Screening the Past: Reflexivity,Repetition and the Spectator in Lola Arias' Minefield/Campo minado (2016)

This article examines the role performed by the autobiographical body in Lola Arias' documentary play Minefield (2016). Through a ‘hypermedial’ representation of the cultural memory archive, Arias challenges dominant perspectives towards the Malvinas/Falklands conflict by repeatedly using screens, recording devices and documentary footage to highlight the mediation and subjectivity inherent in both individual and collective memories of the past. By engaging with recent work on documentary theatre and live performance, this article reflects on how Minefield's narrative repetition and formal reflexivity demand, though ultimately confound, an empathetic connection between performer and audience.