ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the aim is to investigate how audience and artistic expressions are co-producers of the complexity in a performance. Drawing on new materialism and affect theory as articulated by Brian Massumi, and Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guatarri, I investigate in what way affects are materialised in the entanglement of the becomings of a performance. Within performance art, human and non-human elements are given equal attention and can by that be considered as active parts in the artistic event and open for other readings than representation and symbolization. Props, costumes, audience seats as well as audience practices and concepts of children are elements in theatre for young children that are often overlooked. Within new materialism, these elements are actively seen as agentic parts in scenic art for children. Attending a production of a performance for young children, I have researched the affective communication present in such performances. Reading narratives from two scenes through a lens of affect theory, I examine what creates affect in the feed-back-loops. The affects are created in and between humans as well as non-humans, and imbue the becoming of the performance with vitalities and uncertainties.
