Description

My dissertation interrogates theatre and performance theory through the lens of

recent developments in cognitive science. I explore the power of poetry in

performance to illuminate the connection and seams between body and language,

actor and character, fact and fiction. I reexamine some of the work of new critics

and new historicists given the latest developments within neuroscience and suggest

a path of integration between the sciences and literary and theatre theory. Rather

than simply referencing scientific research as supplemental evidentiary material to

a re-reading of Hamlet, I investigate how cognitive science can unveil

Shakespeare's textual theatrics and spot light blind spots in theatre and performance

theory.