Improvising a future in the performing arts : a new strategy to help performance studies students successfully shift between academic culture, professional culture, industry and career?

If there is one thing performance studies graduates should be good at, it is improvising – play and improvisation are central to the contemporary and cultural performance practices we teach and the methods by which we teach them. Objective, offer, acceptance, advancing, reversing, character, status, manipulation, impression management, relationship management – whether we know them from Keith Johnson’s theatre theories or Erving Goffman’s theatre theories, the processes by which we play out a story, scenario or social situation to our own benefit are familiar. We understand that identity, action, interaction and its personal, aesthetic, professional or political outcomes are unpredictable, and that we need to adapt to changeable and uncertain circumstances to achieve our aims. Intriguingly, though, in a Higher Education environment that increasingly emphasises employability, skills in play, improvisation and self-performance are never cited as critical graduate attributes. Is the ability to play, improve and produce spontaneous new self-performances learned in the academy worth articulating into an ability to play, improvise and product spontaneous new self-performances after graduates leave the academy and move into the role of a performing arts professional in industry? A study of the career paths of our performance studies graduates over the past decade suggests that addressing the challenges they face in moving between academic culture, professional culture, industry and career in terms of improvisation and play principles may be very productive. In articles on performing arts careers, graduates are typically advised to find a market for their work, and develop career self-management, management and marketing skills, together with an ability to find, make and maintain relationships and opportunities for themselves. Transitioning to career is cast as a challenging process, requiring these skills, because performing arts careers do not offer the security, status and stability of other careers. Our data confirms this. In our study, though, we found that strategies commonly used to build the resilience, self-reliance and persistence graduates require – talking about portfolio careers, parallel careers, and portable, transferable or translatable skills, for example – can engender panic as easily as they engender confidence. In this paper, I consider what happens when we re-articulate some of the skills scholars and industry stakeholders argue are critical in allowing graduates to shift successfully from academy to industry in terms of skills like improvisation, play and self-performance that are already familiar, meaningful and much-practiced amongst performance studies graduates.

Engaging Noemi Lakmeier's living installations : the ethics of embarrassment

In Exercise in Losing Control (2007) and We Are for You Because We are Against Them (2010), Austrian-born artist Noemi Lakmaier represents Otherness – and, in particular, the experience of Otherness as one of being vulnerable, dependent or visibly different from everyone else in a social situation – by placing first herself then a group of participants in big circular balls she calls ‘Weebles’. In doing so, Lakmaier depicts Otherness as an absurd, ambiguous or illegible element in otherwise everyday ‘living installations’ in which people meet, converse, dine and connect with spectators and passersby on the street. In this paper I analyse the way spectators and passersby respond to the weeble-wearers. Not surprisingly, responses vary – from people who hurry away, to people who try to talk to the weeble-wearer, to people who try to kick or tip the weeble to test its reality. The not-quite-normal situation, and the visibility of the spectators in the situation, asks spectators to rehearse their response to corporeal differences that might be encountered in day-to-day life. As the range of comments, confrontations and struggles show, the situation transfers the ill-at-ease, embarrassed and awkward aspects of dealing with corporeal difference from the disabled performer to the able spectator-become-performer. In this paper, I theorise some of the self-conscious spectatorial responses this sort of work can provoke in terms of an ethics of embarrassment. As the Latin roots of the word attest, embarrassment is born of a block, barrier or obstacle to move smoothly through a social or communicative encounter. In Lakmaier’s work, a range of potential blocks present themselves. The spectators’ responses – from ignoring the weeble, to querying the weeble, to asking visual, verbal or physical questions about how the weeble works, and so on – are ways of managing the interruption and moving forward. They are, I argue, strategies for moving from confusion to comprehension, or from what Emmanuel Levinas would call an encounter with the unknown to back into the horizon of the known, classified and classifiable. They flag the potential for what Levinas would call an ethical face-to-face encounter with the Other in which spectators and passersby may unexpectedly find themselves in a vulnerable position.

Navigating the field of contemporary performance

This Chapter introduces Compass Points: The Landscapes, Locations and Coordinates of Identities in Contemporary Performance Making, a volume which collects papers from the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and Performance Studies (ADSA) Conference 2012.

