The concept of -presence- has made a prominent return to the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Zurich's historical Cabaret Voltaire -- cradle of the Dada movement nearly a century ago -- an experimental international symposium put the topic of -presence- under the microscope, reversing academic routine. Not at all one of those usual post-conference books, this volume is conceived as a theatrical polylogue of speakers, ideas, and offstage characters. The discussion has been transcribed and edited. Monologues, more like traditional statements, are collaged into this conversation so as to reveal new juxtapositions and to give a performative turn to the concept of presence. The lively conversation is enhanced by theatrical conventions: characters enter and exit, and stage directions mirror some of the spatial proximity of the cabaret.