Performance Research Volume 24 Issue 8

On Politics

Issue editors: Helena Grehan and Peter Eckersall

ISSN: 1352-8165 (2019) 24:8

‘On Politics’ is concerned dramaturgically and existentially with relations of power in all spheres of life. We propose that life itself and all forms of economic, environmental, social and cultural production are inherently political. To say otherwise is, as Bertolt Brecht noted, to merely align oneself with the ruling group. Dramaturgically, the forms and actions of performance themselves communicate, critique and express the desire for conversations with a range of interlocutors, antagonists, audiences and others. This issue is informed by our current context of rapid and continuous transformations in environmental, technological and social life -- transformations that pose both existential and practical challenges for theatre and performance. The essays in this issue respond to this proposition through three distinct, yet interrelated themes: Diagnosis, Activism and Futures.

On Politics

Helena Grehan, Peter Eckersall

pp. 1 - 3

Theatricalizing Protest : The chorus of the commons

Andy Lavender

pp. 4 - 11

Our Town : Local politics, community theatre and power

Asher Warren

pp. 12 - 19

Theatre of the Real with Resettled Refugees : Old problems and new solutions in The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe

Caroline Wake

pp. 20 - 30

Compost and Air-conditioning : Beyond biospherical performance and towards the shimmer

Eddie Paterson

pp. 31 - 36

Bombshells and Balaclavas : Ironies of inclusion in the work of young Islamic artists in Australia

Edward Scheer

pp. 37 - 43

The Politics of (In)Decision : A hauntological reading of Dickie Beau’s Re-Member Me

Glenn D'Cruz

pp. 44 - 52

Slow Listening : The ethics and politics of paying attention, or shut up and listen

Helena Grehan

pp. 53 - 58

Politics Populism Performance

Janelle Reinelt

pp. 59 - 68

Shipwreck, Without Label

Josephine Wilson

pp. 69 - 79

From Despair to Friendship : Michiel Vandevelde’s Paradise Now (1986–2018)

Kristof Van Baarle

pp. 80 - 88

Anthroposcenic Performance and the Need For ‘Deep Dramaturgy’

Lara Stevens

pp. 89 - 97

Inside the Fishtrap : A conversation with Paloma McGregor on the intersection of art and activism

Nina Angela Mercer

pp. 98 - 105

Masculinity after #MeToo in Mainstream Theatre : Watching Miller, rehearsing Kane, reading Rush v Nationwide News Pty Ltd

Eloïse Mignon, Paul Rae

pp. 106 - 120

Slow Making in Five Short Blasts

Renée Newman

pp. 121 - 124

Problems of Stasis in My Country : The National Theatre and the crisis of general enculturation in post-referendum Britain

Tony Fisher

pp. 125 - 132

Notes on Contributors

pp. 133 - 134