SCENOGRAPHY AND SYMBOLIC MINIMALISM IN SWINGS OF LOVE: A PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF STAGE SPACE, OBJECT AND VISUAL MEANING

Pranjit Bora; Mrinal Jyoti Goswami

doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i8s.2026.8070

Authors

Pranjit Bora Professor, Discipline of Assamese, Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Guwahati, Assam, India
Mrinal Jyoti Goswami Assistant Professor, Discipline of Assamese, Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Guwahati, Assam, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9282-6971

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i8s.2026.8070

Keywords:

Scenography, Symbolic Minimalism, Swings of Love, Stage Space, Performance Analysis, Visual Meaning, Theatre Object, Feminine Experience

Abstract [English]

Scenography gives theatre its visible and spatial life. This article examines Premar Dolona (Swings of Love) through scenography and symbolic minimalism. It asks how a restrained stage design can hold emotional meaning in a physical solo performance. Using qualitative performance analysis, the study reads the recorded Guwahati production together with the published English translation of the play. The analysis focuses on stage space, the swing, bodily movement, costume, colour, sound and visual composition. The argument is that the production avoids decorative excess and builds its meaning through a few charged elements. The swing becomes a flexible theatrical sign, associated with love, memory, waiting, motion, tension and feminine experience. Its placement and the performer’s movement around it shape the audience’s attention. The study shows that minimal scenography can sharpen the viewer’s focus on the actor’s body, gesture, voice and relation with the object. It also suggests that simplicity can create depth when object, space and body work together. The paper concludes that Swings of Love offers a useful example of contemporary physical theatre where scenic economy produces layered visual and emotional meanings.

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