ABSTRACT

Bhabha’s conceptualisation of third spaces, the idea that physical frames can become affective and psychological environments that can embrace complexity, has contributed to understanding the intricacy of creative relationships. By looking closely at the pedagogical practice of Odin Teatret, it has been possible to enter the performance room with novel perspectives that bridge artistic practices with research and pedagogy. The laboratory dimension of post-dramatic ensembles, such as Odin Teatret, offers an original opportunity to redefine artistic practices as complex epistemological undertakings and to rethink pedagogical practices in embodied, affective, sensory ways. These perspectives stretch the very concept of the laboratory dimension: no longer a physical space (if it ever was), nor a single function (the space for making art or the space for selling/performing art), but an affective and psychological space characterised by multiple functions and creative-relational exchanges. This chapter discusses the transformation of the multiple practices occurring within theatre laboratory and proposes new directions of study.