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Scriptwriting for puppet theatre. Towards the Mosaic Scale: literary dramaturgy for Anglo-American contemporary puppetry
Get PDFThis thesis seeks to position itself as an expansion and development of discourse on puppet theatre, dramaturgy and playwriting. The following is an exploration of my writing
for puppetry through practice as research. There are three elements to this research: 1) The two original puppet theatre scripts – 'The Blue Lady' and 'MONSTER'. 2) The literature review and reflection on the practice as research journey. 3) The Mosaic Scale - original dramaturgical guidelines, created as a result of practice as research.
It is my intention that this research will make an original contribution to the scholarly study of writing and dramaturgy for puppet theatre by creating two full-length puppet theatre scripts and analysing the process of writing those scripts;contributing to knowledge about process and expanding thinking on the notion of the uncanny and the visceral in scriptwriting by including the process and perspective of a creative practitioner, and my dramaturgical system The Mosaic Scale. The Mosaic Scale for dramaturging puppet theatre scripts provides a series of questions
for the writer to ask of themselves and their script throughout the process, in order to refine and edit their script in progress.Some of the considerations are to be kept at the back of the mind throughout the process of writing and checked regularly, other questions or topics are specific to particular milestones in the process and yet more good to ask of the final drafts. Within the five step system is an exercise also named the mosaic scale, see
diagram above. The mosaic scale exercise can be used to look at the number of times a character, theme, puppet type, effect, scale or motif appears in a scene or show. It allows
for the exploration of balance, rhythm, and style, and indicates if the thing being examined is missing, occurring too soon or too often. It can be utilised during all of the five steps. There is an intrinsic uncanniness to a puppet play which comes from the anthropomorphism of an inanimate object. This prompts the question: does the consideration of trying to create any further elements of uncanniness into the script become unnecessary? The Mosaic Scale is specifically developed to explore the visceral and the uncanny within writing puppetry and the patterns of occurrence and repetition of elements specific to these two categories on the page. The writer does not have to try to
make strange the puppet theatre but can enhance its reception from an audience, through the application of certain tropes and motifs that encourage a visceral or uncanny response. Within contemporary Anglo-American puppet theatre, the canon is limited in terms of published scripts. Most puppeteers create shows through a number of different methods of devising. Historically, those puppetry scripts that have been written by individual playwrights are readerly rather than performative and usually consist only of dialogue and entrances/exits. Other scripts are dialogue heavy and include specific puppet manipulation direction within the dialogue. This latter tendency makes the scripts untidy to read as dramatic literature but perhaps more useful as performative texts because the stage directions can help to impart the action that shows the narrative in performance.This discovery led me to question:what does a creative team need from a performative puppet theatre script? Puppet theatre is not a one-size-fits-all process – it is a polysemic system dependent on the type of puppetry utilised, the target audience, and the place and time in which these signs are being decoded. Any script written from scratch needs to reflect these elements to be a useful performative text. This contextual component of my thesis is aimed at puppetry directors, puppeteers, performance writers who are new to puppetry and those coming from another medium with an interest in puppet theatre. I have included a glossary for those new to certain terms
Book printing at the university press at Oxford between 1660 and 1780
Get PDFMy research has yielded publications that contribute to the field of printing history through the first comprehensive accounts of the operation of two large English printing houses in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: the Learned Press at Oxford in the period 1660 to 1780 and the Oxford Bible Press in the period 1769 to 1772.
Those publications contribute to the field in two ways. Firstly, my research into the Oxford Bible Press in the period 1769 to 1772 reveals operational features of a
large printing house that could otherwise only be speculated about, in particular the extent and nature of concurrent printing there*. Secondly, my research into the Learned Press at Oxford has produced insights into the operation of a large printing house at a level not seen before, surpassing in detail D. F. McKenzie’s description of the Cambridge University Press in the period 1696 to 1712. Both areas contribute extensive economic data for the period, including pay rates, the prices of materials and services, productivity figures, and the movement of workers.
