A conversation with Richard Sennett, one of the world’s most influential intellectuals of recent decades, on the occasion of the publication of his most recent book, The Performer: Art, Life, Politics (2024 – in Catalan, L’intèrpret. Art, vida i política)
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
William Shakespeare, As You Like It
In his book, The Performer: Art, Life, Politics (2024 – in Catalan, L’intèrpret. Art, vida i política), Richard Sennett, inspired by Shakespeare’s famous idea that the world is a stage, explores the human impulse to perform. His understanding of this phenomenon goes beyond theatre and the performing arts to permeate all aspects of social life, covering religious rituals, political settings, and urban agoras, as well as the everyday actions we engage in as part of social interaction.
In his conversation with theatre director Xavier Albertí, Richard Sennett starts from his experience as a professional cellist to probe the cultural and political history of human interactions and analyse the complex, ambiguous nature of the art of performance. Staged expressions can be dangerous, he says, but they can also dignify political and collective life.
