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13 pages, 689 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Green Moment to Share: A Theatrical Laboratory to Explore Climate Crisis Possibilities within Single Moments

by Nic Bennett, Venese Alcantar, Tulasi Ravindran, Vanna Chen, River Terrell and Kathryn Dawson

Arts 2024, 13(4), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040120 - 16 Jul 2024

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Abstract

Many youth experience distress around the climate crisis. However, mainstream environmental messages ignore youth concerns, blame individuals, and suggest techno-fixes rather than addressing root causes. Young people need a way to productively process and collectively engage with their complex feelings about the climate [...] Read more.

Many youth experience distress around the climate crisis. However, mainstream environmental messages ignore youth concerns, blame individuals, and suggest techno-fixes rather than addressing root causes. Young people need a way to productively process and collectively engage with their complex feelings about the climate crisis. During the spring of 2023, a group of university students facilitated a Research-based Theatre project to explore their relationship to climate and environmental justice as part of a biannual performance festival of student new work. Specifically, we used Theatre of the Oppressed techniques to slow down and embody participants’ struggles with environmental action. We argue that this process allowed participants to explore how and why they made sense of mainstream environmental messaging about the climate crisis. This paper offers a case study exploring how the interwoven themes of power, positionality, and agency emerged through embodied investigations during the early development of our Research-based Theatre performance. The paper concludes by discussing how Research-based Theatre can embrace a post-activist lens that supports the complexity of sense-making and troubles the over-emphasis on solution as the only response to environmental/climate crisis. Further, we argue for the kin-making possibilities that crisis can teach us when engaged through embodied exploration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

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12 pages, 2243 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Great-Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother, and Me: A Search for My Roots through Research-based theatre

by Mette Bøe Lyngstad

Arts 2024, 13(3), 107; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030107 - 13 Jun 2024

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Abstract

In this article I present how I use Research-based theatre (RbT) to better comprehend my own roots, history, and multiple selves. The purpose of this research project is also for me to explore RbT before I invite my oral storytelling students to do [...] Read more.

In this article I present how I use Research-based theatre (RbT) to better comprehend my own roots, history, and multiple selves. The purpose of this research project is also for me to explore RbT before I invite my oral storytelling students to do the same. Using RbT as my central methodology, I have explored my own and others’ narratives by using an aesthetic, arts-based approach. Drama conventions used as research methods serve as a catalyst for opening up creative processes and generating a desire to dig more deeply into stories of my maternal ancestry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

14 pages, 249 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Applied Theatre: Research-Based Theatre, or Theatre-Based Research? Exploring the Possibilities of Finding Social, Spatial, and Cognitive Justice in Informal Housing Settlements in India, or Tales from the Banyan Tree

by Selina Busby

Arts 2024, 13(2), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13020063 - 29 Mar 2024

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Abstract

This article draws on a twenty-year relationship of short-term interventions with Dalit communities living in informal settlements, sub-cities and urban villages in Mumbai, that have sought to create public theatre events based on research by and with communities that celebrate, problematise and interrogate [...] Read more.

This article draws on a twenty-year relationship of short-term interventions with Dalit communities living in informal settlements, sub-cities and urban villages in Mumbai, that have sought to create public theatre events based on research by and with communities that celebrate, problematise and interrogate sustainable urban living. In looking back over the developments and changes to our working methods in Mumbai, I explore how the projects priorities the roles of the community as both researchers and artists. I consider where a specific applied theatre project, which focuses on site specific storytelling with Dalit communities in Worli Koliwada and Dharavi, functions on a continuum of interactive, participatory, and emancipatory practice, research and performance. Applied Theatre practices should not and cannot remain static, they need to be constantly reformed and as practitioners and researchers we need to constantly re-examine the ways in which we work. This chapter poses two central questions: firstly, can this long-term partnership between practitioners, researchers and artists from the UK and India working with community members genuinely be a space for co-creating knowledge and theatre? And secondly, if so, is this Theatre-based Research or Research Based Theatre? I interrogate Applied Theatre’s potential to create a space of cognitive justice, which must be the next step for applied theatre, along-side its more widely accepted aims of searching for social and spatial justice and which places the community as both artists and researchers. The Dalit social reality is one of oppression, based on three axes: social, economic and gender. The chapter explores how working as co-researchers and the public performance of their stories has been a form of ‘active citizenship’ for these participants and is a key part of their strategy in their demand for policy changes. In looking forward I ask how working in international partnerships with community members can promote cognitive justice and go beyond a merely participatory practice. I consider why it is vital for the field that applied theatre practice includes partners from both the global south and north working together to co-create knowledge, new methods of practice to ensure an applied theatre knowledge democracy. In doing so I will discuss if and how this work might be considered to be Theatre-based Research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

