Representation Of Life Research Articles

Сучасний український театр крізь призму фестивалю-премії «ГРА-GRA» (2018-2020 рр.)

Всеукраїнський театральний фестиваль-премія «ГРА-GRA» був започаткований Національною спілкою театральних діячів України у 2018 р. Він став першим загальнонаціональним театральним форумом за всі роки незалежності країни. У статті викладено інформацію про алгоритм фестивалю-премії, проаналізовано його статистику за 3 роки, зазначено основні тенденції театрального життя в сучасній Україні, які він виявив: децентралізованість та «персоналізованість», а не інституціональність мистецького процесу, завузьке коло креативних режисерських кадрів, самоізольованість окремих театрів/міст/областей від загальних комунікативних потоків. Також у статті зроблено акцент на виданні Альманаху фестивалю-премії як на спробі відродження «паперової» театральної критики в Україні.

Nadezhda Bromley and Boris Sushkevich: Actors, Directors, Vakhtangov Followers (Materials for a Creative Biography)

Boris Sushkevich and Nadezhda Bromley (Sushkevich-Bromley) are remarkable theatrical figures, actors and directors whose lot was connected with the bright and dramatic periods of our country’s theatrical life from the beginning to the middle of the 20th century. They devoted a part of their professional life to the 1st Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre (from 1919 — Moscow Art Academic Theatre), which later became a separate theater (Moscow Art Academic Theatre II, 1924—1936). Since the middle of the 1930s, they worked in leading Leningrad theaters — the Leningrad State Academic Drama Theater (Alexandrinsky Theatre) and the New Theater (1933—1953, now the Saint Petersburg Lensoviet Theatre). This article introduces little-studied archival sources of biographical nature related to the work of these outstanding cultural figures.Nadezhda Nikolayevna Bromley was a heiress of the Bromley — Sherwood creative dynasties, which had made a significant contribution to Russian culture. She joined the troupe of the Moscow Art Theater in 1908, performed on the stage of the 1st Studio (1918—1924), was one of the leading actresses of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre II after its separation, participated in its Directing Department being in charge of the literary part. Generously gifted by nature, N. Bromley wrote poems, short stories, novels; her fictional works “From the Notes of the Last God” (1927) and “Gargantua’s Descendant” (1930) earned critical acclaim. Two plays by N. Bromley were staged in the Moscow Art Academic Theatre II. One of them — the full of hyperbole and grotesque “Archangel Michael” — was passionately accepted by E.B. Vakhtangov and A.V. Lunacharsky, though never shown to a wide audience. At the Leningrad State Academic Drama Theater and the New Theater, N. Bromley not only successfully played, but also staged performances based on the works by A.P. Chekhov, A. Tolstoy, M. Gorky, F. Schiller, and W. Shakespeare.Boris Mikhailovich Sushkevich, brought up by the Theater School of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre and in the Vakhtangov tradition of the playing grotesque, is one of the most interesting and original theater directors of his time. His directorial work in the play “The Cricket on the Hearth” based on a Christmas fairy tale by Charles Dickens became the hallmark of the 1st Studio (and later of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre II as well). This play remained in the theatre’s repertoire until January 1936. B. Sushkevich was a recognized theatre teacher — with his help, the Leningrad Theater Institute (now the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts) was established in 1939. Together with N. Bromley, he managed to fill the New Theater with bright creative content and make it a favorite of the Leningrad audience.This research expands the understanding of a number of yet unexplored aspects of the history of theater in our country and recreates the event context of the era.

