Theatrical Agency in the Constitution of Logical Space

Author

• Esther Marveta Neff, CUNY Graduate CenterFollow

Date of Degree

6-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Theatre

Advisor

Peter Eckersall

Committee Members

Carol Gould

Bertie Ferdman

Subject Categories

Aesthetics | Epistemology | Ethics and Political Philosophy | Other Theatre and Performance Studies | Performance Studies | Philosophy of Mind

Keywords

Theatricality, Agency, Logical Space, Dramaturgy, Social Intelligence, Performance Philosophy

Abstract

This dissertation takes advantage of our current moment of collapse and shifting episteme to move from resistance and critique into modes of position, prefiguration, and praxiocentricism, giving not only a critique of the colonial-modern logical space of Theatrum Mundi, but also aiming to configure the thetic consciousness that grounds “theatrical agency” in the logic of cognitive and social epistemological modelling.  In what ways do we “build our own worlds”? What does “theatricality” tell us about human agency, especially in the domain of “theoretical attitudes,” and “consciousness”? In what ways, and to what extent, are we responsible for constituting our beliefs, our ways of thinking, or social, political, and even “metaphysical” realities? Here, I can only aim to cross-pollinate approaches to these problems in theatre and philosophy, draw on the work of my own epistemic community, and my own performance research, to compose inquiries that I hope will be pertinent to other practitioners who are working across disciplines and theory-practice divisions to “seize the means” of our own self-shaping creative species-being.

Recommended Citation

Neff, Esther Marveta, "Theatrical Agency in the Constitution of Logical Space" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6749