Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
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Performing Anti-Nationalism: Solidarity, Glitter, and No Borders Politics with the Europa Europa Cabaret
No full textThe Europa Europa anti-nationalist cabaret was created in the run up to the 2014 Swedish elections by the Ful collective in collaboration with ‘house band’ the Knife. Part rally and part concert, Europa Europa responds to the Swedish Democrat Party’s anti-immigrant propaganda specifically and the migration policies of the European Union more generally, by enacting a kind of ‘no borders’ politics in a moment of rising nationalisms. The cabaret aims to build a temporary coalition between different but like-minded audiences as an aim distinct from changing minds. This solidarity is also practiced by the performers onstage, who use the ambiguous theatrical positioning of migration stories to challenge conventional imaginaries of heroes and criminals. Through Europa Europa and its inheritances, from historical agitprop to the Macarena, this essay extends performance’s repertoire as a form in which to practice strategic anti-nationalism, and to engage with friction in the process
Voice: Readings in Theatre practice
No full textFeaturing original interviews with practitioners, this diverse and accessible collection is invaluable for undergraduate and postgraduate students exploring voice studies, physical theatre or theatre history on theatre and performance degrees.Its lively and practical approach makes it ideal for practitioners and voice coaches seeking to interrogate the nuances of their trade
Essais: Falling Slowly: Stumbling Towards an Urban Art-Inspired Place Practice in London
No full textLosing Sight of Land: Tales of Dyslexia and Dyspraxia in Psychophysical Actor Training
No full textThis article reports on the findings of a research project into the impact of psychophysical actor training methods on neurodiverse students. It illustrates how the application of a Social Theory of Learning Difference reveals the mechanisms whereby these training methods dysconsciously discriminate against those students who are dyslexic and/or dyspraxic learners. The research findings recognise the inherent value of psychophysical methods in the training of actors but suggests that there is a need to move away from a singular Psycho-Medical Theory of Learning Difference and to adopt a framework of learning difference based on the Social Model of (dis)ability, which requires institutions to adapt their provision to better meet a diverse range of needs. A revision of psychophysical approaches is proposed, which draws on a neuroscientific theory of experiential practice and a psychological framework of actor engagement. This new approach seeks to enhance the effective communication of embodied knowledge and skills in diverse actor training contexts and to allow students who are dyslexic and/or dyspraxic learners equal access to that learning
Experiencing Nationlessness: Staging the Migrant Condition in Some Recent British Theatre
No full textThis article explores some recent representations of migrants and migration in British Theatre, specifically: Zinnie Harris' How To Hold Your Breath (Royal Court, 2015), Isango Ensemble's A Man of Good Hope (Young Vic, 2016), and Zodwa Nyoni's Nine Lives (Oron Mor/West Yorkshire Playhouse, 2014). It applies Tim Ingold's critique of 'containment' and Julia Kristeva's idea of the 'abject' and 'deject' to critique representations of displacement and migrant experience that implicitly privilege a white, western perspective and position migrants as others as against an assumed normality of identity considered as a consequence of containment within borders. The article goes on to ask how theatre may represent the condition of nationlessness, and offers Nyoni's Nine Lives as an example of how performance may enable identity to be reframed not as the experience of containment within borders (of self and nation), but as a consequence of movement across them
Review: Ultimate Dancer: "It's Liberating to Let Go of the Limitations of Being Human"
No full textPerformance artist Ultimate Dancer makes work that mingles choreography and spirituality. Here, she talks healing rituals, movement, and the power of darkness