Ecodramaturgies: Theatre, Performance and Climate Change

248 Pages·2020·3.455 MB·English

by  Lisa Woynarski

NEW DRAMATURGIES
Ecodramaturgies
Theatre, Performance and Climate Change
Lisa Woynarski
New Dramaturgies
Series Editors
Cathy Turner
Drama Department
University of Exeter Drama Department
Exeter, UK
Synne Behrndt
Royal Institute of Technology
Stockholm, Sweden
This series explores new dramaturgies within contemporary performance
practice and deploys dramaturgical thinking as a productive analytical and
practical approach to both performance analysis and performance-making.
Designed to inspire students, scholars and practitioners, the series extends
the understanding of the complex contexts of dramaturgy and embraces
its diversity and scope.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14742
Lisa Woynarski
Ecodramaturgies
Theatre, Performance and Climate Change
Lisa Woynarski
University of Reading
Reading, UK
New Dramaturgies
ISBN 978-3-030-55852-9 ISBN 978-3-030-55853-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55853-6
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the
publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to
the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and
institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: Trans-Plantable Living, Cardiff, Wales, 2013. Photo: Nigel Pugh
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For Sally
with gratitude
S e ’ P
erieS ditorS reface
The series New Dramaturgies is afforded by recent developments in the
discussion of dramaturgy: a significant number of English-language pub-
lications now exist that offer a range of introductory approaches to the
field, frequently by discussing the work of the dramaturg. Given the
greater understanding this body of work enables, it is now possible to
explore the subject and process of dramaturgy without centring on the
explication of fundamental terms and the division of roles, but rather
approaching it from a range of perspectives and in relation to emerging
debates and performance forms. While at times this may include further
enquiry into the dramaturg’s specific role, we also hope that the series
will make a significant contribution through the deployment of drama-
turgical thinking as an approach to performance analysis and
performance-making.
If dramaturgical practice entails the facilitation of practical decisions by
way of interpretation and critical perspective, dramaturgical analysis con-
cerns attention to detail in relation to a wider whole. Dramaturgy has been
characterised as being about making connections, moving between ele-
ments, forming organic wholes which are continually in process; this also
implies attention to audience and context. Dramaturgy, then, entails a
discussion of composition in terms of process and event, rather than the
self-contained and singular art work. We note that dramaturgy’s historical
association with literature, combined with its intrinsically holistic approach
to the theatre event, enables movement and comparison across dramatic,
postdramatic and other performance forms, without embedding divisions
between them. It is also possible to expand the concept of dramaturgy to
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viii SERIES EDIToRS’ PREfACE
enable the discussion of performance in a wider, cultural sense. In this
respect there are resonances with both sociology and performance studies.
Thus, while the series is partly concerned with dramaturgy as a profes-
sional and research field, it is equally a means to a discussion of contempo-
rary performance, performance methodology and cultural context,
through an address to the composition of action and event—or series of
events. The title New Dramaturgies gestures towards our interest in dis-
cussing contemporary and future practices, yet the series is also concerned
with new approaches to performance histories, always considering these in
vibrant relationship to what is happening in the present, both in terms of
artistic and wider cultural developments.
Exeter, UK Cathy Turner
Stockholm, Sweden Synne Behrndt
a
cknowledgementS
I would like to acknowledge the lands, traditional territories and Nations
in which this writing, practice and research has taken place. This book was
written in Reading, UK and involves research from multiple locations and
many traditional territories (noted in the text). I acknowledge that univer-
sities and institutions in the Global North, including the one which I work
for in the UK, were built on colonialism, slavery and empire, the exploita-
tion of people and land. These contexts are a shared history and ongoing
reality. I acknowledge the violent practices in which land and resources
were stolen from Indigenous peoples and other first Peoples, as well as
the languages and knowledges lost through the imposition of Euro-
Western frames. Settler colonialism and neocolonialism continues to vio-
lently reverberate across lands, oceans and peoples today.
Thanks go to many people for their contribution to the process of cre-
ating this book. first and foremost, I would like to thank Sally Mackey, a
generous, thoughtful, frank and kind PhD supervisor and mentor, who
taught me how to be an academic. I am also grateful to Gareth White for
his feedback and support at the very beginning when this project was in
PhD form.
I am so appreciative of Adelina ong for her honest and thoughtful
feedback and for being an inspiring research companion, for listening and
prompting me always to think further and resist authority. Thanks for all
the days spent at the British Library. My thanks also go to the book sup-
port group: Angie Spalink and Jonah Winn-Lenetsky, whose comments
and friendship were invaluable to developing this book. I am also grateful
to Tanja Beer, Courtney Ryan and Bronwyn Preece, who gave me
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x ACKNoWLEDGEMENTS
generous feedback. Special thanks go to Tamara Courage, John Whitney
and Sarah Wray for their proof-reading, and to Tanya Izzard for indexing.
As for my colleagues in the Department of film, Theatre & Television at
the University of Reading, thank you for being a supportive team. Thanks
especially to Anna McMullan and Vicky Angelaki for their guidance at the
proposal stage; Lucy Tyler and Adam o’Brien for their thoughtful com-
ments on chapters and continued support; Jonathan Bignell, Lisa Purse
and faye Woods for helping to carve out time to complete this project.
financial research assistance was gratefully received from the Heritage and
Creativity Research Theme. I’d also like to thank the third year fTT stu-
dents of Performing Ecology, who engaged with these ideas as I tested
them out and creatively responded in truly impressive ways.
Many thanks to my talented and inspiring collaborators Tanja Beer,
Rosie Leach, Bronwyn Preece, Meghan Moe Beitiks and to all those who
participated in the Trans-Plantable Living Room, particularly the volun-
teers at Riverside Community Allotments. I would also like to thank all
the artists that have generously allowed me access to their work: David
Harradine, Sheila Ghelani and Sue Palmer, Violeta Luna, Chantal
Bilodeau, Deke Weaver and Zoe Svendsen.
I am grateful to those who have given valuable support to this research
in different ways, through advice and encouragement, including Kat Low,
Gilli Bush-Bailey, Sarah Standing, Sarah Blissett and Evelyn o’Malley.
Theresa J. May’s work inspired my early thinking on this subject and she
has offered generous guidance since. Thanks also to the Ecology and
Performance working group at ASTR, which has been a tremendously
fruitful place for the development of this research, as well as the Theatre
and Performance Research Association in the UK. Many thanks to Cathy
Turner and Synne Behrndt for their insight and generous support as series
editors, and to Tom Rene, Vicky Bates, Jack Heeney and Eileen Srebernik
at Palgrave for guiding me through the process. I am especially grateful to
my family, parents and sister for their tireless encouragement (and always
asking if the book was finished yet), and especially to my partner Mike
Medaglia, whose talent, love and care enabled this book.