Moreover, from the basis established by my publications I have been able to widen my contribution by confirming and in some cases challenging McKenzie’s assertions about the operation of an eighteenth-century printing house. (*‘Concurrent printing’ is a term used for the situation where more than one work is in hand in a Press at any one time.
Waste and makers: problem-based learning to address sustainability
No full textThis session reflected on a project employing problem based learning to engage students with sustainable design. The course community concerned is based in a traditional art school, grounded in hands-on material exploration and individual autonomy. This talk will explore how these skills and values were applied to a ‘wicked’ problem experienced in the local community, how students and staff managed creative risk, and how when positioned as ‘experts’, students became active learners, and developed self knowledge
Once upon the Civil War: monsters, magic, and making an American fairy tale
Get PDFThis thesis probes the process through which I utilized elements of fairy tale and folk tale in writing 'The Civil War Fairy Book', both a novel-in-fairy-tale and a retelling of Arthurian legend set in nineteenth-century America. Fairy tale is a genre traditionally associated with brevity, flat characterization, lack of detail, a placeless and timeless setting, and a happy ending. While I intend this thesis to serve as a toolkit for writers of fairy tale, the scope of this research means it cannot be exhaustive in terms of its coverage, nor do I wish to be prescriptive about the elements of fairy tale writers ought to consider in their work. Rather than providing a formal, critical analysis of the genre — a project that already fills volumes in libraries — I have instead engaged in a personal but intellectually informed reflection on my own process. This takes the form of a travel memoir that combines fairy tale theory, commentary on my own writing process, and chronicles of my research trip to Natchez, Mississippi. As daily travel diary, each of this thesis’ seven sections explores the ways I have stretched the edges of fairy story into a long work. The first section documents my process of writing a fairy tale with a specific setting while the second discusses my use of the fairy tale’s brief, repetitive structure in a novel. Section three details the creation of my protagonist as both round character and flat fairy tale hero. Section four records my experimentation with various points of view, and sections five, six and seven argue for the importance of magical transformation and black magic; examine fairy tale themes through a survey of scholarly approaches to the genre; and question the fairy tale’s traditionally happy endings, respectively. It is my hope that by sharing my journey, process and discoveries in writing a new American fairy tale, other writers may also create contemporary tales that push the boundaries of genre
TALIS video study: international summary
No full textThe Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Video Study, run by the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), provides new
information on the teaching of mathematics in secondary schools across the eight
participating countries/economies: Biobío, Metropolitana and Valparaíso (Chile),
Colombia, England (UK), Germany, Kumagaya, Shizuoka and Toda (Japan), Madrid
(Spain), Mexico, and Shanghai (China). Later in the report these regions are referred to
by country name only. Data collection was conducted in England between October 2017
and October 2018
Return to work interventions for chronic pain: a systematic review
Get PDFBackground:- Chronic pain (CP) remains the second commonest reason for being off work. Tertiary return to work (RTW) interventions aim to improve psychological and physical capacity amongst workers already off sick. Their effectiveness for workers with CP is unclear.
Aims:- To explore which tertiary interventions effectively promote RTW for CP sufferers.
Methods:- We searched eight databases for randomised controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of tertiary RTW interventions for CP sufferers. We employed the Cochrane Risk of Bias (ROB) and methodological quality assessment tools for all included papers. We synthesised findings narratively. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity of study characteristics.
Results:- We included 16 papers pertaining to 13 trials. The types, delivery format and follow-up schedules of RTW interventions varied greatly. Most treatments were multidisciplinary, comprising psychological, physical and workplace elements. Five trials reported that tertiary interventions with multidisciplinary elements promoted RTW for workers with CP compared to controls. We gave a high ROB rating for one or more assessment criteria to three out of the five successful intervention trials. Two had medium and low risk elements across all categories. One compared different intensity multidisciplinary treatment and one comprised work-hardening with a job-coach. Seven trials found treatment effects for secondary outcomes but no RTW improvement.
