Introduction to special issue: artist development: class, diversity and exclusion

This is the introduction to the Special Issue, Artist Development: Class, Diversity and Exclusion. It offers an introduction to the Incubate Propagate research network that is the project that this special issue has developed from, and an overview of reports that evidence the decline of socio-economic diversity in the field of theatre and the Creative and Cultural Industries more widely. It also offers a rationale for the structure of the special issue and introduces each of the articles

Embodied conversations: Performance and the design of a robotic dancing partner

This paper reports insights gained from an exploration of performance-based techniques to improve the design of relationships between people and responsive machines. It draws on the Emergent Objects project and specifically addresses notions of embodiment as employed in the field of performance as a means to prototype and develop a robotic agent, SpiderCrab, designed to promote expressive interaction of device and human dancer, in order to achieve ‘performative merging’. The significance of the work is to bring further knowledge of embodiment to bear on the development of human-technological interaction in general. In doing so, it draws on discursive and interpretive methods of research widely used in the field of performance but not yet obviously aligned with some orthodox paradigms and practices within design research. It also posits the design outcome as an ‘objectile’ in the sense that a continuous and potentially divergent iteration of prototypes is envisaged, rather than a singular final product. The focus on performative merging draws in notions of complexity and user experience. Keywords: Embodiment; Performance; Tacit Knowledge; Practice-As-Research; Habitus.</p

The nature of communication between scenography and its audiences

This practice-based study uses a series of three scenographic performances to investigate the nature of communication between scenography and audience. Structured using iterative cycles of action and reflection, the trajectory of the three performances begins by drawing on recognisably mainstream professional practice (The General's Daughter), through a scenographic experiment aimed specifically at enfolding the audience (Homesick) to engaging and involving the audience through scenography and creating a new form of performance (Forest Floor). Although the potential impact of scenography has long been recognised in professional theatre practice, this is the first piece of practice-based research which examines the particular contribution of the scenographic and the way it works on its audiences. Scenography is inseparable from the performance event yet its particular material qualities draw on languages of the stage that appear to speak simultaneously with, but separately from, the textual and the gestural. This investigation focuses on the visual, spatial and somatosensory dimensions of scenography and on ways of capturing and theorising the experience of viewing scenography. The study shows that audience members register scenography as a multisensory experience. The polysemous nature of scenography allows it to become a site for imaginative projections, where audiences draw on their own feelings, experiences and their creativity leading to unique responses within the collective experience of a scenographically-crafted performance environment. I propose that scenography works as an agent of exchange, provoking intersections of imagination where individuals can reflect on and playfully explore propositions of what it means to be in the world. This leads to the instigation of a new form of scenographic performance and an expanded view of the creative implication of audiences

Authenticity within Digital Performance: A New Framework to Understand the Relationship between Audience, Vision Technology and Scenography

The notion of authenticity is experiencing a resurgence within the theatre and performance field. With its myriad of meanings and associations – from ‘the original’, ‘the real’, ‘truthful’, ‘genuine’, ‘believable’, ‘emotionally resonant’, and more – authenticity is a key component in engaging audiences with live performance. Despite an increasing body of research considering the authenticity of performance, performer and audience experience, little conversation has taken place in the field of digital performance and scenography. No definition of authenticity exists in relation to digital performance, and it is unclear how technology within scenographic environments influences the production and perception of authenticity. With the ever-increasing access to technology shaping new works, this gap needs addressing to ensure the form does not fall behind. This article examines the field of authenticity to arrive at a definition within the context of digital performance. Through the identification of the core constructs of truthfulness, believability and emotional engagement, we introduce a new Authenticity Framework to inform future studies on the authenticity of digital performance. Focusing specifically on vision technologies, we demonstrate the application of the Framework through first-person reflection on two Australian digital performances - Laser Beak Man by Dead Puppet Society (2019) and Wireless by Lisa Wilson and Paul Charlier (2017) – and argue this Framework can offer new approaches to the creation of authentic digital performances for the benefit of practitioners and audiences alike