Announcing the publication of the second volume of a special issue on Staging Atmospheres, for Ambiances: The International Journal of Sensory Environment, Architecture and Urban Space edited by Chloé Déchery (Paris 8, Vincennes Saint Denis) and Martin Welton (Queen Mary University of London); available online and open access at: https://journals.openedition.org/ambiances/

In this second special issue of Ambiances on Staging Atmospheres, we return to the material and metaphorical felicity by which theatrical performance, its design and reception present themselves to critical and political thinking in relation to atmosphere. We note, amongst other factors, the particular significance of scenography – at once an intellectual and aesthetic concern – in providing a framework by which to consider the material presence of atmospheres within theatrical events themselves, and by extension, in quotidian and other milieux beyond them. Moreover, we consider how, across the considerable range of examples offered by our contributors, the heuristic of staging is released from a somewhat moribund connection to the ‘stage set’ and instead becomes a process of lived encounters with the affects and affordances of social and material environments.

Chloé Déchery and Martin Welton
Staging Atmospheres: Editorial introduction to the second volume
Atmosphères en scène : Introduction au deuxième volume

Leah Lovett
Invisible Theatre: militarized space and the staging of affective atmospheres
Théâtre invisible : espaces militarisés et mise en scène d’atmosphères affectives

Maxime Le Calvé
“Mother and son: Reality versus art in virtual reality. Staging an atmospheric performance with immersive technologies”
“Mère et fils : La réalité face à l’art en réalité virtuelle. Mettre en scène une performance atmosphérique avec les technologies immersives”

Rebecca Collins
Aural Attunement is a form of performative writing used to write about nonhuman affective relations in Emma Bennett’s Slideshow Birdshow (2013)
L’accordage auditive est une forme d’écriture performative utilisée pour écrire à propos des relations affectives non humaines dans Slideshow Birdshow (2013) d’Emma Bennett

Christian Edwardes
Scenes of Studio Practice
L’atelier mis en scènes

Zoé Brioude
Quand l’air reprend son souffle: Atmosphères esthétiques et écosystèmes des concepts dans le théâtre de Philippe Quesne
When the air catches its breath: Aesthetic atmospheres and conceptual ecosystems in the work of Philippe Quesne

Rachel Hann
On Atmospherics: Staging Stormzy and nonbinary thinking
« Atmospherics » : Mise en scène de Stormzy et de la pensée non binaire

Martin