Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
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Between Antagonism and Eros: The Feud as Couple Form and Netflix’s GLOW
No full textA feud is an antagonism that is continuous and extended; “a state of prolonged mutual hostility” (OED). Historically, feuds take place between families or communities, or result from failed couples. Considered as a couple form in its own right, however, the feud is associated with aesthetic forms often coded as camp, queer, or feminized. In such popular, serialized forms, the feud must be open ended and of unforeseen futurity, for resolution brings an end to the feud as such and dissolves the couple. Thus, feuds reject normative modes of coupling (such as the nuclear family) that center harmonious or happy feelings. The article begins with the political economy of the feud through an examination of the pre-modern form of the blood feud and continues with its late-modern presence in popular culture. We rehearse the idea of the feud as it emerges from anthropology and philosophy, especially as it impacts notions of debt and alternative economies, before thinking through the contemporary “coupling” of the feud in popular culture, fandom, and, via the performance form of professional wrestling and Netflix’s GLOW
Snapshots on Theatre Photography
No full text(published article in Slovak)
In this article, I will briefly attempt to offer some perspectives on photography and theatre, in part drawing on ideas I explore in my last book, Theatre & Photography (Anderson 2014). I will summarise some points of intersection between photography and theatre, examples among many, taking as a particular focus theatre photography, which is to say photographs of theatre practice. I will consider how we might come to understand theatre photography by way of a conceptual distinction between two kinds of image, two approaches to photography, and suggest that theatre photography, while sometimes reinforcing one or the other notion, can at points point to their synthesis
The Theatre of Photography/Le Théâtre de la Photographie
No full textNous prenons comme point de départ l’opposition du titre : ce texte, sous forme de dialogue/duologue, est également une rencontre entre la photographie et le théâtre, un point de vue privilégié permettant l’interrogation et même l’effondrement de certaines grilles conceptuelles. Dans le domaine du théâtre, on parle souvent d’artifice, authenticité, vraisemblance, et « liveness ». Le théâtre, à partir de la conceptualisation du naturalisme à la fin du dix-neuvième siècle et jusqu’aux défis de la performance au vingtième, semble lutter contre les médias (malgré l’éclecticisme de son propre dispositif représentationnel technologique), cherchant parfois à se situer en dehors d’eux. D’autre part, les études photographiques soulignent souvent la possibilité ou l’impossibilité de la véracité photographique, les sincérités ou tromperies des photographies, d’où la « performance » semble parfois proposer une issue… Ce dialogue se contente d’éclairer certains croisements au Théâtre de la Photographie, afin d’envisager de futurs dialogues entre les médias et les disciplines.
Taking as a starting point the opposition of our title: this text, in the form of a duologue, is also a meeting between photography and theatre, a vantage point from which certain conceptual frameworks can be challenged and even collapsed. In the domain of theatre, one hears often of artifice, authenticity, likeness and liveness. Theatre, from the conceptualisation of naturalism in the nineteenth century to the challenges posed by performance art in the twentieth century, struggles with media (despite the eclecticism of its own technological apparatus), sometimes seeking distance from them. Photography studies, meanwhile, has often emphasised the possibility or impossibility of veracity, the truthfulness or deceptiveness of photographs, with performance seemingly offering one escape route… This duologue seeks only to cast light on certain crossings inside the theatre of photography, envisaging future dialogues between media and across disciplines
The Copla Musical: An Intercultural Exploration of Spanish Musical Form
No full textThis Practice-as-Research thesis, The Copla Musical, explores an intercultural adaptation of the 20th-century Spanish folkloric song-form of copla. Enjoying great
popularity during the mid-20th century, copla’s influence waned in the latter years of the Franco regime. It remains, however, a strong marker of Spanish cultural identity through nostalgic musical preservation. This project investigates copla’s roots as a storytelling form, its position as a folkloric genre and its role as a subversive tool in the
Spanish 20th-century zeitgeist. It asks new questions of copla, by documenting and analysing the process of sharing my experience of this musical form with audiences
outside Spain, testing the findings in an iterative context. Merging copla with elements found in Anglo-American musical theatre structures such as book musicals, revues and jukebox shows, The Copla Musical shows the ways in which this cultural form can be appropriated within an alternative theatrical and socio-political context. The numerous performances documented and commented on in the thesis allow for a discussion of divergent forms of musical theatre, audience engagement and cultural difference. Chapter 1 (Positioning copla) presents a history of musical theatre in Spain, framing copla in relation to Anglophone developments of musical theatre. Chapter 2
(Adapting copla) analyses the theoretical framework to my practice: translation, intercultural and queer theories, and their influence on the practical elements of the
thesis. Chapter 3 (Making copla) explores resonances of the practice in its various presentations. The thesis is accompanied by a series of appendices and a website
which documents the evolution and iterations of the practice (www.thecoplamusical.com). In its totality, the project demonstrates the possibilities for
copla to be appropriated as a musical form that can travel beyond its Spanish roots
Women and Puppet Theatre: Critical and Historical Investigations
No full textWomen and Puppetry is the first publication dedicated to the study of women in the field of puppetry arts. It includes critical articles and personal accounts that interrogate specific historical moments, cultural contexts, and notions of "woman" on and off stage.
