ABSTRACT
This chapter, which looks at contemporary performance, makes the claim that the ‘Baroque’ can be understood as a transhistorical state of being that extends beyond its historical confines and which produces hybrid forms. This idea helps us move beyond literal forms of historical interpretive theatre. It shifts the focus from the works of art themselves to the processes, practices, concepts and performances that surround, shape and derive from, the staged works executed by the contemporary site-specific artists. The chapter explores the performative interventions by contemporary artists belonging to the Maltese group START and two theatre groups, WildWorks and the Rubberbodies Collective. Their work within historic spaces in Malta has generated poetic, dream-like experiences, which at times subvert institutional messages and standard histories.
These artists claim they are exploring the human condition within its social, political and religious contexts. They use historic sites as laboratories for experimentation, and ask challenging questions rather than seek particular answers. They aim to stir emotions and unconscious associations within the audience and by doing so create reflexive experiences, agency and change. At times their work becomes a ritualistic journey, with performers delving into their inner selves in order to contemplate and relive their own memories as well as those inhabiting historic sites and objects.
