Theatre and beyond : the application of theatre directing to other contexts

At a time when theatre practitioners and companies are concerned with dwindling audience numbers, funding and interest (so what’s new?), what this paper discusses is less about theatre ‘changing direction’ and more about ‘changing theatre Direction’. A subtle semantic shift perhaps but one which has proven enormously useful over 25 years as a professional creator, director, performer, designer and teacher for stage, screen – and other contexts. Applying theatrical skills to apparently unrelated contexts is not new, however it bears re-examining. My own experience as a ‘directorial specialist’ in mime and movement confirms the fundamental theatricality in all human communication – whether stage, screen, auditorium or meeting room – I would argue that there is no professional context completely devoid of some measure of ‘performance’. And if you’re going to do performance, however minutely, subtly and in whatever context, at least make it the best performance you can by ‘directing it’. This paper examines the adaptation of theatre direction to other contexts and discusses:- • which other contexts • directing non-performers • what theatre direction provides

Chroma Key Theatre : an examination of similarities and divergences in the use of Green Screen in two experimental theatre works

This paper examines the frame as it contributes to the debate on contemporary intermedial theatre and performance practices in light of increasing astriction between filmic and theatrical discourses. Informed by Auslander (1999), Lehmann (2006), and Giesekam (2007), and through an extrapolation of the tenets Eckersall, Gretchen and Scheer identify in the theory of New Media Dramaturgy, it will analyse two recent works of experimental theatre-making. RUFF (2013), a New York produced solo performance by one of the world’s leading female performers, explores her experiences of having a stroke. Total Dik! (2013), produced in Brisbane, Australia, is an interdisciplinary collaborative performance that examines aspects of dictatorship. They are clearly very different works yet there are a number of significant theatrical similarities in their use of Chroma Key technology and live compositing as material scenic devices. These works overtly and evocatively draw on the cinematic technique and technology of Chroma Key to augment and reveal the tensions and overlaps in their production processes.

Staging childhoods : experiments in authentic theatre making practice with children

This practice-led PhD project investigates the ways in which society positions children through a broad set of social, cultural and historical considerations and examines these within the frame of theatre making. The study proposes a model of practice that moves beyond participant empowerment toward a more dynamic understanding of the creative process that sees adults and children working together to create mainstream artistic product. It contends that this model creates conditions conducive to authentic theatre making practice with children as evidenced in the researcher’s original performance work Joy Fear and Poetry.

Lived experience and devised theatre practice : a study of Australian and Norwegian theatre students' devised theatrical practice

This study explores the incorporation of young people's lived experience upon the creative dynamics in the development of devised performance practice. By employing Vygotsky's creativity theory to devising processes the role of lived experience is analyzed through three case studies located in two theatre education colleges in Norway and Australia. The study demonstrates how young peoples' life experience is a primary resource that is developed and reasoned upon in the creative performance practice. A key finding of the study is the identification of two distinct type of performance outcome in devised theatre practice, described as "livsbasert/life-based" and "egenskapt/self-made" that will enable devised theatre to have a more nuanced understanding of both process and product in the Nordic context.

Good choices, great future : an applied theatre prevention program to reduce alcohol-related risky behaviours during Schoolies

Introduction and Aims. The contextual and temporal factors of post-school celebratory events ('Schoolies') place young people at elevated risk of excessive drinking compared with other social occasions. This study investigates the impact of an applied theatre prevention program 'Choices' in reducing the risk of drinking and other risk behaviours during Schoolies celebrations. Design and Methods. Choices was delivered in the last term of Year 12 across 28 North Queensland schools. A total of 352 school leavers (43.1% male, mean age=17.14years) completed a questionnaire at Whitsunday Schoolies, Queensland, Australia on 23-24 November 2010. Nearly 49% of respondents had attended Choices. The survey included measures of alcohol use, illicit drug use and associated problems during Schoolies and a month prior to Schoolies. Results. After controlling for gender and pre-Schoolies drinking, school leavers who attended Choices were significantly less likely to report illicit drug use (OR=0.51, P<0.05) and problem behaviours (OR=0.40, P<0.01) than those who did not attend Choices. There was, however, no intervention effect in risky drinking (i.e. drank on 5 or more days, typical amount five or more standard drink and binge drank on 3 or more days) at Schoolies (OR=0.92, P=0.80). Discussion and Conclusions. Delivery of a youth-specific applied theatre prevention program employing a harm minimisation framework may be effective in reducing high-risk behaviours associated with alcohol consumption at celebratory events, even if young people expect to engage in excessive alcohol consumption. [Quek L-H, White A, Low C, Brown J, Dalton N, Dow D, Connor JP. Good choices, great future: An applied theatre prevention program to reduce alcohol-related risky behaviours during Schoolies. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:897–902]