14 pages, 238 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The 60 Years of Queer and Trans Activism and Care Project: Learning to Conduct Archival Research and Write Dramatic Verbatim Monologues

by Tara Goldstein and Jenny Salisbury

Arts 2024, 13(2), 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13020062 - 29 Mar 2024

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Abstract

This reflective essay describes a research course which provided undergraduate students with an opportunity to conduct archival research on six decades of queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (QTBIPOC) activism and care that have challenged heteronormativity, cis-normativity, and racism in Canada. [...] Read more.

This reflective essay describes a research course which provided undergraduate students with an opportunity to conduct archival research on six decades of queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (QTBIPOC) activism and care that have challenged heteronormativity, cis-normativity, and racism in Canada. While there are many ways to share the findings of archival research, we chose to teach our students how to create dramatic verbatim monologues as the arts-based research method of verbatim theatre required students to use the words of activists themselves to explain why a particular moment of activism and care was needed. Students attended three different workshops during the full-year course from September 2022 to March 2023: a workshop in conducting archival research, a workshop about centring themselves and their communities in their research, and a workshop in verbatim monologue writing. Here, we reflect upon what these workshops taught us about archival research, working with Indigenous archival material, and rupturing systems of oppression in our own bodies. At the end of the course, students reported their take-aways from the course. This included a new understanding that it was possible to conduct research on topics they felt passionate about and that theatre-based research provided them with a way to express the findings of their research in forms other than writing essays. This new-found freedom was life-changing. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

22 pages, 7449 KiB

Open AccessArticle

La Liga de la Decencia: Performing 20th Century Mexican History in 21st Century Texas

by Jessica Peña Torres

Arts 2024, 13(2), 47; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13020047 - 27 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2406 | Correction

Abstract

This article describes the development and public performances of La Liga de la Decencia, a new play presented as part of the 2023 New Works Festival at the University of Texas at Austin. Inspired by the cabaret scene and teatro de revista [...] Read more.

This article describes the development and public performances of La Liga de la Decencia, a new play presented as part of the 2023 New Works Festival at the University of Texas at Austin. Inspired by the cabaret scene and teatro de revista of the 1940s in Mexico City, La Liga de la Decencia combines live performance and video art to explore how hegemonic gender and social norms shaped by the emergent nationalism of postrevolutionary Mexico continue to oppress femme and queer bodies today across the US–Mexico border. Through satire, parody, and dance, La Liga de la Decencia problematizes the social, class, and gender norms as established by the cultural elite and the state. Following research-based theatre as an inquiry process, this article describes how writing and directing this play allowed for a deeper understanding of the dynamics of a historical period. By mixing facts, fiction, and critical commentary, La Liga de la Decencia investigates history through embodiment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

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16 pages, 272 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Permission to Cry—Drifts on Research Based Theatre on Top of an Elephant

by Emilio Méndez-Martínez, Esther Uria-Iriarte and Montserrat González Parera

Arts 2024, 13(2), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13020045 - 27 Feb 2024

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Abstract

This article aims to propose a critical reflection on what it means to be a professional of drama-based practices. To do so, we promote a process of cooperative creation and research based on our own doubts, contradictions, and concerns about the different roles [...] Read more.

This article aims to propose a critical reflection on what it means to be a professional of drama-based practices. To do so, we promote a process of cooperative creation and research based on our own doubts, contradictions, and concerns about the different roles we play in our practice. The results of this process are presented in artistic form, using dramatic language and metaphor as doors to new spaces for reflection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

19 pages, 3372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performing Yuánfèn: An Exploration of Untranslatable Words in the Lacunae Project

by Erika Piazzoli, Modesto Corderi Novoa and Zoe Hogan

Arts 2024, 13(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13010002 - 20 Dec 2023

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Abstract

In this paper, we discuss a collaborative research project called Lacunae: Embodying the Untranslatable. The issue of untranslatability has been a much-discussed topic in translation studies, with recent debate linking it to performability. Although untranslatability has received some attention lately, the debate [...] Read more.

