How is performer-object interaction enacted and perceived in the theatre? How thereby are varieties of 'meaning' also enacted and perceived? Using cognitive theory and ecological ontology, Paavolainen investigates how the interplay of actors and objects affords a degree of enjoyment and understanding, whether or not the viewer speaks the language.

Teemu Paavolainen is a postdoctoral fellow of Theatre and Drama Research in the School of Communication, Media, and Theatre at the University of Tampere, Finland.

1. Agents and Objects: A Primer to Concepts and Approaches 2. The Meyerhold Case: Scaffolding Action and Interpretation 3. The Polish Case: Poor Theatre/s and Cultural Ecology 4. Grotowski and the 'Objectivity' of Performance 5. Pillories to Barricade: Kantor's Infernal Ecologies Epilogue: Performing Humanity: Tensions and Continuities