Luigi Buonavolya’s Opera Company Paradox in Odesa: Stage Success Against the Background of Theatrical Management Problems

The relevance of the paper. The activity of the Italian private theatrical management in Odesa in the early period of the city history is an important page of its cultural progress, connected to extraordinary influence on the artistic life of people from European countries, including Italians. At that time the cultural and artistic relations between Odesa and the Italian centers of theatrical life such as Bologna, Florence, and later — Milan, began to develop actively. With a large European diaspora, Odesa created European samples in many areas of urban life — in everyday life, social behavior, fashion, education, art. Italian opera occupied a prominent place in the theatrical life of the young Black Sea city almost since the very theatre opening. It became a certain element of its cultural development for many years. The structure of the theatrical engagement, ways of forming the opera repertoire, requirements for vocal performance, forms of the artistes’ and musicians’ communication with the audience developed during the first opera managements, included the L. Buonavolya’s enterprises, in the main characteristics.The objectives of the study are to reconstruct the L. Buonavolya’s creative biography, to investigate his professional activity in the context of his Italian troupe scenic success in conditions of musical and theatrical life formation, foreign engagement becoming in Odesa.The methodology involves the semiotic-hermeneutic method (to analyze the peculiarities of scenic directing, the specifics of musical-critical thought, the audience reactions and preferences as a text of culture and its hermeneutic comprehension); bio-bibliographical method (for clarifying and combining the facts of Italian singers’, impresario’s life and creative activity in Italy and abroad, in particular, in Ukraine); cultural-historical method (allows to study L. Buonavolya Italian troupe scenic activities as a social phenomenon, that contributed to the dissemination of Italian opera achievements in the local musical and theatrical environment).Findings and conclusions. The activity of one of the first theatrical managements in Odesa theatre history, L. Buonavolya’s management is investigated. The music and theatre centers in the Apennines, where the first Odesa Italian enterprises formed, the way and route of the artistes’ movement, their personal composition, the scenic performances experience in the previous period have been considered.L. Buonavolya’s biography has been studied as well as his work as an opera librettist in Italy and abroad. His connections with the European musical and theatrical environment have been investigated.The organizational components of management have been revealed. The entrepreneur and city authority relations legal regulations shortcomings, theatre financing and its material supporting, necessary conditions for artistes’ and musicians’ residence, troupe stage performances providing negative factors have been shown.Financial subsidies to the Italian enterprise from the city and regional authorities, caused by necessity to preserve the “European” socio-cultural environment in Odesa, inhabited by people from Western Europe, the local aristocracy desire to simulate the European fashion samples and to reproduce the European “high world” representatives’ everyday life traditions have been verified.The opera repertoire is systematized, G. Rossini’s and his contemporaries’ works predominance in its structure have been established. Based on publications in the local and Italian press, the vocal characteristics of the troupe soloists’ voices, their artistic mergers, popularity among the local audience reason have been reflected. Mutual dependence between the architectural transformations in the interior of the theatre and changes in the social structure of Odesa theatrical audience, which was, first of all, connected with the traditions of theatrical activity, initiated by M. Vorontsov and his environment have been investigated.

Lessons learned while protecting wild chimpanzees in West Africa.

Though human activities are postulated to be the main drivers of the worldwide biodiversity crisis, humans are also suggested by some to be an important part of the solution to the crisis. How can such a paradox be best solved? This paradox requires an adaptive, context-specific, dynamic solution, at a fine-grained scale that varies by location. The Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF) works on the ground in three West African countries: In Côte d'Ivoire, where bushmeat consumption is a recurrent and generalized threat to wildlife, WCF used live theater performances in the villages to address this issue. Post-activity evaluations revealed that the more often individuals have been part of such awareness activities, the less they will consume bushmeat. In nearby Liberia, where illegal miners have invaded many protected areas and intact forests, the WCF supports Community Watch Teams (CWT) to patrol the Sapo National Park with Forestry Development Authority staff. Within 11 months of its creation, the CWT patrols around and in the Sapo National Park resulted in thousands of illegal miners progressively leaving the national park. In Guinea, where coexistence between humans and primates has prevailed based on religious traditions, the WCF developed a strategic approach, as the Moyen-Bafing National Park contains about 5000 chimpanzees as well as some 255 villages. Therefore, we adopted an "integrated landscape approach" whereby the community activities are planned in combination with initiatives increasing forest regeneration and connectivity in high conservation value areas. Communities in northern Guinea confronted with dramatic fluctuations due to climatic changes welcomed such activities that help them become more resilient and adaptable to those alterations. In conclusion, evidence-based information at the local level helps to resolve the conservation paradox by adapting with the local communities' context-specific dynamic approaches to enhance the conservation of great apes.

