Between “the Housewife” and “the Philosophy Professor”: Music, Narration and Address in Ousmane Sembene's Xala

The acclaimed Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembene conceptualised himself as a modern day griot (West African oral performer), producing often didactic films that address a diverse spectatorship. Examining Xala, this paper argues that this address cannot be fully understood without attention to the film’s complex music/image relationships, which refigure classical and modernist film aesthetics to mobilise a discourse that recalls oral performance. In this way, Sembene negotiates the tensions of address generated by a spectatorship that is situated in the culturally hybrid spaces between the literate and the oral, the urban and the rural, and the global and the local.

'Truth, Ethics and Efficacy in the Training of Actors for Role Play'

Krysia M. Yardley-Matwiejczuk has addressed the clinical and psychological implications of role-play (Role Play: Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, 1997) and Judith Ackroyd has thoroughly reassessed the place of roleplay in education (Role Reconsidered, Trentham Books, 2004). But there has been no systematic analysis of the implications for actor training of this growing area of employment. This paper interrogates some of the implications of role-play for actor trainers, particularly in relation to the need for a clear ethical framework governing spontaneous performance in non-theatrical environments. The paper also suggests guidelines on ‘distancing’ and ‘presencing’ techniques to equip actors to cope with the unpredictability of role play-based performance.

Campaigns Against Incineration in Ireland - North and South: Framing Networking and Political Opportunities

An analysis of community-based campaigns opposing waste incineration and advocating 'zero waste' policies in Ireland, North and South.