In her book Applying Performance: Live Art, Socially Engaged Theatre and Affective Practice, Nicola Shaughnessy says “The decomposing corpse of performance is, after all, transforming into something else, a different kind of performance matter” (Shaughnessy, 2015, xiv). The concept of moving into a different era of performance is compelling and the fact that we no longer feel the need to abide by certain unwritten ‘rules’ of drama is extremely refreshing and freeing.
Theatre makers, performers and directors are increasingly looking to include audiences, spectators and the wider community in the creation and reception of performance and live art. Shaughnessy also states “The role and experience of both the spectator and the community in which the art is produced is central to the re-evaluation of efficacy in these relational and participatory practices and encounters” (Shaughnessy, 2015, xvi). There is also a greater inclination to affect social and political awareness (if not indeed change) by highlighting the issues relevant at any particular moment, in any particular society.
TheatreNO99 explored this in their project Unified Estonia, as they created a fictitious political party and sought to gain real public support, which astonishingly they did, ultimately receiving a 25% share of the vote in poles. Check out the introduction to their fake political convention below…
I found this concept fascinating, and the fact that large amounts of people can be affected to the point that they would actually consider voting for a ‘fake’ political party based on their very effective self promotion and use of spectacle is concerning, to say the least. This is further supported by Shaughnessy when she states that “…post-dramatic theatre, live art and applied performance converse, conjoined by shared interests in audience engagement, innovation, affect and a commitment to the social value of the arts” (Shaughnessy, 2015, xvi).
Session notes:
Brett Bailey, Exhibit B. South African artist who created a piece which sought to expose the atrocities against black people. The piece used motionless performers situated throughout a gallery, with actual artifacts from colonial times. However, does Bailey highlight these issues effectively or merely perpetuate the racism by illuminating the issue? Does Bailey simply replay what has gone before, or can this sort of performance alter the way people conceive of others? Many people reacted angrily to the exhibit, particularly in London, where the production was cancelled. In a quote from an interview Bailey gave with The Guardian online, he questions whether this kind of censorship is a reasonable measure to take, saying “I stand for a global society that is rich in a plurality of voices. I stand against any action that calls for the censoring of creative work or the silencing of divergent views, except those where hatred is the intention.The intention of Exhibit B was never hatred, fear, or prejudice. It is about love, respect and outrage. Those who have caused Exhibit B to be shut down brand the work as racist. They have challenged my right, as a white South African, to speak about racism the way I do. They accuse me of exploiting my performers. They insist that my critique of human zoos and the objectifying, dehumanising colonial/racist gaze is nothing more than a recreation of those spectacles of humiliation and control. The vast majority of them have not attended the work” (Bailey, 2014).
In their book The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social, Patricia Ticineto Clough and Jean Halley speak about the era of performance we find ourselves in now, and that “We are no longer in a ‘performance turn’, we are in the ‘affective turn” (Ticineto Clough and Halley, 2007, ?????) This signals a move towards making theatre count and using it as a tool to affect political and social change. Furthermore, Baz Kershaw suggests in his book The Radical in Performance: Between Brecht and Baudrillard that “…’radical performance’ might usefully replace ‘political theatre’, not because it will enable us to somehow settle the issues raised by the promiscuity of the political in post-modern, but rather because it will allow us to more directly encounter them” (Kershaw, 1999,17).
Bibliography.
Bailey, B. (2014) Yes, Exhibit B is challenging – but I never sought to alienate or offend. The Guardian, 24 September. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/24/exhibit-b-challenging-work-never-sought-alienate-offend-brett-bailey [accessed 25 October 2016]
Kershaw, B. (1999) The Radical in Performance: Between Brecht and Baudrillard. London: Routledge.
Shaughnessy, N. (2015) Applying Performance: live art, socially engaged theatre and affective practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ticineto Clough, P. and Halley, J. (2007) The Affective Turn: Theorizing the Social. USA: Duke University Press.