Theatre & Everyday Life: An Ethics of Performance. By Alan Read. London: Routledge, 1993. Pp. xii + 260. £33.99/$58.95 Pb.

Theatre & Everyday Life: An Ethics of Performance rivals Herbert Blau's The Audience as a lesson in how the format of the book can produce the illusion of argumentative coherence [ ]what price do we pay for that safety – has theatre not disappeared in direct proportion to the restrictions that govern its performance? (p 234) The implied answers to these rhetorical questions get progressively harder: no, we should certainly not expect a comfortable snooze in the theatre The question whether there was indeed such a turn is beyond the scope of this review: the question of how Read understands ethics is large enough 1 Two strong claims: ‘The only thing that can distinguish theatre now is an ethical stance’, Read writes, and also, ‘Good theatre stands face to face with its audience’ (p 6) To the photograph, which cannot capture the way a theatrical event is ‘infused by its environment’ (p 48), Read opposes the image: ‘If the essence of theatre is in its images, theatre no longer resides as an object of study, separated from its audience for it is in their imagination that images occur’ (p 63) Read's discussion of images is one of this book's most exciting threads;it is also, as with so many of its theoretical strands, unresolved, even contradictory

Bringing Down the Bard’s House

This article examines student experiences of studying Shakespeare’s first tetralogy through viewing and writing about Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2017 Bring Down the House, a successful two-part adaptation of Henry VI parts 1, 2, and 3 directed by Rosa Joshi and the upstart crow collective, a Seattle theater company dedicated to producing classical works with diverse all-female and nonbinary casts for contemporary audiences. Through reflection on students’ responses to the adaptation’s all-female cast, as well as the analytical work they produced for an upper-level course titled Shakespeare: Context and Theory, this article articulates the pedagogical value of students’ experiences of representation in live theater performances of Shakespeare. The author argues for both the ethical imperative of introducing students to radical, inclusively cast productions and the enlivened learning that emerges in the literature classroom from students’ creative and analytical engagements with the diverse voices of modern all-female and cross-gender cast Shakespearean performance.

A Política do silêncio: Mário de Andrade, o teatro musicado e a presença estrangeira na São Paulo dos anos 1920 e 1930

O artigo analisa o silêncio de Mário de Andrade em relação ao teatro musicado. Como entender que o mesmo autor que dedicou tanta atenção a outros importantes veículos culturais da época, como o disco, o cinema mudo e a partitura impressa, tenha se calado diante do teatro de operetas, burletas e revistas, um dos principais divertimentos públicos de São Paulo nas décadas de 1920 e 1930? A análise de textos jornalísticos, poéticos e programáticos do autor, um deles um autógrafo inédito, revela que tal silêncio só se configurou a partir do final dos anos 1920, quando a estruturação de um mercado de bens culturais e a forte presença italiana na vida musical e teatral da cidade passaram a ser vistas como uma ameaça ao projeto de construção de uma música a um só tempo artística e nacional.

