Making a Performance: Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices

Paperback

Main Details

Title Making a Performance: Devising Histories and Contemporary Practices
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Emma Govan
By (author) Helen Nicholson
By (author) Kate Normington
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback
Pages:224
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 138
Category/GenreDance and other performing arts
ISBN/Barcode 9780415286534
ClassificationsDewey:792.022
Audience
Undergraduate
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations 13 black & white halftones

Publishing Details

Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint Routledge
Publication Date 30 March 2006
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Making a Performance traces innovations in devised performance from early theatrical experiments in the twentieth-century to the radical performances of the twenty-first century. This introduction to the theory, history and practice of devised performance explores how performance-makers have built on the experimental aesthetic traditions of the past. It looks to companies as diverse as Australia's Legs on the Wall, Britain's Forced Entertainment and the USA-based Goat Island to show how contemporary practitioners challenge orthodoxies to develop new theatrical languages. Designed to be accessible to both scholars and practitioners, this study offers clear, practical examples of concepts and ideas that have shaped some of the most vibrant and experimental practices in contemporary performance.

Author Biography

Emma Govan lectures in drama and theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her particular research interests are contemporary practice and applied theatre. She is currently completing a book on Theatre in Health and Care. Helen Nicholson lectures in drama and theatre at Royal Holloway, University of London, where she specialises in contemporary performance-making and applied theatre. She is co-editor of the journal Research in Drama Education, and her book, Applied Drama: The Gift of Theatre, was published in 2005. Katie Normington is Professor of Drama at Royal Holloway University of London. Her research interests span both medieval and contemporary drama. Recent publications include Gender and Medieval Drama (Boydell and Brewer, 2004) and Modern Mysteries (Boydell and Brewer, forthcoming). She has written for New Theatre Quarterly on contemporary applications of Meyerhold and directing practices.

Reviews

'Making a Performance ... herald[s] a renewed, more urgent critical interest in the arena of contemporary devising practices ... and makes a strong, substantial and much needed contribution to the field of devised performance theory and I hope it will inspire others.' -- Joanna Bucknell, University of Winchester, UK