Synopses & Reviews
Inand#160;Marking Time, Mike Pearson investigates alternative theater making in Cardiff from the 1960s through the present. Using andldquo;theater archaeology,andrdquo; or recreating theater experiences through interviews with those present at specific performances, revisiting the site of the theater production, and looking at other first-person documentation, Pearson offers his readers a unique approach to theater history. An unusual blend of oral history, academic rigor, and creative writing,and#160;Marking Timeand#160;reveals a city and its working artists in a new and fascinating light. and#160;
Review
'The books greatest asset is the volume and range of models for site-specific performance that it provides.' - Laurie Beth Clark, Professor of Video/Performance/Installation at the University of Wisconsin Madison
Review
andquot;An extraordinary book.andquot;
Synopsis
The text proposes original approaches to the creation and study of performance outside the auditorium. It suggests innovative strategies, methods and techniques for making theatre in various locations, and through examples, case studies and projects develops distinctive theoretical insights into the relationship of site and performance.
Synopsis
Site-specific performance - acts of theatre and performative events at landscape locations, in village streets, in urban situations. In houses, chapels, barns, disused factories, railway stations; on hillsides, in forest clearings, underwater. At the scale of civil engineering; as intimate as a guided walk.
Leading theatre artist and scholar Mike Pearson draws upon thirty years practical experience, proposing original approaches to the creation and study of performance outside the auditorium. In this book he suggests organizing principles, innovative strategies, methods and exercises for making theatre in a variety of contexts and locations, and through examples, case studies and projects develops distinctive theoretical insights into the relationship of site and performance, scenario and scenography. This book encourages practical initiatives in the conception, devising and staging of performances, while also recommending effective models for its critical appreciation.
About the Author
MIKE PEARSON is Professor of Performance Studies at Aberystwyth University, UK. Formerly an Artistic Director of Cardiff Laboratory Theatre (1973-80) and Brith Gof (1981-97). He continues to make performance with Pearson/Brookes (1997-present). He is co-author of Theatre/Archaeology (Routledge: 2001) and In Comes I: Performance, Memory and Landscape (Exeter University Press: 2006).
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
City
Performance
Premise
The Map of the Book
Itineraries
North
1. University Arts Building
2. University Main Building
3. University Assembly Hall
4. 47 Park Place
5. Sherman Theatre
6. Sherman Arena Theatre
7. Cathays Park
8. National Museum Wales
9. Park House, 20 Park Place
10. University Engineering Building
East
1. Bridgend Street
2. Topaz Street
3. Ruby Street
4. Metal Street
5. Sanquhar Street
6. Moira Place
7. Adamsdown Cemetery
8. Howard Gardens
9. and#8216;The Vulcanand#8217;
10. and#8216;The Big Sleepand#8217;
South
1. Windsor Esplanade
2. 44-46 James Street
3. Mount Stuart Square
4. 7 James Street
5. Wales Millennium Centre
6. Senedd/Welsh Assembly Government
7. 126 Bute Street
8. Butetown
9. St. Maryand#8217;s Church
10. Callaghan Square
West
1. House
2. Street
3. School
4. Llanover Hall Youth Arts Centre
5. Chapter Arts Centre
6. Chapter yard
7. Chapter Theatre
8. The Gym, Chapter
9. Cowbridge Road
10. and#8216;Llwyn yr Eosand#8217;
Central
1. Queen Street East
2. Queen Street West
3. Hayes Island
4. Morgan Arcade
5. Caroline Street
6. Central Station
7. St Mary Street
8. Westgate Street
9. Cardiff Castle
10. Parks
Reflections after Walking
City
Archaeology
Coda and Postscript
Reference
List of Performances
Bibliography
Index