Особенности театрального плаката в Башкирии начала ХХ века

The article examples the particularities of the theater poster in Bashkiria of the early 20th century from the perspective of typography and its decorative design. The applied hermeneutic methodology of analysis of the theater poster is defined as a method of semantic analysis of the type-face. The authors examine the style of the theater poster (billboard) in Bashkiria, noting the influence of the “modern” trend and constructivism on the formation of its peculiarities in the early 20th century. The formation of the Bashkir theatrical poster as an independent genre of graphic art is connected with the active development of the national theater. The article analyzes the patterned calligraphic posters from the performances of “Nadirshakh,” “The Inspector- General,” “Kabil Gabil” and other productions of Bashkir state theater of the 1920s. The stylistic features of the theater poster of that period are examined and its decorative qualities, the close connection of the republic’s national traditions with the ornamental character of Arabic weaving s highlighted. The originality of the Bashkir theater poster is also expressed in the simultaneous use of the Cyrillic, Latin and Arabic typefaces, which is stipulated by the incorporation of several different alphabets in the history of the Bashkir phonographic writing. Thereby, the theater poster assumes the role of an ethnic artistic phenomenon and is conducive to the preservation of the Bashkir people’s cultural-historical memory. Keywords: theatrical poster, placard, theater life, font composition.

Writers and figures of theater between ‘Ukrainian People’s Republic’ and ‘Directory’

Studying the artistic heritage and creative life in 1917—1919 significantly complements the biographies of many Ukrainian writers and influences the usual perceptions of the Ukrainian literary process overall. Against the backdrop of this period, the proletarian cultural conception no longer seems to be all-inclusive. After all, a great number of ideas, themes, and creative pursuits of 1917—1919 became a prologue to the cultural dialogue of the following years, being at the same time rooted in pre-revolutionary artistic development. For the Soviet political and cultural memory the establishment of Ukrainian statehood in 1917—1919 becomes a traumatic memory for a long time. As the present paper shows, the process over the Union of Liberation of Ukraine (SVU) in 1929—1930 was a perversion of the solemn action in honor of the short-lived triumph of the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1918, and in general became the quintessence of the political and symbolic delegitimization of the ‘Petliurian’ and ‘Hetmanian’ history. Despite the difficult political situation, 1918 was marked not only by vibrant creative life, but also by the daily attempts to normalize the course of artistic activity in accordance with legal laws and commercial logic. As an example, the author of the paper reconstructs some aspects of the theatrical and literary life of 1918, which were covered on the pages of the Kyiv daily newspaper “Vidrodzhennia” and also such periodicals as “Robitnycha Hazeta”, “Nova Rada”, “Narodna Volia”, etc. The paper focuses on the publications by Yakiv Savchenko, Les Kurbas, Mykhail Semenko and public polemics between representatives of “Molodyi Teatr”, “Teatralna Rada”, and the Military Society “Batkivshchyna”.

Silences that Ride the Air: Soundscaping Slavery in Caryl Phillips’s Crossing the River

Is anyone listening out there? The artists who write and produce radio dramas believe that a limitless imaginative world is possible. Radio drama is the most flexible of forms, allowing a freedom to experiment usually inhibited by considerations of space, time, and money in live theatre. It is no coincidence that the experimental nature of Caryl Phillips’s radio plays fits perfectly into Brater’s idea of “performative voice” (Brater 1994). Caryl Phillips’s Crossing the River (1985), in particular, illustrates the necessity of filling silence with something, anything at all, by telling the Africans’ trade story and trauma created by way of soundscaping sounds, pauses and silences.

Actors in the social world of public drama theatre in Poland during the communist period and in the 21st century. A comparative analysis

This article aims to provide a comparative analysis of the social condition of actors during the communist era in Poland and after the political transformation of 1989. The empirical material used by the author includes popular science publications devoted to actors of Polish public drama theatres as well as free-flowing interviews conducted by the author in 2015–2017 with theatre artists representing six Polish theatrical centres. Actors who remember the period of the People’s Republic of Poland well are nostalgic about the past theatrical life, they remember being on familiar terms within theatre teams, anti-rankism, and the inclusion of technical and administrative staff in the community of artists without emphasising hierarchies. Today, the social, ideological and political divides in theatre teams are more noticeable. Distinguished actors are being challenged by young colleagues, while they were held in high regard in the past. Nowadays, multi-active actors demythologise the profession of an actor and point to the decline of the professional ethos.