Creating new folk opera forms of applied theatre for HIV and AIDS education in Papua New Guinea

This research investigated the potential of folk opera as a tool for HIV and AIDS education in Papua New Guinea. It began with an investigation on the indigenous performativities and theatricalities of Papua New Guineans, conducting an audit of eight selected performance traditions in Papua New Guinea. These traditions were analysed, and five cultural forms and twenty performance elements were drawn out for further exploration. These elements were fused and combined with theatre techniques from western theatre traditions, through a script development process involving Australians, Papua New Guineans and international collaborators. The resulting folk opera, entitled Kumul, demonstrates what Murphy (2010) has termed story force, picture force, and feeling force, in the service of a story designed to educate Papua New Guinean audiences about HIV and the need to adopt safer sexual practices. Kumul is the story of a young man faced with decisions on whether or not to engage in risky sexual behaviours. Kumul's narrative is carefully framed within selected Papua New Guinean beliefs drawn from the audit to deliver HIV and AIDS messages using symbolic and metaphoric communication techniques without offending people. The folk opera Kumul was trialled in two communities in Papua New Guinea: a village community and an urban settlement area. Kumul is recognisable to Papua New Guinean audiences because it reflects their lifestyle and a worldview, which connects them to their beliefs and spirituality, and the larger cosmological order. Feedback from audience members indicated that the performance facilitated HIV and AIDS communication, increased people's awareness of HIV and AIDS, and encouraged behaviour change. Tellingly, in one performance venue, forty people queued for Voluntary Testing and Counseling immediately after the performance. Twenty of these people were tested on that night and the other twenty were tested the following day. Many of the volunteers were young men – a demographic historically difficult to engage in HIV testing. This encouraging result indicates that the Kumul folk opera form of applied theatre could be useful for facilitating communication and education regarding sexual health and safer sexual behaviours in Papua New Guinea. Feedback from participants, audience members and other research stakeholders suggests that the form might also be adapted to address other social and development issues, particularly in the areas of health and social justice.

Black Diggers: Out of the trenches at the Brisbane Festival (Theatre review)

The performance space in which Wesley Enoch’s play Black Diggers is being performed at the Brisbane Festival is a large black box. It features a raised stage in the middle which proves versatile for battlegrounds at home and abroad – and later as ground for discriminatory encounters experienced by Aboriginal returned ex-servicemen. The fire-filled 44-gallon drum off to the side creates another space of encounter; there are few other props. Now and then, dates and other details are whitewashed on the black walls...

Theatre, co-creativity & co-creative spectatorship

Theatre is a socially and politically aware artform. It participates in the construction – and, potentially, the contestation – of a community’s history, identity, and ideals. It does this live, in the moment, where artist, artwork and audience meet here, now, together. This, most theatre makers think, gives theatre special power to make spectators think about the stories it stages. But it also creates challenges.

The Wuzhen Theatre, Zhejiang, China: An architectural review

Designed by Taiwanese architect Kris Yao of Artech Architects for the Wuzhen Tourism Development Company, the Wuzhen Theatre is situated in Wuzhen, a historic scenic water town located in east China's Zhejiang Province. This theatre stands as an architectural beacon for Wuzhen, and is to be considered an important place on the global atlas of theatre and China's epicentre of theatre, culture and arts.

More than just audiences : Developing communitas and social inclusion through theatre participation for young people

In a Facebook conversation about theatre going by young people in Brisbane playwright Valerie Foley noted, “theatre in and of itself may not have the cultural value it once had”. This chapter explores how three Australian live theatre/performance events – World Theatre Festival (Brisbane 2011 and 2012), Backbone’s annual 2High Festival (Brisbane 2012) and Next Wave Festival (Melbourne 2012) - repositioned the value of live performing arts to develop social cohesion and wellbeing for young people. The chapter draws out how these performance events developed communitas (Turner 2012) for young audiences.

