Lalish Theatre: Enacted Bodies, Voices and Spaces in Heterotopias

Abstract

This paper attempts to uncover aspects of artistic performances where the lines between real life and artistic representations are quite blurred. To achieve this purpose, we will investigate the interdependencies of the artistic power of Lalish theatre, a performance troupe emerging from an oppressed Kurdish context, coupled with the human and socio-political dimensions of Lalish performances. By adopting a qualitative descriptive analysis of key features of the performances, the research delves into the methods employed in Lalish performances to challenge and destabilize conventional dramatic norms, hence the emergence of a compelling form of tacit social resistance. Premised on Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, the study investigates the ways Lalish performances employ space and artists’ bodies and voices to implant viewers within innovative realms, those that expose, upset and criticize societal norms all at once. The inquiry is focused on the concept of enacted utopias, through which Lalish theatre disrupts overriding hierarchies and foresees alternative realities. Through diverse cultural connotations premised on the deconstruction of conventional narratives, Lalish performances speak a unique theatrical language, one that enhances human understanding and social awareness and supports ethics of equity and human dignity. The research examines how Lalish theatre transports audiences into freer spaces where they are allowed not only to interpret performances, but also to contribute to constructing them. It is through such non-chronological presentations aiming at creating a potential broader vision of a more equitable reality that the troupe exhibits aspects of resistance to the objectifying and constraining practices endorsed by conventional dance. By investigating the interplay harmonizing body, voices and spaces, this study reveals how Lalish holistic and innovative performances might serve as a powerful artistic tool for creating new realities where human empowerment equity and dignity could prevail.