In my research about dementia and its representation in contemporary theatre, I have found that works that employ parataxis are conducive to narratives that foreground the experience of characters with dementia. Parataxis refers here to a dramaturgy in which theatrical elements are placed alongside one another, instead of in a hierarchical arrangement (Lehmann 2006). This article considers several hybrid performances about dementia for how the stage objects featured behave differently, whether they serve to diagnose dementia to the audience, embody narratives of their own or transcend these functions altogether. I discuss hybridity as it pertains to form, specifically that of dance theatre or puppetry theatre. In a paratactical dramaturgy, physical forms like dance can sit alongside the spoken word and take on equal signifying power, as opposed to acting as secondary or merely complementary. From biology I borrow the notion of hybrid vigour and argue that such mixed forms fulfil needs that arise in the telling of neurodiverse stories, which I discuss by drawing on research by disability arts scholars. This enables me to analyse examples of hybrid dramaturgies in puppetry performance, dance theatre, physical theatre and other forms for their staging of dementia narratives and the performance of objects. I then employ theory about stage properties to compare and distinguish the exceptional performance of objects in dementia-themed theatre. The dementia symptomology complicates relationships with objects: on the one hand, they can embody memories, while, on the other, clinical features of dementia make objects unfamiliar and unwieldy. Performances that lean further away from the dramatic tradition are seen to be more apt to present stage objects in ways that transcend their typical dramatic function, and thus potentially present alternatives to the strained object relationality that people with dementia can experience.

中文翻译：

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戏剧混合表演和对象表演中的痴呆症

在我对痴呆症及其在当代戏剧中的表现的研究中，我发现使用并列的作品有利于将痴呆症角色的经历置于前台的叙事。Parataxis 在这里指的是一种戏剧结构，其中戏剧元素并排放置，而不是按等级排列（Lehmann 2006）。本文考虑了几种关于痴呆症的混合表演，以了解舞台对象的不同行为，它们是否有助于向观众诊断痴呆症，体现自己的叙事或完全超越这些功能。我讨论与形式有关的混合性，特别是舞蹈剧院或木偶剧院的形式。在并列戏剧中，舞蹈之类的物理形式可以与口语并驾齐驱，并具有同等的意义，而不是充当次要的或仅仅是互补的。我从生物学中借用了混合活力的概念，并认为这种混合形式满足了讲述神经多样性故事时出现的需求，我通过借鉴残疾艺术学者的研究来讨论这些需求。这使我能够分析木偶表演、舞蹈剧院、物理戏剧和其他形式的混合戏剧的例子，用于他们对痴呆症叙事的上演和物体的表演。然后，我运用有关舞台特性的理论来比较和区分以痴呆症为主题的剧院中物体的特殊性能。痴呆症症状使与物体的关系复杂化：一方面，它们可以体现记忆，而另一方面，痴呆症的临床特征使物体变得陌生和笨拙。