Theron Schmidt (King’s College):
‘Theatre at work: The life and times of the Nature Theater of Oklahoma’
The theatre is a strange place to seek an escape from alienated labor, given its long association with dynamics of abstraction, representation, and reproduction. One possible approach was tendered in the task-based procedures of performance in the 1960s, which sought to avoid artifice and restore a sense of reality and authenticity to performed actions as “real work.” But, as the lines between work and non-work become increasingly blurred in the 21st century, a more recent tendency has amplified the theatrical rather than the performative, producing not an escape from commodification but rather what Nicholas Ridout has called the “commodification-squared temporality of the theatrical” (Passionate Amateurs, p. 132). In this paper, I will consider the ongoing project Life & Times by Nature Theater of Oklahoma, which, rather than trying to create moments of “real life” that would redeem theatre’s falseness, instead ambitiously (and impossibly) sets out to create a theatre that swallows up an entire life – including the life of its audience members – within its capacious artifice.
Drama Studio and live on DAP-TV
16:oo - 18:oo GMT
Comments
Drama Studio and live on DAP-TV ! yes of course you can join us (just remember Greenwhich Mean Time, 16:oo), we are live streaming these seminars and workshops.
http://dance-tech.tv/videos/daplabtv/
Thanks for your letter and what you suggest! regards, Johannes
As I am in Singapore and without professional leave for this event - might there be a distance streaming mode that I can pay to participate at least as an observing listener? The topic is fascinating and very current in its scope- quite ahead of the mainstream and I would love to hear or read about it more. Best wishes; PS Have you ever looked into presenting at the Singapore Arts Festival or any of their conferences- quite well funded and a vibrant and eager community for cutting edge. Thanks;
Laura C. Schuster