Part I, "Critical Perspective," includes historical and contemporary analyses of women’s roles in society, gender anxiety revealed through the unmarked puppet body, and sexual expression within oppressive social contexts. Part II, "Local Contexts: Challenges and Transformations," investigates work of female practitioners within specific cultural contexts to illuminate how women are intervening in traditionally male spaces. Each chapter in Part II offers brief accounts of specific social histories, barriers, and gender biases that women have faced, and the opportunities afforded female creative leaders to appropriate, revive, and transform performance traditions. And in Part III, "Women Practitioners Speak," contemporary artists reflect on their experiences as female practitioners within the art of puppet theatre.
Representing female writers and practitioners from across the globe, Women and Puppetry offers students and scholars a comprehensive interrogation of the challenges and opportunities that women face in this unique art for
AutoCAD a Handbook for Theatre Users, 4th Edition
No full textFrom ‘Setting Up’ to ‘Drawing in Three Dimensions’ via ‘Drawings Within Drawings’, this compact and fully illustrated guide to AutoCAD covers everything from the basics to full colour rendering and remote 3D plotting
Getting Into Drama School
No full textThis encouraging, no-nonsense guide walks you through the whole process of applying for drama school – including doing your initial research, selecting the right school for you, choosing and preparing your audition pieces, nailing the audition and dealing with recalls
Joanna Parker Performance Designer
No full textSight of selected works in performance design and video from the last five years
Decolonizing Listening: Towards an Equitable Approach to Speech Training for the Actor.
No full textThis article confirms and deepens an understanding of the negative impact of teaching culturally embedded speech standards to actors who are “othered” by a dominant “somatic norm” within the performing arts. The author analyzes evidence from a three-year longitudinal study of actors within a UK conservatory in relation to the critical frame of the somatic norm and colonized listening practices in the performing arts. The author identifies conscious and unconscious bias within traditional training methods and proposes a decolonizing approach to listening within foundational speech training. The ideological shift outlined follows the “affective turn” in the humanities and social sciences and moves away from the culturally embedded listening at the core of “effective” speech methods, which focus solely on clarity and intelligibility. The outcome of this research is a radical performance pedagogy, which values the intersectional identities and linguistic capital of students from pluralistic backgrounds. The revised curriculum offers an approach to affective speaking and listening that assumes an equality of understanding from the outset, and requires actors, actor trainers, and, ultimately, audiences to de-colonize their listening ears
Mabel Constanduros: Different Voices, Voicing Difference
No full textA pioneer of early radio broadcast, Mabel Constanduros wrote and performed numerous sketches, plays and adaptations but known best for her creation of BBC long-running serial The Buggins Family. This chapter considers Constanduros work and her efforts to keep financial and artistic control of her work while maintaining the respectability of a middle-class mother in the pre and post-war years. Trained by Elsie Fogerty at Central, Constanduros found her voice as both an uncompromising professional and well-loved popular performer