26 Feb Kellyn Johnson’s Work on Theatrical Co-Direction in We Play For the Gods at The Women’s Project
Wednesday, February 26 / 5:00 PM
Crowell Reading Room, HSSB 6028
The rehearsal process of We Play for the Gods at the Women’s Project Theater Company in New York City demonstrates the potential for co-direction as a radical form that challenges mainstream hierarchies in US theatrical production through generating a more fluid relationship between actor and director, eschewing theatrical norms regarding unity and narrative clarity to increase spectator autonomy. However, it also demonstrates the limitations of the form as attempts for directorial equality reinstate directorial power and authority through the eradication of an improvisatory rehearsal room.
We will be engaging in dialogue and feedback on Kellyn Johnson’s article-in-progress for Theatre Topics. Kellyn is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Theater and Dance with a Feminist Studies emphasis. Her research focuses on non-traditional directorial processes that yield radical performance structures and challenge directorial privilege.
Everyone is invited to join in this discussion. For guidelines about this session see the Performance & Politics RFG website at https://www.ihc.ucsb.edu/performance-and-politics/ or contact Meredith Heller at mlheller@umail.ucsb.edu
Co-conveners of the Performance and Politics RFG of the IHC:
Dr. Ninotchka Bennahum, Theater & Dance
bennahum@theaterdance.ucsb.edu
Dr. Meredith Heller, Feminist Studies
mlheller@umail.ucsb.edu
Dr. Ruth Hellier-Tinoco, Music
rhellier-tinoco@music.ucsb.edu
Sponsored by the IHC’s Performance and Politics RFG.