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Embodying the Eerie: an investigation of the Eerie as a dramaturgical concept in processes of directing devised performance
Full text link'The Strange Geometry of Time', 'Dwelling', and 'This Is the Land' were three productions that formed the practice-based elements of a study exploring the Eerie as a dramaturgical concept in devised performance practice, through an emergent process that does not determine and outcome but extends dramaturgy beyond the known and knowable. The first of three devised performances, 'The Strange Geometry of Time', was presented at the University Theatre, Bath Spa University, in June 2018, before touring to the 'Dreams Before Dawn Festival' in Paris in July 2018 and returning to the University Theatre, Bath Spa, in November 2018. 'Dwelling', a site-specific intermedial performance, was presented at The Anglican Chapel, Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol, in October 2019. 'This Is The Land' was presented at The Rondo Theatre in Bath in 2022 and toured to the RITU festival in Liege that same year. It was also presented at The Anglican Chapel, Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol, in 2022, and The Network Theatre, part of the VAULT Festival, in London, in 2023. The productions were developed by a professional company, engaging public audiences in theatres and non-theatre sites in the South West, London, and Europe.
The devising and directing practices are informed by a range of theoretical studies that consider theatre and performance from philosophical, historical, and theoretical perspectives. Central to the project is Mark Fisher's theoretical analysis of the Eerie, which provides a lens through which to explore the dramaturgy of the eerie in practice and contributes to an embodied knowledge of the eerie in performance practice. Alice Rayner's (2006) study of theatre as a memorial practice provides a lens through which to examine the materiality of the theatrical elements as eerie material doubles. Joslin McKinney's (2015) consideration of the agency of objects in the context of scenography and her analysis of the 'agential object' informs the agency of the materiality of objects, the performer's interactions with objects, and how objects interact as performative agents.
Performance theory is brought into dialogue with theories of spectrality and hauntology, acknowledging Derrida (1994). It draws on Fisher's tradition of hauntology 92014), which Coverley (2020) expands upon, to explore hauntological time in performance. Fisher's concept of the eerie presence or absence of the past, as ghosts of the 'no longer' and ghosts of the future, 'not yet', and 'lost futures' (Fisher, 2014), frames the dramaturgy of time and space. The conceptualisation of time informs the dramaturgy of time and space in relation to abandoned sites, places, and landscapes, which are constructed through what Lehman (2006) defines as visual dramaturgy.
Chapter 1 introduces these methods of practice and explores how the agential object interacts with the performers, drawing on Fisher's concept of the eerie outside and non-human agencies, which connect with theories of spectrality and hauntology. The chapter explores how the dramaturgy of the eerie materiality of stage objects and costumes expands the concept of agency in performance. Chapter 2 extends Fisher's ideas of the 'outside' to a site-specific intermedial process; the methodology is informed by Fisher's observations of the eeriness of abandoned sites and connects with spectrality theory's spatialisation of ghosts and hauntings. Heholt's (2016) 'affect of place' and Irwin's (2007) 'intangible presences) inform the ensemble's improvisations of place in eerie sites. Rayner's theory informs how the performance memorialises the spectral past as a site of unforgetting. Chapter 3 examines Fisher's observations of the eerie liminality of absence and presence as they inform performative ways of projecting ghostly figures and sound technologies in imagined landscapes. Macfarlane's observations of resurgence of the eerie in the contemporary moment inform the ensemble's improvisions of landscapes, as well as the directorial choices that reference eerie folk culture as spectral presences in the landscape. Lehmann's postdramatic theory offers an analysis of visual dramaturgy, which underpins the compositional techniques that defocalise theatrical elements through an assemblage of components. The nonlinear composition resists narrativising and a sequential progression of time to generate an eerie theatricality of the 'outside'; a site beyond the knowable
Widening inclusion: a discrete choice experiment of job preferences of disabled people
Full text linkPeople with disabilities face barriers to employment compared to people without disabilities, including the way in which employment opportunities are structured. The COVID-19 pandemic has opened up new ways of working (e.g. working from home), which have been trialled in a number of different locations, and these have the potential to widen employment opportunities for people with disabilities. It is therefore important to explore the extent to which job preferences differ between people with disabilities and people without disabilities, in particular for aspects such as teleworking. In total, 253 participants (62 male and 191 female) took part in a discrete choice experiment (DCE) that investigates participants’ preferences for various job aspects. These include discretionary medical leave, flexible scheduling, working from home, and the availability of part-time jobs. People with disabilities significantly prefer flexible scheduling and the availability of part-time jobs compared to people without disabilities. The results of a latent class analysis suggest it is older women with disabilities in particular, who most value increased flexible job design. An analysis of lexicographic preferences suggests that it is people who are most constrained by ‘traditional’ working conditions who benefit the most from increased flexibility, e.g. people who require teleworking or flexible scheduling. This suggests that wider adoption of these attributes by employers has the potential to go some way towards addressing the persistent disability employment gaps and related health inequalities observed in many countries around the world