The Magic of Theater: Photographing a Performative Academic Career

I discuss my efforts as a “good enough” photographer and describe the role photographs play communicating important moments from a series of ethnodramas I built about the Chicago Public Schools. I discuss my early efforts to use photography to legitimize my arts-based research practice, describe how my goals changed, and explain how I created images to communicate the energy of live theater. Building on Eisner’s theoretical work, I discuss three tensions of my photographic practice: intention versus improvisation, action versus artifice, and safety versus possibility. These tensions emphasize my limits as a photographer and the possibilities of arts-based research.

THEATER ART AS A SELF-REALIZATION FORM OF NADDNIPRYANSHCHYNA POLITICAL EMIGRANTS IN VOLYN VOIVODESHIP (1920 – 1930-IES)

The purpose of the article is to analyze the Dnieper (Naddnipryanshchyna) political emigrants’ influence on the Western Volyn region theatrical life: from the mobile theater troupes spread to the VUT creation, which facilitated their adaptation and promoted creative self-realization. The methodology of the research is based on the historical, cultural chronological methods, as well as the analysis and systematization methods, which made it possible to consider Volyn Ukrainian Theater mobile troupes appearance conditions, to trace their relations with the Polish authorities, the repertoire features and the importance of creativity for the national consciousness of the local Ukrainian population. The prosopography method was applied in order to find out the artists’ names. The scientific novelty of the article is the introduction to the scientific circulation of the new archival documents, the interwar periodicals, which made it possible to show the Dnieper (Naddnipryanshchyna) political emigrants ’ influence on the interwar Volyn theatrical life development. The Conclusions . The Ukrainian political emigrants became fully involved in the cultural and artistic activities, realized their talents and skills in the theater and amateur work, after the revolution defeat of 1917 – 1921 in the territory of Volyn Voivodeship. In the first half of the 1920-ies, mobile theaters became a means of embodying the creative aspirations of the artists and the golden opportunity to earn a living. The commencement of the “Volyn experiment” by voivode H. Yuzevskyi, M. Pevnyi’s and other artists, who came from Naddnipryanshchyna relocation to Lutsk caused the VUT establishment, which during the 1930-ies of the XXth century kept the national spirit, Ukrainian traditions, the way of life and culture. The establishment of Bolshevik power in the region in 1939 led to the total control over the cultural life of the region, including the theatrical arts.

Harold Pinter on Polish Radio and Television: Between Tradition and Innovation

This article examines Polish radio and television adaptations of Harold Pinter’s dramatic works. The emphasis is put both on the overall reception as well as aesthetic and technical aspects of four selected productions. The analysis is carried out within four contexts which are crucial for the understanding of Pinter’s presence in Poland: the chronologically-oriented reception of selected major theatre stagings of Pinter; major developments in Polish radio and television theatre; the political and social milieu of pre-1989 Communist Poland; and finally the revival of Polish theatre in the 1990s and 2000s. In this way it is possible to trace the changing approach to Pinter in Poland through the lens of radio and television adaptations which – when set against the stage premieres in Polish theatres – provide insightful reflections of major developments in Polish theatrical life.

