Warwick Postgraduate Conference 2014

Paper, Panel 1 - Performativity: Forum Theatre, Performance as Research?

'When the spectators observe the actors, they actively participate in an event, the theatrical performance [...], as a co-creative participant.' (Sauter , 2010). This suggests that audience reception research that interactively involves the spectator will provide particularly informative insights into what is going on in that complex multifaceted entity known as the audience. In Sauter's own work, the success of his theatre talks - designed to mimic the conversation between friends that might take place after an event - is noteworthy. A key point about them is that they are both interactive and performative. The question is whether this idea carries over into participatory theatre. For example, what insights might the interactive, co-creative forum session following the play in a typical forum theatre production provide about the impact of the play on the audience?

In this paper, I discussed insights arising from a documentation of audience reactions to performances of the play and forum in the Cardboard Citizens' 2014 touring production of Kate Tempest's play, Glass House. (Click on the link above).

For further detail...

International Federation for Theatre Research Conference, July/August, Warwick University

Paper, Theatrical Events Working Group: Exploring Environmental Scandals as Staged Events. Do They Make the Case for an Environmental Diamond Model?

The dysfunctional relationship between human beings and the ecosystem they depend on is perfectly scandalous: science informs but human beings knowingly continue to destroy the planet. For further detail...