Applied Theatre: Aesthetics

by White, Gareth; Preston, Sheila; Balfour, Michael

• ISBN13: 9781472513878
• ISBN10: 1472513878
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-04-23
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Summary

Applied Theatre: Aesthetics re-examines how the idea of 'the aesthetic' is relevant to performance in social settings. The disinterestedness that traditional aesthetics claims as a key characteristic of art makes little sense when making performances with ordinary people, rooted in their lives and communities, and with personal and social change as its aim. Yet practitioners of applied arts know that their work is not reducible to social work, therapy or education. Reconciling the simultaneous autonomy and heteronomy of art is the problem of aesthetics in applied arts.

Gareth White's introductory essay reviews the field, and proposes an interdisciplinary approach that builds on new developments in evolutionary, cognitive and neuro-aesthetics alongside the politics of art. It addresses the complexities of art and the aesthetic as everyday behaviours and responses.

The second part of the book is made up of essays from leading experts and new voices in the practice and theory of applied performance, reflecting on the key problematics of applying performance with non-performers. New and innovative practice is described and interrogated, and fresh thinking is introduced in response to perennial problems.

Author Biography

Gareth White lectures in applied theatre and community performance at Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, UK. He is also a director, performer and facilitator, with a particular interest in processes and theories of participation and collaborative processes.

Table of Contents

Section One
Applied theatre, 'aesthetics' and 'the aesthetic'
Gareth White (Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, UK)

Section Two
Revolutionary Beauty out of Homophobic Hate: A Reflection on I Stand Corrected (Mojisola Adebayo, Queen Mary, University of London, UK)

Aesthetic Play: Between Performance and Justice (Ananda Breed, University of East London, UK)

The International Economic Driver (Kirsten Broekman, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada)

The Aesthetics of Nation Building: Applied Theatre and the Quest for Cultural Certitude (Brian S. Heap, University of the West Indies)

Technologies of Imagination (Anna Hickey-Moody, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)

Demolition Work and the place of Aesthetics in Social Housing: The Market Estate Project (Lynne McCarthy, Queen Mary, University of London, UK)

Dancing with Difference: moving towards a new aesthetics (Nicola Shaughnessy, University of Kent, UK)