This workshop will explore questions of contemporary dramatical practice and ‘new dramaturgy’; we will investigate how dramaturgy has become centrally important in the theory and practice of making contemporary performance. Contemporary performance is a wide interdisciplinary field of performance that includes and mixes aspects of drama, dance, performance, media, design, sound and visuality, along with research into cultural theories and ways of being in the world. These are all touchstones for exploring processes of devising new performance forms. Dramaturgy is seen as a creative and theoretical bridging practice that explores how ideas and cultural themes from the world are adapted and transformed in the making of contemporary performance. In essence, the workshop will explore the central idea that contemporary performance is dramaturgical.
The workshop will be held over three-three-hour sessions on the evenings of August 3, 4 and 5 with a full day of work on Saturday August 6. There will also be a public lecture by Peter Eckersall and an open discussion session with participants of the workshop and lecture attendees on Sunday August 7.
Expect the use of a mix of lecture, discussion, reading, small group work and creative practice in the workshop. The workshop will include discussion of the meaning and practice of new dramaturgical thinking, including insights into new dramaturgy, new media dramaturgy and slow dramaturgy – a concept that relates to ecocriticism and the performing arts. A central question for the workshop is “What role can and should the performing arts play in addressing key questions in our world: what can the performing arts do and what are its limitations?”