Stage managing Bali Agung: The possibility of hybridity in an intercultural production

This paper explores notions of hybridity within an intercultural large-scale show in Bali, including levels of innovation, synthesized processes, scenery and safety considerations. As the original stage manager, I will discuss the mounting of the show from a technical production perspective, giving attention to the use and management of the stage space and its supporting environments. The focus is on hybridity in the context of the term ‘syncretic theatre’, which “integrates performance elements of different cultures into a form that aims to retain the cultural integrity of the specific materials used while forging new texts and theatre practices” (Lo & Gilbert, 2002, pp. 35-36). While the content and form of intercultural performance has been viewed through the lens of hybridity, the backstage management aspects have not been considered within this rubric to the same extent. This paper explores how innovation, negotiation and adaptation created a hybrid organisational entity during the production processes of Bali Agung, a Balinese legend performed by Indonesian artists on an ‘international’ style mega-stage

Transcriptional defense response of the soybean plant, Glycine max, in reaction to infestation by the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines

The soybean aphid (Aphis glycines), first spotted in North American fields in 2000, is a major pest of the soybean plant (Glycine max) and can cause millions of dollars in yield losses. The goal of my project was to reveal the transcriptional defense response to soybean aphids in aphid-susceptible soybean plants and aphid-resistant soybean plants with the Rag1 gene. These responses were determined by using Affymetrix GeneChip® Soybean Genome Arrays to characterize transcript levels from leaf tissue collected after one, seven, and twenty-one days of aphid infestation. In addition to the microarray analysis, a bioinformatics tool was developed to determine the relative induction of the plant hormones abscisic acid, ethylene, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid based on the transcript levels. My analysis, in conjunction with prior research, led to conclusions regarding the soybean plant\u27s defense against aphids. These include the identification of an effective defense hormone, defense compounds, and possible decoy defense strategies employed by the soybean aphid

Breaking curtain: Editorial

Behind The Scenes: Journal of Theatre Production Practice (BTS) was developed in response to the growing number of practitioner-researchers in the production fields of live performance. Its purpose is to give visibility to and engage current researchers in a dialogue on the many aspects of performance that are seemingly ‘behind the scenes’. One of the first editorial discussions to ensue was what ‘behind the scenes’ actually means

Supporting the performance of Noongar language in Hecate

As the first adaptation of a complete Shakespearean work presented entirely in one Aboriginal language of Australia, Hecate is a landmark production in Australian theatre. The Noongar language of the southwest of Western Australia is a critically endangered language impacted by colonisation since the early 1800s and suppressed until the 1970s. Working with an all-Noongar cast learning what is by birthright their mother-tongue, the Noongar language, on a full Shakespearean work presents a range of challenges. Consideration of effective rehearsal strategies to support brave spaces for the cast to flourish holistically, both as language learners and performers, was imperative. As most of the cast had limited understanding of spoken Noongar language until working on the production, song functioned as a catalyst for language learning, working as a mnemonic device. Vocal exercises were introduced to empower the performers to articulate freely and to liberate the text. Additionally, the stage manager’s comprehension of Noongar language was important, particularly as the production transferred to the stage. In reflecting on the necessarily unique processes developed for Hecate, this paper offers strategies to support future training of performers, directors, vocal coaches and stage managers engaged in productions that involve Indigenous and/or endangered languages

Validation of a hairy roots system to study soybean-soybean aphid interactions

The soybean aphid (Aphis glycines) is one of the main insect pests of soybean (Glycine max) worldwide. Genomics approaches have provided important data on transcriptome changes, both in the insect and in the plant, in response to the plant-aphid interaction. However, the difficulties to transform soybean and to rear soybean aphid on artificial media have hindered our ability to systematically test the function of genes identified by those analyses as mediators of plant resistance to the insect. An efficient approach to produce transgenic soybean material is the production of transformed hairy roots using Agrobacterium rhizogenes; however, soybean aphids colonize leaves or stems and thus this approach has not been utilized. Here, we developed a hairy root system that allowed effective aphid feeding. We show that this system supports aphid performance similar to that observed in leaves. The use of hairy roots to study plant resistance is validated by experiments showing that roots generated from cotyledons of resistant lines carrying the Rag1 or Rag2 resistance genes are also resistant to aphid feeding, while related susceptible lines are not. Our results demonstrate that hairy roots are a good system to study soybean aphid-soybean interactions, providing a quick and effective method that could be used for functional analysis of the resistance response to this insect