“Work-in-Progress”

Deriving from the original 1976 theatre production, the 1990 television version of Footfalls has garnered little to no critical attention in and of itself. Seeking to redress this omission, this article argues that Footfalls on screen is a crucial document of the original production and introduces aesthetic and affective qualities that enhance our understanding of the play. Working with a DVD copy of a VHS recording of the play from its original broadcast on television, this article parses out the relationship between the spectral materiality of this recording and the ideas of spectrality, authorship and subjectivity that are central to the play.