‘The decentralisation of authorship and language within contemporary theatre: triangulation of critical reading, research into practice, and research through practice’

Hackney, Katherine Louise (2016) ‘The decentralisation of authorship and language within contemporary theatre: triangulation of critical reading, research into practice, and research through practice’. Masters thesis, University of Central Lancashire.

[thumbnail of Thesis document] PDF (Thesis document) - Submitted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike.

1MB

Abstract

This practice-led research aims to contribute to contemporary theatre by focusing upon the decentralisation of authorship and language through: critical reading of Artaud, research into practice, and research through practice. Whilst contemporary theatre already benefits from research into authorship and language, this project applies Derrida’s (1973) ‘deconstruction theory’, Goffman’s (1956) concept of ‘agency’, and Barthes’ (1977) concept of ‘text’. These theories expound critical reading of Artaud’s circa 1938 vision. Artaud challenged the centrality of language and the passivity of the audience by envisioning theatre as sensate encounter. Critical reading of Artaud’s vision informs comparison of Forced Entertainment’s and Pantheatre’s praxes. Within their practice some aspects of decentralisation are realised through techniques that embody some of the visceral qualities Artaud sought, engaging the audience in emotive, if predominantly intellectual experiences. Techniques including disassociation, working with subgroups, voice distortion, and recontextualisation, foreground symbolic rather than referential language and enhance the depth of performer engagement. Comparative study of Forced Entertainment and Pantheatre is yet to be published. This research incorporates the unique dissemination of primary research with both of the companies’ directors, citations from their archives, and observations of their practices. Techniques for decentralisation are then applied within my research through practice which is informed by but remains distinct from Artaud’s vision and the praxes of Forced Entertainment and Pantheatre. Within my research through practice I find that when authorship and language are radically decentralised enablement may be necessary for audience-participants to actively engage - however, enablement lessens the decentralisation of authorship. Through this research I expose the tendency for audience-participants to maintain a social-cultural etiquette of passivity unless explicitly instructed. I identify concerns about a rational interpretation becoming more significant than the audiences sensate encounter. The significance of how a performance is framed is discussed in relation to the audience- participants’ agency. I rationalise that bespoke usage of referential language may be desirable to enable greater audience engagement with contemporary performance which utilises decentralisation.


Repository Staff Only: item control page