Upsurges of the Real: a performance research blog

. . . notes, musings, questions, and insights about Canadian theatre and realness

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“Upsurges of the Real” for a general audience

January 27, 2019by queensjenn Leave a comment

This month I’ve had two (and a half) opportunities to write and speak about theatres of the real for general audience. In early January, I had a piece published in […]

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Imagining a crowdsourced theatre

January 16, 2019by queensjenn Leave a comment

I started reading The World is Flat 3.0 by Thomas Friedman because I was looking for a  popular non-fiction big ideas book. I’m a geek and I love that kind of […]

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Partici…(“Say it!”)…pation

October 5, 2018by queensjenn Leave a comment

  Throwing toast, snapping rubber gloves, shouting “Borrr-ing!” and doing the Time Warp. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a classic of audience participation. First produced as a live stage […]

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Audience as citizen? (Part 1)

September 20, 2018by queensjenn Leave a comment

In a chapter in The Politics of Decentralisation, called “Citizen Participation: Theory and Practice,” the authors make the point that not only should local authorities be concerned with improving the […]

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Play as audience-led performance

September 6, 2018by queensjenn 2 Comments

A seminal theory of participation that persists in its influence is Sherry Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation. From an article of the same name published in 1969 in the Journal […]

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Looking at theatre through the lens of theatre (?!)

July 25, 2018by queensjenn 1 Comment

In the Introduction to Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship¹, author Claire Bishop is working through defining the terms of her landmark study of interactive, relational, socially-turned […]

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Where is real?

July 16, 2018by queensjenn Leave a comment

As part of an opening exercise in a recent dramatic theory class, my students were asked to respond with coloured Sharpies to a variety of prompts scattered on chart paper […]

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Radio silence and news about Insecurity

June 8, 2018by queensjenn Leave a comment

I am astonished to see that the last post here is from January 2017. Fair enough I suppose given what has been happening with this “new” research project since then. […]

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Theatre of the Real in the age of post-reality

January 18, 2017by queensjenn 3 Comments

Since the middle of November I have been working through my reading list for this project with a funny feeling in my middle. Here’s the thing: The central premise of […]

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The Thing that Doesn’t Fit

January 3, 2017by queensjenn 2 Comments

During my PhD studies at the University of Toronto, I had the great privilege of having for my supervisor Shakespearean scholar par excellence Alexander (Sandy) Leggatt. This was back when […]

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About the author:

Jenn Stephenson is Professor of Drama and Music in the Dan School at Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada.

300 Tapes acting actual animals antigone artificial audience audience perception audiences authentic authenticity autobiography Bert O. States Canadian celebrities character children cognitive science communion consumers containers conventions DIY documentary dramaturgy expectation experience fake fiction fictional framing Hamlet hypermediacy hyperreal image schema image schemas immediacy immersive theatre infiction knowledge liars live Liz Tomlin metatheatre mobilization museums non-acting non-actor non-actors non-expert non-experts objects participation perception performance performers postdramatic poststructuralism props real reality reality-based theatre research Rhonda Blair ridout site-specific social media stage fright still life theatre theatricality trust utopia verbatim witness

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Preamble

I started this blog back in 2012 as a way to think out loud and in public about my research into theatres of the real. Thus the blog title which pays homage to Bert O. States. In May 2019, those ideas which were seedlings here are being published as Insecurity: Perils and Products of Theatres of the Real, weighing in at nearly 300 pages, from University of Toronto Press. But the research goes on, and the out loud thinking goes on. The topic has changed slightly and the new key word is "PARTICIPATION." I'm thinking about those performances where audiences are co-creators.

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What’s Jenn tweeting about?

  • RT @QUartsci: Reminder that this Saturday is Fall Preview. Prospective students, see why Queen's might be the right place for you! Tour the… 5 months ago
  • RT @VPDeanTierney: Happy Academics Week! Catch up and keep up with academic workshops and supports from @queensusass. Improve your writing,… 5 months ago
  • Looking forward to it! @QUartsci will be there to talk about our programs. From creative arts to humanities to soci… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 6 months ago
  • RT @DrMeghanNorris: This week at PsycNight: How to study and prep for midterms (eek, yes, already!). A collaboration with @QueensPsyc and @… 6 months ago
  • RT @VPDeanTierney: Parents, Families, and Supporters of incoming students: Please join me online on August 24 at 7 pm ET for tips on suppor… 7 months ago
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