The three spaces of the actor: Practical investigations with Samuel Beckett and Thierry Salmon through contemporary neuroscience

This thesis proposes a novel perspective on acting as centred in human spatial processing capabilities and aims to offer a comprehensive framework to enhance the understanding, transmission, and acquisition of practical knowledge in the field of performance. This framework emerges from two primary strategies: 1) an epistemological method that amalgamates experimental findings on human spatial processing, observations and archival content from theatre studies, and auto-ethnographic accounts; and 2) the development of a nuanced vocabulary for space by tracing connections between early 20th-century German clinic psychopathology and modern experimental research in neurophysiology.

The conceptualisation of an actor's space unfolds through three interconnected dimensions: the inner space, understood through interoception, which highlights a multimodal neural system that processes visceral signals, forming the basis for self-awareness and temporal dynamics; the peri-personal space, governed by a dynamic multisensory-motor system within the fronto-parietal network that merges tactile, visual, and auditory inputs, and extends through interaction and the utilisation of props; and the external space, informed by hippocampal functions that generate 'place' and 'grid cells', neurons underpinning both individual and collective cognitive mappings of space, indicating an innate human capacity to ascribe meanings to spaces.

Through this framework, the thesis re-examines the work of notable theatre practitioners, namely Samuel Beckett's main directorial works between 1967 to 1979 and Thierry Salmon's spatial system of rehearsals, which integrates diverse theatrical experiences ranging from (post)Stanislavskian techniques to Jerzy Grotowski's Paratheatre.

Finally, the thesis includes auto-ethnographic reflections on how spatial understanding informs character development and delivery, offering practical insights into the embodied dimensions of theatrical performance.