Theatre in the Dark: Shadow, Gloom and Blackout in Contemporary Theatre responds to a rising tide of experimentation in theatre practice that eliminates or obscures light. It brings together leading and emerging practitioners and researchers in a volume dedicated to exploring the phenomenon and showcasing a range of possible critical and theoretical approaches.
This book considers the aesthetics and phenomenology of dark, gloomy and shadow-strewn theatre performances, as well as the historical and cultural significances of darkness, shadow and the night in theatre and performance contexts. It is concerned as much with the experiences elicited by darkness and obscured or diminished lighting as it is with the conditions that define, frame and at times re-shape what each might 'mean' and 'do'.
Contributors provide surveys of relevant practice, interviews with practitioners, theoretical reflections and close critical analyses of work by key innovators in the aesthetics of light, shadow and darkness. The book has a particular focus on the work of contemporary theatre makers including Sound&Fury, David Rosenberg and Glen Neath, Lundahl & Seitl, Extant, and Analogue and seeks to deepen the engagement of theatre and performance studies with what might be called 'the sensory turn'. Theatre in the Dark explores ground-breaking areas that will appeal to researchers, practitioners and audiences alike.
Recenzijas
Alston and Welton's important book is about theatre's relationship with darkness and its many complex allies ... the essays [ are] useful for theatre scholars and practitioners at all levels. * New Theatre Quarterly * Argues persuasively for the material, historical, cultural, and interpersonal significance of darkness in performance. * Theatre and Performance Design *
Papildus informācija
Theatre in the Dark is an edited volume that opens up a field of research featuring the work of leading scholars and practitioners concerned with darkness, shadow and obscured vision in the theatre.
Introduction: the dark draws in, by Adam Alston (University of Surrey,
UK) and Martin Welton (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Part One: Dark Aesthetics
Chapter 1 Harnessing shadows: A historical perspective on the role of
darkness in the theatre, by Scott Palmer (University of Leeds, UK)
Chapter 2 Melting into air: Dining in the dark, reification and the
aesthetics of darkness, by Adam Alston (University of Surrey, UK)
Chapter 3 Creating in the dark: Conceptualising different darknesses in
contemporary practice, by Liam Jarvis (Analogue/Royal Holloway University of
London, UK)
Part Two: Dark Phenomena
Chapter 4 Aural visions: sonic spectatorship in the dark, by Lynne
Kendrick (Central School of Speech and Drama, UK)
Chapter 5 Darkness, perceptual ambiguity and the abyss, by Tom Espiner and
George Home-Cook (Sound & Fury), in interview with Adam Alston and Martin
Welton
Chapter 6 Missing rooms and unknown clouds: Darkness and illumination in
the work of Lundahl & Seitl, by Josephine Machon (Middlesex University, UK)
with Christer Lundahl and Martina Seitl (Lundahl & Seitl)
Chapter 7 Staring at blindness: Pitch black theatre and disability-led
performance, by Amelia Cavallo and Maria Oshodi (Extant)
Part Three: Dark Culture
Chapter 8 Playing with shadows in the dark: Shadow theatre and performance
in flux, by Matthew Cohen (Royal Holloway University of London, UK)
Chapter 9 Under the Starry Night: Darkness, community and theatricality in
Iannis Xenakiss Mycenae Polytopon, by Marina Kotzamani (University of the
Peleponnese, Greece)
Chapter 10 In praise of gloom: The theatre defaced, by Martin Welton
(Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Endnotes
Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index
Adam Alston is a Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Surrey, UK. His research explores the aesthetics and politics of immersive theatre, and work and labour in contemporary theatre and performance. He is a founding member of Curious Directive and part of a small editorial team for Contemporary Theatre Reviews newly launched online resource.
Martin Welton is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies in the Department of Drama at Queen Mary University of London, UK. His research is concerned with practical and critical approaches to movement and the senses in performance. He is the author of the monograph Feeling Theatre (2011).