The Empty City (playreading)

This 45 minute non-verbal intermedial performance for children was adapted from the picture book I authored of the same name. The process involved writing and re-writing text and music with the result being a new draft of both script and soundtrack. Part of the judging process for the award the script was nominated for involved a playreading, which offered a particular challenge to the researcher in terms of composition and playwriting. How can a script and soundtrack for a non-verbal, intermedial work adapt and innovate the within the formal and practical constraints of the traditional ‘playreading’? This project’s emphasis on nestling intermediality within ostensibly traditional theatrical constraints and processes draws on concepts of musicalisation, identified by Varopolou. (in Lehmann 2006:91) Certain ‘musical moments’ in the piece echoed Ross Brown’s (2010) acoustemological concepts of sonification of everyday life, and the process involved dynamic curation of ‘music under’ for emotional effect, avoiding cinematic clichés and reaching for connections between music and emotion characterized by scholars such as Juslin and Sloboda (2001) The resulting performance was a hybrid of playreading and slideshow, supported by an original soundtrack of ‘music under’ (pre-recorded, but ‘DJ’ed’ live) as well as text-driven moments where music and sound were foregrounded. Research contribution This iteration of The Empty City shows that the tradition of the playreading can be a playful space where even the multiple layers of an intermedial performance text can be represented. The Empty City was a finalist in the 2012-13 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award. A ticketed public playreading of the script was held in the Queensland Theatre Company’s Bille Brown Studio on the 28th of July 2012 alongside the other finalists.

Bear With Me

This project investigates musicalisation and intermediality in the writing and devising of composed theatre. Its research question asks “How does the narrative of a musical play differ when it emerges from a setlist of original songs?”, the aim being to create performance event that is neither music nor theatre. This involves composition of lyrics, music, action and spoken text, projected image: gathered in a script and presented in performance. Scholars such as Kulezic-Wilson(in Kendrick, L and Roesner, D 2011:34) outline the acoustic dimension to the ‘performative turn’ (Mungen, Ernst and Bentzweizer, 2012) as heralding “…a shift of emphasis on how meaning is created (and veiled) and how the spectrum of theatrical creation and reception is widened.” Rebstock and Roesner (2012) capture approaches similar to this, building on Lehmann’s work in the post-dramatic under the new term ‘composed theatre’. This practice led research draws influence from these new theoretical frames, pushing beyond ‘the musical’. Springing from a set of original songs in dialogue with performed narrative, Bear with Me is a 45 minute music driven work for children, involving projected image and participatory action. Bear with Me’s intermedial hybrid of theatrical, screen and concert presentations shows that a simple setlist of original songs can be the starting point for the structure of a complex intermedial performance. Bear with Me was programmed into the Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s Out of the Box Festival. It was first performed in the Tony Gould Gallery at the Queensland in June 2012. The season sold out. A masterclass on my playwriting methodology was presented at the Connecting The Dots Symposium which ran alongside the festival.

Stage brothers slow to resurrect a Ned Kelly myth

JUST like the man, Ned Kelly dramas have had a chequered history. A century ago they were banned from the stage and screen. Following censorship law changes, Douglas Stewart's 4 1/2-hour long 1942 radio play was a hit on the airwaves but a flop onstage. Stewart's Ned was a menacing hero/villain. Little has been seen of Ned in mainstage plays since. Matthew Ryan's Kelly breaks the drought.

Cross-dressing footballer tackles issues and scores with the crowd

MISOGYNY, no matter how it's defined, has become a political football. Fifteen minutes into the first quarter of David Williamson's Managing Carmen and Brent Lyall, a star AFL footballer, has already taken a high tackle from his hottie girlfriend, had a clanger with his manager and been caught wearing women's clothes by his acting coach. Not a good look for Brent's sponsors. By full time, Williamson's witty banter and colourful characters have hit their mark. No wonder he's already working on the screenplay.

Solo life to Second Life : the design of physical and virtual learning spaces inspired by the drama classroom

This paper explores the design of virtual and physical learning spaces developed for students of drama and theatre studies. What can we learn from the traditional drama workshop that will inform the design of drama and theatre spaces created in technology-mediated learning environments? The authors examine four examples of spaces created for online, distance and on-campus students and discuss the relationship between the choice of technology, the learning and teaching methods, and the outcomes for student engagement. Combining insights from two previous action research projects, the discussion focuses on the physical space used for contemporary drama workshops, supplemented by Web 2.0 technologies; a modular online theatre studies course; the blogging space of students creating a group devised play; and the open and immersive world of Second Life, where students explore 3D simulations of historical theatre sites. The authors argue that the drama workshop can be used as inspiration for the design of successful online classrooms. This is achieved by focusing on students’ contributions to the learning as individuals and group members, the aesthetics and mise-en-scene of the learning space, and the role of mobile and networked technologies. Students in this environment increase their capacity to become co-creators of knowledge and to achieve creative outcomes. The drama workshop space in its physical and virtual forms is seen as a model for classrooms in other disciplines, where dynamic, creative and collaborative spaces are required.

Peggy Shaw's "RUFF"

Peggy Shaw has always had a host of crooners, lounge singers, movie stars, rock and roll bands, and eccentric family members living inside her. Ruff is a tribute to those who have kept Shaw company over the last 68 years, a lament for the absence of those who disappeared into the dark holes left behind by her recent stroke, and a celebration that her brain is able to fill the blank green screens with new insight. The original set and media environment for RUFF was conceived during a Split Britches residency hosted at QUT from June-August 2012, funded by Arts Queensland. After a preliminary season at Out North in Alaska RUFF premiered at Performance Space 122 2013 COIL festival, PS122 @ Dixon Place, New York in January 2013 and has since toured to the Chelsea Theatre in London and the Arches Festival in Glasgow. Co Written and Performed by Peggy Shaw, Co Written and Directed by Lois Weaver, Original Music Composed by Vivian Stoll, Choreography by Stormy Brandenburger, Set and Media Design by Matt Delbridge, Lighting Design by Lori E Said.

