'The Performer' explores the rich relations of the performing arts to society. It traces performing spaces in the city; the emergence of actors, musicians, and dancers as independent artists; the inequality between performer and spectator; the uneasy relations between artistic creation and social and religious ritual, the uses and abuses of acting by politicians. 'The Performer' ties issues together by exploring the sensory powers which the performing arts themselves share, via physical gesture and blocking onstage, lighting, costuming and scenery.