Мистецькі пошуки режисерів Сєвєродонецька ХХ століття

The purpose of the research is to characterize the creative and organizational activities of the leading directors of Severodonetsk in the twentieth century. Research methodology. In the research process, the following methods have been used: historical is to comprehend the figures of O. Biryustyuk, O. Shmal, and O. Oleksandrov in the theater art of Severodonetsk; historical and biographical are to analyze the context of the epoch and aesthetic and artistic vectors of time, which influenced the formation of artistic approaches of these artists; comparative-typological is for differentiated comparison of creative work of directors. Scientific novelty. For the first time the creative and organizational activities of O. Biryustyuk, O. Shmaly and O. Oleksandrov have been systematized and analytically analyzed in the context of the evolution of Severodonetsk theater art in the XX century. Conclusions. The Severodonetsk People's Theater under the direction of O. Biryustyuk performed not only socio-cultural but also educational and educational functions for the locals. O. Shmal's creative and organizational activity became a modern implementation of G. Gurdjiev's principle of "objective art", in particular through the introduction of the author's method of working with actors. Director O. Alexandrov enriched the palette of the theatrical life of Severodonetsk with his epithet and avant-gardism. On the whole, the relatively short history of the development of the Severodonetsk theater art shows that the dynamics of this process have been determined by a tendency that is characteristic of national processes of the Ukrainian theatrical life formation: from amateur forms to professional ones. The analysis of the latter testifies to their active development through the use of new directorial approaches that contributed to the growth of the acting skills of the collectives and the enrichment of the repertoire palette for the revival of national cultural traditions. Directed searches and organizational and creative activity of O. Biryustyukova, O. Shmal and O. Oleksandrov made a significant contribution to the theater art development of Severodonetsk in the XX century and it has evolved rapidly and multifaceted from a local amateur theater group of like-minded people to a leading regional professional theater and entertainment institution of culture.

Театральне мистецтво Маріуполя: сторінки історії та сучасні реалії

The purpose of the research is to review the history of Mariupol's performing arts and to characterize the acting arts technologies (traditional and innovative), which the staff of the Mariupol Drama Theater relies on in its activity. Research methodology. The following methods have been used to achieve the goal of the research: historical is (to study the stages of the theatrical art formation of Donetsk region); analytical is (to identify the basic principles of the acting school as a result of its historical evolution); cultural studies is (to consider the acting school traditions in the context of the contemporary performing arts development in Mariupol); art studies is (in the analysis of acting schools and forms of directing technologies); source studies is (in the study of archival materials related to the theatrical life of the city). The scientific novelty is that the peculiarities of Mariupol contemporary acting art and its relation to the achievements of classical Ukrainian theater of luminaries have been revealed. Conclusions. The center of Donetsk region's theatrical culture is the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater (Mariupol). The analysis of the theater activity at different stages of its functioning makes it possible to confirm that the historical realities of the acting school development of luminaries in Donetsk have fragmentary coverage in the historical, cultural, art and theatrical literature; the formation of repertoire preferences in the actors' troupes was influenced by the touring activities of the Coryphaeus Theater. A special role in this process was played over the principles of artistic images as a central element of the performance, which combines its composition and indirectly affect other components. Despite the period of the so-called "stagnation", in the Soviet theatrical practices in the late 70's we trace the tendency to return to the traditional forms of theatrical expressiveness for the Ukrainian theater, which helped to activate the directing and acting creativity in search of new variants of combining theatrical means of the Ukrainian everyday life inherent in classical and contemporary European drama and comedy theater. The main features of the Ukrainian Acting School of the Mariupol Theater are realistic approach to the creation of stage images; widespread use of music, singing, dance; the productive work of the actor over himself.

Analysis of Tools Used in Assessing Technical Skills and Operative Competence in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgical Training: A Systematic Review.

Background:Robust assessment of skills acquisition and surgical performance during training is vital to ensuring operative competence among orthopaedic surgeons. A move to competency-based surgical training requires the use of tools that can assess surgical skills objectively and systematically. The aim of this systematic review was to describe the evidence for the utility of assessment tools used in evaluating operative performance in trauma and orthopaedic surgical training.Methods:We performed a comprehensive literature search of MEDLINE, Embase, and Google Scholar databases to June 2019. From eligible studies we abstracted data on study aim, assessment format (live theater or simulated setting), skills assessed, and tools or metrics used to assess surgical performance. The strengths, limitations, and psychometric properties of the assessment tools are reported on the basis of previously defined utility criteria.Results:One hundred and five studies published between 1990 and 2019 were included. Forty-two studies involved open orthopaedic surgical procedures, and 63 involved arthroscopy. The majority (85%) were used in the simulated environment. There was wide variation in the type of assessment tools in used, the strengths and weaknesses of which are assessor and setting-dependent.Conclusions:Current technical skills-assessment tools in trauma and orthopaedic surgery are largely procedure-specific and limited to research use in the simulated environment. An objective technical skills-assessment tool that is suitable for use in the live operative theater requires development and validation, to ensure proper competency-based assessment of surgical performance and readiness for unsupervised clinical practice.Clinical Relevance:Trainers and trainees can gain further insight into the technical skills assessment tools that they use in practice through the utility evidence provided.

