fairly asked: ‘What is the point
of this chapter’? Perhaps, we can answer as follows. It is the physical and visual signs
of stance, gesture, angle, movement, juxtaposition and scenography that work with the
word within the overall mise-en-scène. Yet words dominate our theatres (and film/television)
for the great majority of practitioners and audience, even when these are described or
categorised as ‘physical theatre’. Perhaps this dominance helps explain the still uneasy
relationship between words, body and scenography in contemporary theatres, with the
latter two still in ‘Cinderella’ role, despite Pete Brooks’ optimism.
