Conclusion

This concluding chapter assesses how the theater of the void resonates with our present and how it might shape theater in the years to come. In this context, it turns to current criticism of theater as an old, outdated art form that is unable to respond to the most pressing issues of our times. The chapter challenges such claims and shows that the theater of the void offers a theatrical grammar with which to engage with a world out of joint. It demonstrates that the theater of the void introduces a new form of anagnorisis that allows us to experiment with and practice new modes of recognition when recognition is no longer dominantly triggered by a human counterpart but by uncanny encounters with entities that fluctuate between vitality and the inanimate. The chapter then considers other productions of the past few years that have engaged with the groundlessness of being, as we see in them an even stronger turn to the sciences and a heightened interest in climate change and atomic warfare. Ultimately, it emphasizes that the theater of the void is far from a theater of despair, but instead introduces feelings of ease and joy into our ongoing struggle for change and freedom.