Scenography Expanded An Introduction to Contemporary Performance Design

by McKinney, Joslin; Palmer, Scott; McKinney, Joslin; Palmer, Scott

• ISBN13: 9781474244381
• ISBN10: 1474244386
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2017-06-29
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Summary

Scenography Expanded is a foundational text offering readers a thorough introduction to contemporary performance design, both in and beyond the theatre. It examines the potential of the visual, spatial, technological, material and environmental aspects of performance to shape performative encounters. It analyses examples of scenography as sites of imaginative exchange and transformative experience and it discusses the social, political and ethical dimensions of performance design. The international range of contributors and case studies provide clear perspectives on why scenographic design has become a central consideration for performance makers today.

The extended introduction defines the characteristics of 21st-century scenography and examines the scope and potentials of this new field. Across five sections, the volume provides examples and case studies which richly illustrate the scope of contemporary scenographic practice and which analyse the various ways in which it is used in global cultural contexts. These include mainstream theatre practice, experimental theatre, installation and live art, performance in the city, large-scale events and popular entertainments, and performances by and for specific communities.

Author Biography

Joslin McKinney is Associate Professor in Scenography, Deputy Head of School and Programme Manager for the postgraduate course in Performance Design in the School of Performance & Cultural Industries at the University of Leeds, UK.
Scott Palmer is Associate Professor in Scenography at the University of Leeds, UK and co-convenor of the International Federation of Theatre Research Scenography Working Group.

Table of Contents

Preface – Arnold Aronson

Introduction – Scenography Expanded - Joslin McKinney and Scott Palmer

Section 1: TECHNOLOGICAL SPACE
1.1 Devices of Wonder: Commodification andRe-purpose - Christopher Baugh (University of Leeds, UK)
1.2 Screen Space: Bearing Witness & Performing Resistance - Dorita Hannah (University of Tasmania, Australia)

Section 2: ARCHITECTURAL SPACE
2.1 Performing Architecture on and off the Stage: A Re-evaluation of Durability in Architecture and Ephemerality in Scenography - Thea Brejzek (University of Technology, Sydney, Australia)
2.2 City as Site: Street Performance and Site Permeability during the Santiago a Mil Theater Festival, Chile, 2012-2015 - Marcela Oteiza (Wesleyan University, CT, USA)

Section 3: AGENCY
3.1 Scenography Matters: Performing Romani Identities: Strategy and Critique - Jane Collins (University of the Arts, London, UK) and Ethel Brooks (Rutgers University, NJ, USA)
3.2 Scenographic Agency: A Showing-doing and a Responsibility for Showing-doing - Kathleen Irwin (University of Regina, Canada)
3.3 Thinking that Matters: Towards a Post-Anthropocentric Approach to Performance Design - Maaike Bleeker (Utrecht University, Netherlands)

Section 4: AUDIENCES
4.1 Audience Immersion, Mindfulness and the Experience of Scenography - David Shearing (University of Leeds, UK)
4.2 Cognitive Approaches to Performance Design, or How the Dead Materialize and Other Spectacular Design Solutions - Stephen Di Benedetto (University of Miami, FL, USA)

Section 5: MATERIALITY
5.1 The Matter of Water: Bodily Experience of Scenography in Contemporary Spectacle - Nebojša Tabacki (University of the Arts, Berlin, Germany)
5.2 Ecologies of Autism: Vibrant Space in Imagining Autism - Melissa Trimingham (University of Kent, UK)