Design and Anthropology

Design and Anthropology challenges conventional thinking regarding the nature of design and creativity, in a way that acknowledges the improvisatory skills and perceptual acuity of people. Combining theoretical investigations and documentation of practice based experiments, it addresses methodological questions concerning the re-conceptualisation of the relation between design and use from both theoretical and practice-based positions. Concerned with what it means to draw 'users' into processes of designing and producing this book emphasises the creativity of design and the emergence of objects in social situations and collaborative endeavours. Organised around the themes of perception and the user-producer, skilled practices of designing and using, and the relation between people and things, the book contains the latest work of researchers from academia and industry, to enhance our understanding of ethnographic practice and develop a research agenda for the emergent field of design anthropology. Drawing together work from anthropologists, philosophers, designers, engineers, scholars of innovation and theatre practitioners, Design and Anthropology will appeal to anthropologists and to those working in the fields of design and innovation, and the philosophy of technology and engineering.

Guerrilla research tactics: alternative research methods

This case-study explores alternative and experimental methods of research data acquisition, through an emerging research methodology, ‘Guerrilla Research Tactics’ [GRT]. The premise is that the researcher develops covert tactics for attracting and engaging with research participants. These methods range between simple analogue interventions to physical bespoke artefacts which contain an embedded digital link to a live, interactive data collecting resource, such as an online poll, survey or similar. These artefacts are purposefully placed in environments where the researcher anticipates an encounter and response from the potential research participant. The choice of design and placement of artefacts is specific and intentional. DESCRIPTION: Additional information may include: the outcomes; key factors or principles that contribute to its effectiveness; anticipated impact/evidence of impact. This case-study assesses the application of ‘Guerrilla Research Tactics’ [GRT] Methodology as an alternative, engaging and interactive method of data acquisition for higher degree research. Extending Gauntlett’s definition of ‘new creative methods… an alternative to language driven qualitative research methods' (2007), this case-study contributes to the existing body of literature addressing creative and interactive approaches to HDR data collection. The case-study was undertaken with Masters of Architecture and Urban Design research students at QUT, in 2012. Typically students within these creative disciplines view research as a taxing and boring process, distracting them from their studio design focus. An obstacle that many students face, is acquiring data from their intended participant groups. In response to these challenges the authors worked with students to develop creative, fun, and engaging research methods for both the students and their research participants. GRT are influenced by and developed from a combination of participatory action research (Kindon, 2008) and unobtrusive research methods (Kellehear, 1993), to enhance social research. GRT takes un-obtrusive research in a new direction, beyond the typical social research methods. The Masters research students developed alternative methods for acquiring data, which relied on a combination of analogue design interventions and online platforms commonly distributed through social networks. They identified critical issues that required action by the community, and the processes they developed focused on engaging with communities, to propose solutions. Key characteristics shared between both GRT and Guerrilla Activism, are notions of political issues, the unexpected, the unconventional, and being interactive, unique and thought provoking. The trend of Guerrilla Activism has been adapted to: marketing, communication, gardening, craftivism, theatre, poetry, and art. Focusing on the action element and examining elements of current trends within Guerrilla marketing, we believe that GRT can be applied to a range of research areas within various academic disciplines.

The Yonder project : literacy and social competency development in primary school students through co-creation of live performance

Since 2007 Kite Arts Education Program (KITE), based at Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), has been engaged in delivering a series of theatre-based experiences for children in low socio-economic primary schools in Queensland. The artist in residence (AIR) project titled Yonder includes performances developed by the children with the support and leadership of teacher artists from KITE for their community and parents/carers,supported by a peak community cultural institution. In 2009,Queensland Performing Arts Centre partnered with Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Creative Industries Faculty (Drama) to conduct a three-year evaluation of the Yonder project to understand the operational dynamics, artistic outputs and the educational benefits of the project. This paper outlines the research findings for children engaged in the Yonder project in the interrelated areas of literacy development and social competencies. Findings are drawn from six iterations of the project in suburban locations on the edge of Brisbane city and in regional Queensland.

Recipe for success : cooking up a storm in the technology classroom

Ingredients: - 1 cup Vision - 100ml ‘Real World’ Application - 100ml Unit Structure/Organisation - 100ml Student-centric Approach [optional: Add Social Media/Popular Culture for extra goodness] - Large Dollop of Passion + Enthusiasm - Sprinkle of Approachability Mix all ingredients well. Cover and leave to rise in a Lecture Theatre for 1.5 hours. Cook in a Classroom for 1.5 hours. Garnish with a dash of Humour before serving. Serves 170 Students