In this paper, we discuss a collaborative research project called Lacunae: Embodying the Untranslatable. The issue of untranslatability has been a much-discussed topic in translation studies, with recent debate linking it to performability. Although untranslatability has received some attention lately, the debate has been largely theoretical, confined to a textual conception of translation. In the study discussed in this article, we explored an applied approach to (un)translatability, working with/through the body in space, positing the body as the vehicle for deciphering the untranslatable. We draw on an embodied way of knowing as a phenomenological framework to construct knowledge as lived experience. The study aimed to investigate the lexical, intercultural, and aesthetic potential of performing untranslatability by exploring a series of untranslatable words through research-based theatre. The data generation process involved a retreat where nine researchers/artists/practitioners addressed the research question through practices like process drama, Butoh, physical theatre, improvisation, and visual arts on mixed media. In this paper, first, we introduce the theoretical framework and context of the study. Next, we illustrate the methodology, data analysis, and findings, with reference to one untranslatable word from the Chinese language, yuánfèn 缘分, loosely translated as ‘serendipity in relationships and life events’. We contemplate the practice in this workshop through a philosophical, pedagogical, and research-based lens. Finally, we contemplate future iterations of this project, reflecting on how performing yuánfèn could inform theatre-based research on migration and identity in education. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

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12 pages, 235 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Behind the Scenes: Insights on Pedagogy during Implementation of an RbT Open Educational Resource

by Susan Cox, Matthew Smithdeal and Michael Lee

Arts 2023, 12(6), 243; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts12060243 - 24 Nov 2023

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Abstract

Research-based Theatre (RbT) offers a powerful stimulus for dialogue about the challenges of graduate supervisory relationships. This paper traces the implementation process for Rock the Boat, an open-access educational resource that includes four professionally acted scenes, a facilitator’s guide, and supplementary reading [...] Read more.

Research-based Theatre (RbT) offers a powerful stimulus for dialogue about the challenges of graduate supervisory relationships. This paper traces the implementation process for Rock the Boat, an open-access educational resource that includes four professionally acted scenes, a facilitator’s guide, and supplementary reading materials. The resource has been used extensively in online, in-person, and hybrid workshops to identify difficulties in graduate supervision, heighten awareness of power dynamics, and increase reflective practice among participants. Reflecting on lessons learned about the importance of pedagogy and practical logistics, we suggest that implementation aspects of RbT methodology are as vital as the creative and developmental. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

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1 pages, 124 KiB

Open AccessCorrection

Correction: Peña Torres (2024). La Liga de la Decencia: Performing 20th Century Mexican History in 21st Century Texas. Arts 13: 47

by Jessica Peña Torres

Arts 2024, 13(2), 69; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13020069 - 7 Apr 2024

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Abstract

In the original publication (Peña Torres 2024), (Belliveau and Lea 2016) was not cited and its related reference was also omitted [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

20 pages, 3727 KiB

Open AccessProject Report

Viewpoints/Points of View: Building a Transdisciplinary Data Theatre Collaboration in Six Scenes

by Dani Snyder-Young, Michael Arnold Mages, Rahul Bhargava, Jonathan Carr, Laura Perovich, Victor Talmadge, Oliver Wason, Moira Zellner, Angelique C-Dina, Ren Birnholz, Halle Brockett, Ezekiel D’Ascoli, Donovan Holt, Sydney Love and George Belliveau

Arts 2024, 13(1), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13010037 - 18 Feb 2024

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Abstract

Data now plays a central role in civic life and community practices. This has created a pressing need for new forms of translation and sense-making that can engage diverse publics. Research-based Theatre (RbT) has proven to be an effective approach to delivering qualitative [...] Read more.

Data now plays a central role in civic life and community practices. This has created a pressing need for new forms of translation and sense-making that can engage diverse publics. Research-based Theatre (RbT) has proven to be an effective approach to delivering qualitative data to community stakeholders. We extend this tradition by proposing “community-engaged data theatre”. This approach translates quantitative data into theatrical language to engage communities in deliberative conversations on relevant issues. Community-engaged data theatre requires bridging multiple disciplines and involves creating new definitions and shared vocabularies in discourses that formerly have had little overlap in meaning. In this article, we share key insights from our initial experiments in which we adapted quantitative and qualitative data to devise a pilot piece in collaboration with a local community partner. In this essay, we communicate our collaborative process in polyvocal, artistic form. We edit and adapt materials from our conversations and creative practices into scenes illustrating how we taught and learned from each other about data science, participatory modeling, material deliberation and Composition to pilot our lab’s first community-engaged data theatre prototype. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Research-Based Theatre within Contemporary Theatre Education)

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