Theatricality, Dark Tourism and Ethical Spectatorship: Absent Others by Emma Willis (review)

Emma Willis's book, Theatricality, Dark Tourism and Ethical Spectatorship: Absent Others, challenges conventional critiques of dark tourism by examining its potential for ethical engagement. The study argues that theatrical elements in memorial sites—such as those related to the Khmer Rouge prisons and Killing Fields in Cambodia—can foster meaningful reflection on trauma, rather than merely exploiting macabre curiosity. Willis juxtaposes site visits with performance artworks (e.g., Photographs from S-21 and Maria Kizito) to demonstrate how spectatorship can serve as an indictment of human failure while attempting to understand others' experiences through embodied witnessing. The research avoids evaluating success or failure, instead focusing on the complex dynamics between personal, collective, and state-sanctioned narratives in dark tourism.

(Ed.). (2015). Theatricality, Dark Tourism and Ethical Spectatorship: Absent Others by Emma Willis (review). Theatre Journal, 67(3), 576–577. https://doi.org/10.1353/tj.2015.0083