An Uncanny Site/Side: On Exposure, Dark Space, and Structures of Fear in the Context of Performance 1 Maya Nanitchkova O ¨ ztu ¨rk Theatre, Fear and Space Functions of Space This article approaches the site as a corporeal component of theatrical praxis. 2 It seeks to acknowledge that a subtle dimension of space, the ‘bodily’ and unmediated, can trigger an experiential mode, infused with feelings, and bearing on the ontological. From this perspective, the site is conceived as an artefact not only because it constructs the presentation of the theatrical work and assists the unfolding of a multi-dimensional performative event, but furthermore, because as space that is formalized, qualified, and effective, it performs as a dynamic constituent of experience. 3 This article proposes to substantiate such capacities of the site by way of a dramatization of the effects of space, through fear. This offers the opportunity to grasp, within the spatial economy of theatre, certain less-explored operations of space as discrete phenomena that recur and configure a relatively autonomous layer of experience for all participants involved. These phenomena render audiences productive, invigorated through fear, and engaged in the performance. Comprehensive overviews on theoretical thought from within theatre and/or performance studies point to the particular way in which the role of space is conceptualized – namely, in specific reference to theatrical practices and theatre experience. 4 As these are rooted in and evolve through the theatrical work and/or event, the major issue is how ‘space Maya Nanitchkova O ¨ ztu ¨rk, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Faculty of Art Design and Architecture, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. Email: omaya@bilkent.edu.tr 1. An earlier version of this study was presented at the 2nd International Conference CTLA, held at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 5-7 May 2007, and is included in Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts 2007, ed. by Daniel Meyer-Dinkgrafe (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007), pp. 101-15. 2. Choosing the terms ‘site’ and/or ‘space in the context of performance’ was done with the intention of evading established connotations of related terms, such as those of ‘theatre space’ with regard to ‘functions’ in the formulation of Contemporary Theatre Review, Vol. 20(3), 2010, 296–315 Contemporary Theatre Review ISSN 1048-6801 print/ISSN 1477-2264 online Ó 2010 Taylor & Francis http://www.informaworld.com DOI: 10.1080/10486801.2010.488840