Co-presence as Care: The Performing Objects of Bérangère Vantusso and trois-six-trente

This chapter extends current discussion about cultural representations of ageing
and care, and about humanities interventions in discourses of ageing and practices of care, by drawing on contemporary performance – specifically, the role of
performing objects in puppet and object-based theatre. It creates important connections between strategies of performance, the experience of audiences and the field of care ethics, as well as drawing on emerging reconsiderations of empathy. After contextualising the functions of performing objects in theoretical terms, the following discussion draws on a detailed analysis of Bérangère Vantusso’s work with the company trois-six-trente, exploring their foregrounding of hyperrealist figures of older people.