Theatre for Social Engagement
Creative Storytelling and Investigative Theatre for Active Social Engagement
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Nancy Kindelan
The development of a contemporary Living Newspaper play promotes social activism through cross-disciplinary research, narrative storytelling, creative thinking, and artistic problem solving. Various forms of investigative theatre—the 1930s Federal Theatre Project’s Living Newspapers, Anna Deavere Smith’s journalistic performance art work, and Rimini Protokoll’s site-specific theatre—are models that contextualize the process of creating new forms of theatre capable of promoting cross-disciplinary discussion about relevant national and international social issues such as: the objectification of women, psychological ravages of rape, complexities of immigration, race, community, identity, environmental justice, depression and suicide, etc. Narratives, psychologies, and diverse social issues are explored through innovative learning strategies that include team-based improvisational exercises, the creation of visual portrait galleries as well as imagistic and sound storyboards. Over time, participants learn how to ask probing questions instead of settling on immediate “right” answers, develop research methodologies, conduct field interviews in order to discover rich insights, engage in metacognitive (reflective) strategies, and participate in the collaborative exchange of ideas that encourage continuous personal thought about relevant social topics. The ePortfolio journal provides opportunities to post multiple iterations of individual Living Newspaper projects and open up discussions with members of the learning community about how to successfully select and create performance-based techniques and multimedia and mixed treatments for their site-specific contemporary Living Newspaper plays. This is an immersive inquiry-based experiential learning opportunity that involves journalistic investigation, collaborative discussions, and development of new forms of theatre.
Playing One on One: The One-person Play as a Barometer of Political and Social Culture
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Betsy Craig
What does the one-person play teach us about ourselves? It seems a great deal. While monologue has been an important part of theatre since the Greeks, it wasn’t until the mid-twentieth century that the monologic form was expanded and developed into a full-length commercially viable theatre. Since that time the one-person play has morphed dramatically and become an important bellwether of our cultural predilections. This paper serves to give a brief overview of the commercial development of the form in the United States since the opening of Mark Twain Tonight! in 1959. It will then establish the different styles these shows can take and why that matters. And most importantly, the research will look more specifically at more recent commercially successful one-person plays produced On or Off-Broadway in order to specifically ascertain what these shows say about the current political and social culture of today.
Theatre, Infertility and Capitalist (Re)Production
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Emma Brodzinski
This year sees the 40th anniversary of the birth of the first test tube baby and assisted reproduction remains a pressing social issue. Statistics suggest that 1 in 6 couples will have trouble conceiving naturally, but these stories are usually played out in private behind the closed doors of a fertility clinic. Using case studies, this paper will consider how theatre has been deployed as a space for the public exploration of the medical management of infertility and the social structures that frame such intervention. Drawing on plays performed in London theatres from distinct moments across the 40 years of IVF, I will explore the shifts in representation which reflect changes in both theatrical and social convention, against the background of a developing "fertility industry."
Previously Unsuspected Beauty in Performance: Theatrical Research of Pure Form to Reveal Authenticity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Adam Houghton, Rick Curtiss
This paper presents theatrical research results discovered through creating a new play, Legend for Witkacy. This play was inspired by the Pure Form theories written by Polish artist, philosopher, and writer, Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. Our research applied innovative collaborative and participative methods to create a work of “previously unsuspected beauty,” as Witkiewicz described it, a type of play that is “capable of expressing metaphysical feelings within purely formal dimensions.” This work revealed clear perspectives on mimesis (the “real” and “representation”), because its artistic root opposed creating traditional American theatre realism. Further, the work revealed perspectives on authenticity, believability, identity, and complexity in relation/opposition to mimesis. While the performance was at times jarring, unpredictable, and nonsensible in terms of realism, it also provided spectators opportunities to connect with the play without needing an education in esoteric theatrical theory. In this sense, Legend for Witkacy refutes the notion that the avant-garde needs to be studied to be appreciated. We discovered that while spectators tended to cling to what was familiar, these familiar elements provided access points that led to novel experiences for the spectator. We therefore curated familiar performance elements (story, puppets, costumes) to alleviate the spectators’ fear of not understanding its formal nature. Many spectators made sense of the play as a puzzle with infinite solutions—a kaleidoscope, instead of a Rubik’s cube. This paper also critically analyzes less successful aspects of the performance and outlines strategies to improve the process in future research iterations.
