Performance Perspectives: A Critical Introduction

This Critical Introduction To Performance Studies Provides Undergraduates With An Accessible Way Into Terminology And Context. Using A Tripartite Structure That Combines The Voices Of Artists, Critics And Teachers, It Addresses A Variety Of Practices Moving Through Body, Space, Time, Technology, Interactivity And Organization. Ch. 1. Introduction / Jonathan Pitches -- Performance Perspectives -- Borth Bench -- Summary -- Chapter Summaries -- Activities -- Further Reading -- Ch. 2. Body / Introduced And Edited By Anna Fenemore -- Introduction -- 2.1. Any Body? The Multiple Bodies Of The Performer / Victor Ramirez Ladron De Guevara -- The Textual Body -- The Lived Body -- The Ecstatic (or Fleshly) Body -- The Recessive (or Visceral) Body -- The Unnatural Body -- The Imagined Body -- 2.2. Some Body And No Body: The Body Of A Performer / Wendy Houston -- Some Body -- No Body -- A Somebody Or A Nobody -- The 'at Risk' Body -- The Ageing Body -- 2.3. Every Body: Performance's Other Bodies / Anna Fenemore -- Some Bodies Observed -- The Spectating Body -- The Social Body -- The Uncomfortable Body -- The Absent Body -- The Transformed Body -- The Irreplaceable Body -- Activities -- Further Reading -- Ch. 3. Space / Introduced And Edited By Scott Palmer -- Introduction -- Contents Note Continued: 3.1. Event-space: Performance Space And Spatial Performativity / Dorita Hannah -- Performing Space -- Event-space And Spatial Events -- The End Of Illusion -- The Empty Space -- Disciplinary Manoeuvres -- Presencing Architecture -- 3.2. Scenographic Space And Place / Louise Ann Wilson In Conversation With Scott Palmer -- 3.3. Audience Space/scenographic Space / Scott Palmer -- Performance Space And The Audience -- Performance Place And Scenographic Space -- The Empty Space And The Performer -- Activities -- Further Reading -- Ch. 4. Time / Introduced And Edited By Tony Gardner -- Introduction -- 4.1. Theatre, Technology And Time / Steve Dixon -- Postmodern Time -- Extratemporality -- Freezing Time -- Conclusion Time -- 4.2. Ghost Dance: Time And Duration In The Work Of Lone Twin / Gregg Whelan In Conversation With Tony Gardner -- 4.3. The Lives And Times Of Performance / Tony Gardner -- The Unique Connection Between Performance And Time -- Antony Gormley And The Fourth Plinth -- Grasping Time -- Conclusion -- Activities -- Further Reading --ch. 5. Technology / Introduced And Edited By Sita Popat -- Introduction -- 5.1. Gaming And Performance: Narrative And Identity / Jessica Wood -- Computer Games As Drama -- Self-representation And The Avatar -- Being There, Doing That -- The Fourth Wall -- Conclusion -- 5.2. Swanquake: House: 'messing The System Up' / Sita Popat -- Swanquake: House: A Personal Experience (sita Popat) -- Interview With Ruth Gibson And Bruno Martelli -- 5.3. Performance And Technology: The Myth Of Disembodiment / Sita Popat -- Introduction -- Cyberspace -- 'touching With My Eyes' -- Liveness -- Is Any Body Out There? -- Conclusion -- Activities -- Further Reading -- Ch. 6. Interactivity / Introduced And Edited By Alice O'grady -- Introduction -- Two Perspectives On Interaction -- 6.1. Boalian Perspectives On Interactivity In Theatre / John Somers -- Introduction -- The Real And The Fictional -- What Kinds Of Interactivity Are There? -- What Does The Audience Contribute? -- What Are The Challenges For The Actors? -- The Need For Closure And For Support Post-event -- Conclusion -- 6.2. Interactivity And The Work Of Blast Theory / Matt Adams In Conversation With Alice O'grady -- 6.3. Interactivity: Functions And Risks / Alice O'grady -- Interactivity And Performance -- Interactive Performance Is Always Incomplete -- Interactivity In Practice -- Spaces Of Interactivity -- Conclusion -- Activities -- Further Reading -- Ch. 7. Organization / Introduced And Edited By Calvin Taylor -- Introduction -- 7.1. Performance, Culture, Industry / Ralph Brown -- Value, Assets And Returns -- Communities Of Practice -- Conclusion -- 7.2. Organizational Agility And Improvisation / Teo Greenstreet -- 7.3. Performance, Organization, Theory / Calvin Taylor -- The Machine Metaphor -- Organization As Organism -- Organization As Network -- Activities -- Further Reading -- Ch. 8. Epilogue / Jonathan Pitches. Edited By Jonathan Pitches And Sita Popat ; Foreword By Mick Wallis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 207-218) And Index.