Conceptual Blending in Theatrical Performance

Abstract

This project will be an examination of the potentialities of using conceptual blending to describe the cognitive processing that occurs when audience members engage in a theatrical event. Specifically, it will frame the processes using the play White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour, which itself examines the multiplicities of mental spaces required to engage in performance. In this project, I hope to examine conceptual blending and its relation to theatre, especially metatheatre, in which audience members must balance several levels of performance and reality in one theatrical event. There has been research conducted into relating blending theories with semantics, semiotics, and literature, in particular in the realm of metaphor in which a reader must maintain both the original and analogy in the same mental space in order to draw the comparison. The move towards theatre follows logically, as it encourages audiences to view a performance of fiction or imagination while balancing the 'real' quality of the actors, set pieces, or even words and story, as in verbatim and documentary performance, respectively. Considering these ideas, my core questions can be grouped around three main ideas: How does conceptual blending function when watching theatrical performance, specifically White Rabbit Red Rabbit? What specific moments in the script, performance, or audience experience in White Rabbit Red Rabbit prompt conceptual blending, or challenge our usual conceptual blending process? What implications are there for the use of conceptual blending or cognitive science in theatre for shaping audience perception?