ABSTRACT
I want to argue for an ethical position in the labour we do as spectators and researchers of theatre and performance, as well as in our capacities as artists in these fields. My aim is to propose a (very) preliminary framework for examining our positions as witnesses, not merely as onlookers and observers but as active and engaged witnesses. I want to argue that by consciously taking on a witnessing position when doing or watching performances as well as when participating in or watching the world in which we live, we can at least begin to establish such a moral stance. Performances as well as other artistic expressions, and today also the electronic media in conjunction with other social and cultural institutions, show and teach us what it means to become a witness. And by witnessing the witnesses we learn how to become witnesses ourselves. Drawing attention to our own role as witnesses within the larger held, where much of the knowledge we have about the world is mediated by other witnesses, is a form of empowerment with evident ethical consequences.
