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Towards an Australian Ecological Theatre . This 3-year collaborative project aims to review the parameters of Australian Theatre and Performance Studies by reconceptualising past and present works in terms of their environmental content. The project expects to generate new knowledge of texts, scenography, attitudes to the natural world and site-specific locations of this under-recognised but vital stream of the performing arts in Australia from 1960 to 2020. Expected outcomes include an enhanced ....Towards an Australian Ecological Theatre . This 3-year collaborative project aims to review the parameters of Australian Theatre and Performance Studies by reconceptualising past and present works in terms of their environmental content. The project expects to generate new knowledge of texts, scenography, attitudes to the natural world and site-specific locations of this under-recognised but vital stream of the performing arts in Australia from 1960 to 2020. Expected outcomes include an enhanced capacity to theorise and evaluate Australian Ecological Theatre and Performance. This should provide significant benefits to the discipline at the national and international level by modelling a new approach that highlights the human and environmental consciousness of the performing arts. Read moreRead less
Power and Performance: Revaluing Theatre in the 21st century. This project aims to examine the changing function of the theatre in Western culture. For millennia, theatre has been valued as a way to bridge questions of a personal and political nature. As the Western cultural sphere is now organised around generating consensus rather than debate, so this foundational function of theatre is being challenged and must be re-assessed. Accordingly, the role of the artist, audience or scholar of theatr ....Power and Performance: Revaluing Theatre in the 21st century. This project aims to examine the changing function of the theatre in Western culture. For millennia, theatre has been valued as a way to bridge questions of a personal and political nature. As the Western cultural sphere is now organised around generating consensus rather than debate, so this foundational function of theatre is being challenged and must be re-assessed. Accordingly, the role of the artist, audience or scholar of theatre is also changing in fundamental ways. There is now a need to re-examine the social value of theatrical performance in contemporary Western culture. This project plans to consider case studies in different global sites to develop a comparative and critical framework for establishing the new cultural politics of theatre and the re-evaluation of the arts.Read moreRead less
Patrick White and Australian Theatrical Modernism: from modern drama to contemporary performance. The project addresses the question of Patrick White, a canonical but contentious novelist, whose contribution to Australian theatrical modernism is under-recognised. This new analysis of White that focuses on his drama and the numerous theatrical performances of his plays from 1961 to 2012 aims to develop a significant new narrative for Australian theatre that maps the journey from modern drama to c ....Patrick White and Australian Theatrical Modernism: from modern drama to contemporary performance. The project addresses the question of Patrick White, a canonical but contentious novelist, whose contribution to Australian theatrical modernism is under-recognised. This new analysis of White that focuses on his drama and the numerous theatrical performances of his plays from 1961 to 2012 aims to develop a significant new narrative for Australian theatre that maps the journey from modern drama to contemporary performance. Drawing on the considerable archive of reviews, photographs and annotated scripts, this study of White’s theatre aims to re-assess the impact of Patrick White on Australian modernism and reposition his work within a twenty-first century context of reception.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0346553
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$280,000.00
Summary
AusStage: Australian Performing Arts Gateway, Phase Two - Enhancement and Information Retrieval. AusStage is a web-based database of performing arts activities in Australia, from 1788 to the present, which was initially funded as a pilot project by the ARC in 2000. Phase Two will develop AusStage into a major research resource and an international pioneer in the dissemination of performing arts information. It will expand the existing database from 7,000 to 100,000 entries, enrich its quality ....AusStage: Australian Performing Arts Gateway, Phase Two - Enhancement and Information Retrieval. AusStage is a web-based database of performing arts activities in Australia, from 1788 to the present, which was initially funded as a pilot project by the ARC in 2000. Phase Two will develop AusStage into a major research resource and an international pioneer in the dissemination of performing arts information. It will expand the existing database from 7,000 to 100,000 entries, enrich its quality with new types of digitised data, add a sophisticated search engine and position itself as an Australian Subject Gateway. AusStage Phase Two will become a worldwide resource for academic researchers, the industry and the general public.Read moreRead less
Rehearsal without a director: Rethinking theatre history. This project will enrich our understanding of the European tradition from which Australian theatre is descended: the key cultural role of theatre means that understanding the processes by which it is generated provides insights into the forces behind the construction of national identity. This research has broader repercussions: theatrical rehearsal, where group creativity is the driving force, is an exemplar of a broad range of group soc ....Rehearsal without a director: Rethinking theatre history. This project will enrich our understanding of the European tradition from which Australian theatre is descended: the key cultural role of theatre means that understanding the processes by which it is generated provides insights into the forces behind the construction of national identity. This research has broader repercussions: theatrical rehearsal, where group creativity is the driving force, is an exemplar of a broad range of group social processes. Our work will transform the field of rehearsal studies by developing its historical dimension, and will advance the international reputation of Australian researchers at the forefront of the field.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100028
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$650,000.00
