This article takes the shoe as a case study for engaging with theories of
the object. Semiotic approaches to material objects are discussed, with
reference to Barthes, Krampen, and Kress and Van Leeuwen. Jiri
Veltrusky´?s important article ?Man and Object in the Theatre? and Merleau-
Ponty?s phenomenological account of the relationship between body and
object are presented as useful tools for describing spectators? and
performers? experience of materiality in performance. Examples of the use
of shoes in actor training and in recent productions are discussed and
several distinct approaches are identified: shoes as costume, as indices of
their wearers? presence, as ?texts? or scripts for movement, as sculptural
objects and as independent theatrical subjects. |