Imagining the future of the dairy industry: a participatory human-centred approach to policy making for rural communities in Kenya
Full text linkIn this paper, we examine the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technologies and human development (HD) with a focus on the rural–urban digital divide in Kenya. We draw from two Futures Literacy Labs – participatory workshops designed to envision alternative futures- organised with smallholder farmers, predominantly women from Kinangop and Ol Kalou counties in Kenya. Through these workshops, participants envisioned different futures of the dairy industry in relation to AI-driven technologies. Building on these insights, we analyse how AI both enables and constrains substantive freedoms/central capabilities of rural farmers. Our findings reveal that access to digital technologies remains highly uneven, with women farmers particularly disadvantaged in leveraging AI tools for agricultural productivity and thus access to decent work. We briefly explore Kenya's AI policy landscape, identifying gaps in rural accessibility, gender-responsive approaches, as well as a lack of participation in policy making. We thus propose some capability-informed policy suggestions where AI can contribute to equitable HD outcomes, with the potential to improve farmers’ quality of life, but not without access to education, partnerships, and institutional support. We conclude by emphasising the importance of incorporating local voices in capability-centred policymaking, contributing to bridging the increasing digital divide and potentially transforming AI-driven technologies from a source of inequality into a means of expanding human freedoms across rural settings
Contemporary service recovery of tourism and hospitality businesses in Bath, UK
Full text linkThis report highlights some key findings of a research project led by Dr Li Li. The research investigated how tourism and hospitality businesses in Bath can utilize online customer reviews to enhance customer satisfaction, purchase intention, and recommendation intention during March and July 2025
Taskmasters and purposeless instructions: make-work as a compositional frame
Full text linkWork is, at times, arbitrary and somewhat pointless. In daily life the weight of purposeless tasks is a constant frustration, driven by a disconnect between the required work and its utility (Graeber 2018). We are given, and give, instructions to follow, often with no questioning of their value to ourselves or others, simply accepting them at face value. Equally in music we give instructions to others via scores which do not always question the rationale for the prescribed activities (Saunders 2017), instead assuming some kind of aesthetic outcome is in itself justification. In this paper I make connections between the perceived lack of value in many contemporary work contexts and the assumed validity of instruction-giving in music, considering the balance between purpose and task subservience in rule-based compositions. I reflect on recent projects, including my own, which require players to undertake a series of simple, repetitive activities that are in themselves relatively pointless, operating within a network of arbitrary rules and constraints, trying–or not–to complete the tasks as best they can. It questions whether the make-work we experience in daily life can be repurposed in music as a process for understanding how we construct value through decision-making, and the way these actions are observed by others
So what?
No full textA short article for teachers, with tips for how to use assessment productively in primary science lessons
‘Why don’t we teach loving who you are?’ Exploring the need for a positive racial literacy programme for young children
Full text linkThe early years setting is often where young children have their first solo experience of socialising, making friends and meeting unfamiliar adults. It can also be the place where they first experience racism. Further, while research highlights the presence of racial bias and exclusion in early childhood, there is limited understanding of how practitioners address these realities in everyday practice. This paper presents Proud of the Skin I’m In, a racial literacy development programme developed across Wales, England, and the United States to support conversations about race, identity and belonging in early years settings. While the program includes multiple components, this paper focuses on educator reflections gathered during a focus group exploring its feasibility and potential value. This qualitative study draws on a 90-minute online focus group with six early years practitioners from England, Wales, and the United States, which was analysed thematically to explore their perspectives. We find that practitioners welcomed structured opportunities to engage with race but expressed concerns around confidence, implementation, and the tendency for racial identity work to fall disproportionately to minoritised staff. We argue that supporting young children’s racial identity cannot be left to individual goodwill. It must be embedded into everyday pedagogy through intentional practice, shared responsibility, and sustained institutional support—ensuring all children are recognised, affirmed, and encouraged to take pride in their identity
21 signs for a city
No full textThe exhibition "OH, John Wood and Paul Harrison" at the Kunsthalle Göppingen focuses on the cinematic works of the artist duo and shows a selection of works from the past 25 years. It is complemented by the installation 21 signs for a city (2025), which was specially developed
for the public space in Göppingen. 21 signs in the urban space interrupt familiar perspectives and challenge our everyday perception with humor