This article uncovers the connections between the legal and scientific art of searching for human remains and theatrical performances. NAKA Dance Theater, a performance group based in Mexico City and Oakland, California, is at the centre of this intersection of art and forensics. Founded by José Navarrete and Debby Kajiyama, NAKA creates theatrical events to configure a claim for social justice where the official legal–scientific terrain has failed to protect victims of state repression. These artists advance a commitment to what I call forensic performances, and their investigative practices revitalize theatrical experience in a time of debilitated democracies. Forensic performances give theatre a role in violent societies where mass graves are woven into life: they carry out some of the work of investigative journalism, without its dangers. Theatre opens up a space to do a forensics that is orthogonal to a state forensics claiming a certain kind of reality and truth that is dangerous for democratic politics.

本文揭示了寻找人类遗骸的法律和科学艺术与戏剧表演之间的联系。NAKA 舞蹈剧院是一个位于墨西哥城和加利福尼亚州奥克兰的表演团体，是艺术与法医交叉的中心。NAKA 由何塞·纳瓦雷特 (José Navarrete) 和黛比·梶山 (Debby Kajiyama) 创立，在官方法律-科学领域未能保护国家镇压的受害者的情况下，创造了戏剧性的活动来构建社会正义的主张。这些艺术家推进了我所谓的法医表演的承诺，他们的调查实践在一个衰弱的民主国家重振了戏剧体验。法医表演使剧院在乱葬坑与生活交织在一起的暴力社会中发挥作用：他们进行一些调查性新闻工作，没有危险。