Willmar Sauter, Emeritus Professor of Theatre Studies, enrolled at the (then) Department of Theatre History in Stockholm in 1968. Since 1974 he has been employed by Stockholms University and he is still supporting a few PhD-students. His latest publication is Aesthetics of Presence: Philosophical and Practical Reconsiderations (2021).

Conference Abstract

“The Magic of Presence: Moments, Memories, Methods”

Every habitual visitor remembers some magic moments of theatrical events: a striking feeling of immediate presence. What are these experiences of presence about? What triggers them, under which circumstances are they taking place?

This lecture is an attempt to point out some decisive parameters that facilitate strong experiences of performative situations. On the basis of a new rhombic model I will show how these parameters coordinate the senses of the beholder and create magic moments of presence. Then, presence remains as future memories of the past.