Theatre
Research in Canada/ Recherches Théâtrales au Canada
would like to invite
submissions for a special issue on:
Space
and
Subjectivity in Performance
The
transition
to a new age requires a change in our perception and conception of
space-time,
the inhabiting of places, and of containers, or envelopes of identity.
--Luce
Irigaray
In recent years, a rich
body of performances has emerged to question conventional approaches to
theatrical space. These works reorient
the environmental fields that shape performance and the spatial
relationships
between spectator, performer, and setting.
Attempts to rethink space in performance have led to the
creation of
exciting new genres, including environmental theatre, landscape
theatre, and
site-specific theatre. Though disparate
in form, these kinds of theatrical experiments push against the
boundaries of
embodied subjectivity. Not only do they
reorient the disembodied position that is normally accorded to the
spectator-subject, but they also unsettle the subject’s self-conscious
and
fixed position in space.
This issue will explore
alternative conceptions of space and subjectivity in Canadian theatre. It seeks to ask how performance space and
spaces of performance can serve as productive locations for testing out
the
limits of self in the contemporary world.
We welcome 1) critical
papers that explore this theme from a variety of interdisciplinary
perspectives
(theatre, performances studies, cultural geography, architecture,
archaeology,
etc.); and 2) nontraditional essays that performatively engage with
intersections
of space and identity. Possible topics include:
- Alternative Spaces and
Places in Performance
- Site-Specific and
Environmental Performance
- Subjectivity and Spatial
Form (site, architecture, scenic design, etc.)
-
Subjectivity and Theories of Space (psychoanalytic, phenomenological,
poststructuralist)
- Staging Marginalized
Spaces (gender, race, class, sexuality
and space)
- Theatre, Bodiescapes,
and Mapping the Body in Performance
- Theatre, Geography,
Mapping and Navigational Identities
- Theatre Architectures
and the Architectural Writing of Theatre Texts
- Theatre, Subjectivity,
and Virtual Spaces
Articles will be
peer-reviewed, and should follow the submission guidelines for
TRiC/RTaC. Please see http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/TRIC/subguide.html. Articles are usually no longer than 5,000
words. Shorter works that may be
submitted include pieces for the review or forum sections, and critical
essays
that experiment formally with the presentation of research. We also encourage the submission of visual
materials (photos, plans, etc.).
Papers can
be
sent by mail or email. Please send
papers by August 1, 2005
to either:
Laura
Levin
Andrew Houston
Dept. of
Theater, Dance,
Dept.
of Drama and
and
Performance Studies
Speech Communication
University of
California, Berkeley University
of Waterloo
101 Dwinelle
Annex
200
University Avenue West
Berkeley, CA
USA 94720-2560
Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
llevin@berkeley.edu
houston@uwaterloo.ca