Establishing the conceptual and practical foundations of a new form of theatre for development: Theatre in conversations

This research was developed between Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) over two years investigating ways in which theatre for development could be held accountable for the claims it makes especially in PNG. The motivation to improve theatre for development (TfD) practice was triggered by the desire to enhance the democratic processes of collaboration and co–creativity often lacking in TfD activity in Papua New Guinea. Through creative practice as research and reflective processes, working with established and experienced local community theatre practitioners, a new form of theatre for development, Theatre in Conversations evolved. This form integrated three related genres of TfD including process drama, community theatre and community conversations. The suitability and impact of Theatre in Conversations was tested in three remote villages in PNG. Findings and outputs from the study have the potential to be used by theatre for development practitioners in other countries.

Live and analogue : Theatre as a practice of social inclusion

This monograph argues for a repositioning of theatre as an antidote to the negative effects of the reduction of live social interaction among the current generation of young people. It argues for a repositioned valuing of the role that live performing arts can play in the development of social cohesion and well-being with young people. Highlighted therefore is an emphasis on developing ‘communitas’ or ‘collective joy’ (Turner, 2012) for young audiences. Using the lens of social acupuncture (O’Donnell, 2006) the monograph explores how two Australian live theatre or performance events – The Walking Neighbourhood and 지하 Underground – foreground inclusionary audience experiences. It concludes with a challenge to drama teachers, theatre makers, arts researchers, arts programmers and performance venue managers regarding how they might view their young audiences as more than just a marketing demographic and income stream, by providing new platforms for young people’s social cohesion and well-being.

Bangarra Dance Theatre: Copyright law and Indigenous culture

This article considers the artistic and legal practices of Bangarra Dance Theatre in a case study of copyright law management in relation to Indigenous culture. It is grounded in the particular local experience, knowledge and understanding of copyright law displayed by the performing arts company. The first part considers the special relationship between Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Munyarrun Clan. It examines the contractual arrangements developed to recognise communal ownership. The next section examines the role of the artistic director and choreographer. It looks at the founder, Carole Johnson, and her successor, Stephen Page. The third part of the article focuses on the role of the composer, David Page. It examines his ambition to set up a Indigenous recording company, Nikinali. Part 4 focuses upon the role of the artistic designers. It looks at the contributions of artistic designers such as Fiona Foley. Part 5 deals with broadcasts of performances on television, film, and multi-media. Part 6 considers the collaborations of Bangarra Dance Theatre with the Australian Ballet, and the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. The conclusion considers how Bangarra Dance Theatre has played a part ina general campaign to increase protection of Indigenous copyright law.

Audience as performer: The changing role of theatre audiences in the twenty-first century

'Actors always talk about what the audience does. I don’t understand, we are just sitting here.' Audience as Performer proposes that in the theatre, there are two troupes of performers: the actors and the audience. Although academics have scrutinised how audiences respond, make meaning and co-create while watching a performance, little research has considered the behaviour of the theatre audience as a performance in and of itself. This insightful book describes how an audience performs through its myriad gestural, vocal and paralingual actions, and considers the following questions: •If the audience are performers, who are their audiences? •How have audiences’ roles changed throughout history? •How do talkbacks and technology influence the audience’s role as critics? •What influence does the audience have on the creation of community in theatre? •How can the audience function as both consumer and co-creator? Drawing from over 140 interviews with audience members, actors and ushers in the UK, USA and Australia, Heim reveals the lived experience of audience members at the theatrical event. It is a fresh reading of mainstream audiences’ activities, bringing their voices to the fore and exploring their emerging new roles in the theatre of the Twenty-First Century.

Scenographic practice in contemporary chamber theatre

This research study explores the practice of scenography in contemporary chamber theatre. The practice-led approach allowed for the exploration of theoretical insights around scenography (the arrangement of the performance space, lighting, sound, design, objects and performers) in chamber theatre, directly resulting in the creation and staging of a new theatre work, 'A Tribute of Sorts'. The production was directed by the researcher and staged in two professional theatre companies, Queensland Theatre Company and La Boite Theatre Company in Queensland, Australia. The study investigated if the scenographic components of the chamber theatre performance could be employed as a machine that operates according to its own logic of operations, psycho-plastic manipulations, and metatheatricality. By doing so, testing if the scenography becomes a dramaturgy that contributes to spectorial meaning-making in and of itself.