Scenographic materialism, affordance and extended cognition in Kris Verdonck’s ACTOR #1

This article addresses the theme of the ‘scenographic turn’ from the perspective of a spectator’s experience of scenography. By focusing on the materiality of scenography, I intend to draw particular attention to the role of the spectator’s body in the perception and reception of performance. The expansion of scenographic practice to incorporate forms where objects and materials are central to the audience experience requires us to rethink the ways we account for scenography. Recent interest in the use of concepts from cognitive science as a means of analysing theatre might provide some help with this. In this article I consider concepts of affordance and extended cognition to see how they might be useful in thinking through an experience of attending Kris Verdonck’s ACTOR #1.