Summary
AusStage Phase 4: Harnessing collective intelligence and pioneering new visual methodologies for innovative research into Australian live performance. AusStage is the Australian internet hub for research on live performance, linking researchers in universities, industry and government. It stimulates smart information use, promotes collaboration on innovative methodologies, integrates access to collections, and provides a substrate for excellent research in the humanities. AusStage meets the nati ....AusStage Phase 4: Harnessing collective intelligence and pioneering new visual methodologies for innovative research into Australian live performance. AusStage is the Australian internet hub for research on live performance, linking researchers in universities, industry and government. It stimulates smart information use, promotes collaboration on innovative methodologies, integrates access to collections, and provides a substrate for excellent research in the humanities. AusStage meets the national need for public access to reliable information on live performance. Live performance attracts major transnational capital to Australia: its skills, innovation and creativity export Australian creativity abroad, and promote the strengths of Australian society to international audiences. The development of new performance is a key mechanism whereby Australia's national culture is generated and renewed.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775527
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
AusStage: Gateway to Australian live performance, phase 3 - enhancing collaborative research methodologies through digital networking technologies. AusStage provides an accessible information gateway for investigating live performance as a wealth-creating industry, a generator of social capital and an indicator of cultural vitality. Australia stages some of the most ambitious, innovative and socially significant live events. Live interaction at communal events is essential to the cultural life o ....AusStage: Gateway to Australian live performance, phase 3 - enhancing collaborative research methodologies through digital networking technologies. AusStage provides an accessible information gateway for investigating live performance as a wealth-creating industry, a generator of social capital and an indicator of cultural vitality. Australia stages some of the most ambitious, innovative and socially significant live events. Live interaction at communal events is essential to the cultural life of the nation and innovative live performances project images of Australian culture to audiences here and overseas. AusStage uses new technologies to monitor the evolution of Australian live performance, to track innovation and excellence in the live performance industry, and to develop new methods of collaborative e-research.Read moreRead less
Australian Stage Comedians 1915-1930: Configuring a Comic National Identity. This project aims to make a major contribution to Australian cultural history by examining the origins of what has often been described as the distinctive Australian sense of humour.
While elements of this national characteristic emerged in colonial times, including an emphasis on stoicism, self-deprecation and the contradictions of existence (e.g. in Steele Rudd's and Henry Lawson's stories), this project will incre ....Australian Stage Comedians 1915-1930: Configuring a Comic National Identity. This project aims to make a major contribution to Australian cultural history by examining the origins of what has often been described as the distinctive Australian sense of humour.
While elements of this national characteristic emerged in colonial times, including an emphasis on stoicism, self-deprecation and the contradictions of existence (e.g. in Steele Rudd's and Henry Lawson's stories), this project will increase community awareness of how stage comedians during and after the First World War focused these tendencies into a distinctive emphasis on the comedy of everyday experience, and on maintaining a tough-minded optimism in adversity. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100553
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$327,849.00
Summary
Restoring the Contemporary: Remembering Live Art at The Performance Space. This project aims to analyse the Performance Space archive as a microcosm of how contemporary performance practices have evolved over the past thirty years. In doing so, it will argue that this rare national resource can contribute to wider global debates about the changing relationship between theatre, performance and live art. The project aims to produce data for existing infrastructures such as AusStage as well as a pu ....Restoring the Contemporary: Remembering Live Art at The Performance Space. This project aims to analyse the Performance Space archive as a microcosm of how contemporary performance practices have evolved over the past thirty years. In doing so, it will argue that this rare national resource can contribute to wider global debates about the changing relationship between theatre, performance and live art. The project aims to produce data for existing infrastructures such as AusStage as well as a public symposium, an edited book addressed to a wide audience, and a series of journal articles and monographs for the scholarly community.Read moreRead less
Star actors and management in Australia 1880s-1920s. The project studies early twentieth-century star actors who worked for Australian commercial managements, in order to locate how the cultural impact of theatrical performers was mediated by their immediate industrial situations and their artistic profiles. It selects four significant male and female touring stars who performed in spectacular costume drama, in association with JC Williamson's Ltd and other entrepreneurial organisations. The in ....Star actors and management in Australia 1880s-1920s. The project studies early twentieth-century star actors who worked for Australian commercial managements, in order to locate how the cultural impact of theatrical performers was mediated by their immediate industrial situations and their artistic profiles. It selects four significant male and female touring stars who performed in spectacular costume drama, in association with JC Williamson's Ltd and other entrepreneurial organisations. The investigation relates the negotiations between both managerial and labour structures involving actors to their artistic opportunities and repertoire. It will produce a materially-informed account of the social presence and cultural meanings embodied by the glamourous theatrical star in Australia.Read moreRead less