Vladimir Magar’s spectacle “Don Juan” (Lunacharsky Russian Drama Theatre in Sevastopol, 2006)

The subject of this research is poetics of the spectacle “Don Juan” created by the stage director Vladimir Magar in Lunacharsky Russian Drama Theatre in Sevastopol in 2006. Analysis is conducted on the main peculiarities of the directing artistic manner: creation of fiction atmosphere and romantic plot, montage and musical means of structuring action, montage of literary-dramaturgical material. The author reviews fiction method and experience as the conditions for formation of an actor ensemble; examines the role of scenography, eurythmics, music and other elements of dramatic action. The article is based on the use of comparative-historical method, personal audience experience of its author and analysis of publications dedicated to the spectacle. The research of Vladimir Magars’ directing manner, which is insufficiently studied and can become illustrative for determination of patterns common to the regional theatrical life. This article is a continuation of a series of publication of the topic. Analysis of poetics of the spectacle “Don Juan” is important for understanding the fundamentals of his directing activity, which contributed to the fact that Sevastopol Theatre became a noticeable phenomenon within the Russian theatrical space.

A new approach to creating and deploying audio description for live theater

Audio description is an accessibility service used by blind or visually impaired individuals. Often accompanying movies, television shows, and other visual art forms, the service provides spoken descriptions of visual content, allowing people with vision loss the ability to access information that sighted people obtain visually. At live theatrical events, audio description provides spoken descriptions of scenes, characters, props, and other visual elements that those with vision loss may otherwise find inaccessible. This paper explores a novel approach to automate the creation and deployment of audio description for repeatable live theatrical events, both musical and non-musical. Using readily available tools and established sound-processing techniques, we describe a framework to automate several aspects of audio description for theater. The method uses a reference audio recording and an online time warping algorithm to align audio description with live performances, including a process for handling unexpected interruptions. We also show how a reference audio recording and descriptive tracks can be generated automatically from a show’s script and used to facilitate the deployment of audio description without sufficient resources for multiple performances or a live audio describer. Finally, a software implementation that is integrated into an existing theatrical workflow is also described. This system is used in three evaluation experiments that show the method successfully aligns multiple recordings of works of musical theater and non-musical plays in order to automatically trigger pre-recorded, descriptive audio in real time.

Doing the ecological through performance

ABSTRACT This article discusses the ecological potentials of live theatrical performance. I focus on the possibilities for performance to do and enact the ecological, rather than (only) represent or be about ecology. My proposal is that the theatrical medium itself – the dynamics of the performance form – is where the ecological potential of theatre most generatively lies. Through critically reflecting on aspects of the final performance from my practice-led performance project Wild Life, which involved collaborating with professional and nonprofessional child and adult performers to co-devise a dance performance that explored ‘wildness’, I discuss two key methods for doing ecology through performance: firstly, producing unpredictability and exposing human-nonhuman entanglement; and, secondly, devising homological relations between sections of the performance which structurally connect intra-human and nonhuman-nonhuman performances. This article responds to, and builds on, the timely discussion begun by scholar Carl Lavery and others about ‘what theatre and performance might be able to do ecologically’. Bringing together my perspective as a practitioner-researcher, spectator and critic responses to the final Wild Life performance, ideas from the performance and ecology field, and theoretical concepts from wider ecological thinking, this article presents a unique discussion about ecological performance practice.