Words, Space, and the Audience: The Theatrical Tension between Empiricism and Rationalism. By Michael Y. Bennett. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012; pp. x + 190. $90 cloth, $85 e-book.

Abstract

Trusting Performance does have its flaws. The book can sometimes be digressive, and, at times, it is a struggle to see the relation of a particular point Rokotnitz is making, about, say, one of the four plays she discusses, back to her overall thesis. In some ways, the book is less one cohesive whole than it is four related essays. But this is only a minor criticism. I found the book insightful and exciting. Most important, Rokotnitz's book is a significant contribution to the relatively new field of cognitive approaches to literature and theatre. This is a rapidly growing area with great potential for deepening the scientific sophistication of literary and theatrical criticism and production. In a field still much in thrall to the radical relativism of so much twentieth-century theory, even tried and true ideas-such as the capacity of theatre to change hearts and minds-are too often held suspect. In this regard, Naomi Rokotnitz's Trusting Performance is a very welcome contribution.