Conclusions:- There is no conclusive evidence to support any specific tertiary RTW intervention for workers with CP, but multidisciplinary efforts should be considered. Workers’ compensation is an important area for RTW policymakers to consider
Maternal imprisonment and family life: from the caregiver's perspective
No full textExploring the untold experiences of family members and friends caring for the children of female prisoners in England and Wales, this book sheds light on the collateral damage that incarceration causes those who take over caregiving responsibilities for the children of female prisoners.
Providing new qualitative research on the lived experiences of caregiving relatives, alongside theoretically informed and policy-relevant insights, Booth shows the difficult and damaging consequences of the ‘family sentence’ they serve. Exploring the stigma, scarce statutory support and policy neglect they face, she offers much-needed evidence to encourage the development of a more inclusive, understanding and family-oriented justice system
Time for timelines: the take-home timeline as a tool for exploring complex life histories
Get PDFVisual timelines have become an increasingly popular way of enhancing life history research. Most timeline-based studies have involved participants creating timelines “there and then,” usually in the presence of the researcher. This article proposes an alternative: the “take-home” timeline, which involved participants taking their timelines home and completing them in their own time. Seven English language teachers, who had participated in the take-home timeline method, were interviewed to explore their experiences of the process. Specifically, they were asked to consider whether the take-home element of the timeline method may have influenced the quality of the data. The teachers reported several benefits of producing their timelines at home, particularly in terms of helping them recall, organize and express complex ideas. Their experiences would appear to support cognitive science research on memory retrieval, as well as an increasing body of research on unconscious mental processes. The author concludes that increased time may be a key factor in enhancing the quality of data produced through qualitative approaches such as timeline-based life history studies, and suggests that the time element could be taken into account in a wider range of narrative studies. Key limitations of the study are recognized; in particular, that participants were only subjected to the “take-home” method and were not given the chance to take part in the “there and then” method
(Dis)enchantments and perambulations: 'walking-with' intangible cultural heritage, coerced walking and reluctant heritage
Get PDFThis submission presents findings and makings drawn from an emergent hybrid
participatory walking and multi-media arts practice, contextualised within and around
specific heritage narratives. The thesis features two walking arts case studies:
"Honouring Esther" (2015-17), a project based on walking the route of a Nazi Death
March, and "Sweet Waters" (2017), a cycle of walks exploring the legacies of slaveownership
in Bath. In both case studies, registers of walking are juxtaposed in a creative
exploration motivated by a social justice desire to realise agency in heritage as process.
Honouring Esther represents an early iteration of walking-with exploring dissonant
interventions to stimulate empathic dialogues. "Sweet Waters" develops a further
iteration of the approach as a critical creative unsettling of an authorised heritage
narrative. In the Humanities, an interest in affect, sensation and the corporeal,
described broadly as the ‘affective’ turn, has unfolded a space valuing contributions
from artistic practice. This Creative Practice as Research undertaken in that intradisciplinary
space contributes to the ‘creative’ turn thus afforded; this is a walking arts
engagement with the practices of heritage.
The submission brings together activist concerns underpinned by a focus on the
walking itself. Through developing an understanding of the somatic, embracing an
alertness to the more-than-representational, a co-creative walking and multi-media
approach has emerged. Attending to matter and the power of things, drawing on
embodied experience and curated content, a critically questioning and retelling of
heritage narratives begins. Grounded in the body and bodies in motion, walking and
questioning, new knowledge and understandings are produced as part of an intangible
cultural heritage process. Walkers become critical story carriers.
The submission presents iterations of 'walking-with' as an emergent walking arts
practice exploring particular heritage contexts. In these contexts 'walking-with'
generates empathic dialogues and builds solidarity in attending to difficult, reluctant,
heritages. In addition to indicating new directions for this creative practice and
observations of possible interest to research in related fields, I propose 'walking-with' as
a non-confrontational approach of potential value for working creatively with other
dissonant and complex heritage narratives