To See or Not to See: Questioning the Essence of Theatre in Javier Daulte's ¿Estás ahí?

Abstract

Although theatre has generally staged presence, the confluence of characters (if indeed a confluence marked principally by conflict), in ¿Estás ahí? by Argentine Javier Daulte takes a more difficult route in order to stage absence, the spatial and psychological dis-encounters on which human relationships, theatre, and even knowledge in general are constructed. This article not only examines how Daulte uses scenic space as a tool to generate meaning and reveal those aspects of theatre that have traditionally remained "invisible," but it also argues that the issues of space and visibility function as comments on theatre and representation in general as well as on human interpersonal relationships and the construction of knowledge(s). (SM)