Sydney eScholarship Collection: Being There:

Being There: After. An Introduction to the Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:54:12 GMT

Title: Being There: After. An Introduction to the Proceedings of the 2006 Conference of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies

Authors: Maxwell, Ian

Abstract: This introductory essay contextualises the planning and realisation of the 2006 conference of the Australasian Association for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, convened by the author at the Department of Performance Studies at the University of Sydney.

Live Media and the 'Alive' Actor

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:07:57 GMT

Title: Live Media and the 'Alive' Actor

Authors: Fewster, Russell

Abstract: This paper considers the presence of the actor in relation to mediatisation of the theatre space. In particular the kinetic relationship of the performer to real time and simulated real time video projection. This will be based on my recent production of 'The Lost Babylon' by Takeshi Kawamura at the 2006 Adelaide Fringe Festival—an Australian-Japanese co-production combining various acting styles with video projection.

When the Spectator Talks Back: The Development of Practical Wisdom and an ‘ethics of care’ within the Magdalena Talks Back Network

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:21:38 GMT

Title: When the Spectator Talks Back: The Development of Practical Wisdom and an ‘ethics of care’ within the Magdalena Talks Back Network

Authors: Kehoul, Gillian

Description: During discussions at the Magdalena Australia Festival 2003, a number of local and international participants identified a need to develop support systems for women aiming to create ‘good’ theatre. One result from these discussions was the establishment of a small network of theatre practitioners, playwrights, and academics in Brisbane who called themselves Magdalena Talks Back (M.T.B.). M.T.B. has been meeting every month since the Festival in 2003 to offer interested artists opportunities to discuss work in progress, compare evaluative strategies, and obtain feedback on specific productions. Since the network aims to support the development of good theatre, questions and arguments about what is valuable and valued have been intrinsic parts of these sessions. Indeed, much consideration has been given to what aesthetic values are supported by various practitioners and when, how, and if feedback can be effectively and ethically conveyed by those with differing values. While M.T.B. members constantly reflect upon biases and preferences informing creative processes and funding decisions, many core members also argue that the definition and implementation of a firm yet flexible ethical framework is an essential part of any process designed to develop work on a range of levels. As a member of M.T.B. who usually identifies as a performance theorist rather than a performer, I will explain how the role of spectator/observer requires an active ‘performance’ of an ‘ethics of care’ promoted within these sessions. I then consider how the ethical framework evident in this network connects with contemporary re-workings of Aristotelian arguments about the role of practical wisdom in the development of individuals and communities.

Longing to Belong: Trained Actors’ Attempts to Enter the Profession

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:21:24 GMT

Title: Longing to Belong: Trained Actors’ Attempts to Enter the Profession

Authors: Moore, Paul

Abstract: My research to date has focused on a sociology of the acting profession within Australia, and particularly on the experience of trained actors entering the profession. Training involves inculcated bodily and cognitive processes that create expectations of future inclusion. This ‘longing to belong’ to the wider profession is very rarely fulfilled following graduation. It is this expectation of inclusion, the memory of emersion in the ‘before’ of performance, that leads to such a heightened sense of exclusion in the actual ‘during’ of the actors career, and often lingers for years before collapsing into a sense of an unfulfilled ‘after’. Combining phenomenological, ethnographic and statistical analysis I will argue that of all those excluded from performance, these souls are placed in the most excruciating position, lingering with a sense of being forever 'partially there'.More positively, I will also detail how producing graduates on masse with expectations that are unlikely to be met, does, from a sociological perspective, create a situation where real change is an ever present possibility as those denied what they feel is their ‘right’ to belong, seize new opportunities to do so.