Dreamwork, Circumambulation and Engaged Spectatorship in Myth

Abstract

This chapter approaches the theatrical imagery in Cherkaoui’s dense and multi-layered work Myth through the lens of Jungian psychoanalysis, notably the notions of shadows and circumambulation. The manipulating effects of shadows or repressed feelings, embodied by performers wearing black, on the key protagonists’ behaviour are choreographed into the work. Myth also resembles a dream, rich with symbolic meaning. Jungian dreamwork provides a useful model through which to engage with the barrage of simultaneous imagery. Circumambulation is the choreographic strategy used by Cherkaoui to excavate and continuously represent the multifaceted symbolism of the cross, in a scene in which a Christ-like figure manipulates two wooden poles. Hence, in Myth we see circumambulation at work and are invited to engage in circumambulation of the total work itself.