sociocultural/drama <Kerry.Elliott who-is-at jcu.edu.au>

diane celia hodges (dchodges who-is-at interchg.ubc.ca)
Wed, 15 Oct 1997 21:27:06 -0700

Kerry - do you read/have you read any of Raymond Williams or
Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht,

Antonio Gramsci, Mikhail Bakhtin, Andre Breton...?
(whoops. Is my marxism slipping?)

Any influences from Laurie Anderson? Antonin Artaud (and his ever-so-special,
theatre of cruelty? [tsk! just like a man!]) ...[kidddiiinnggg]

How about John Cage? Roland Barthes?
Have you ever read
Isadora Duncan's (1928)
"The
Dancer of the Future" from her book "The Art of Dance"?

Can you tell me more *women/queer writers* in this area? because just listing
these names is making me feel like I've just been
[insert verb describing 'penetration' here].... but anyway, before I offend
anyone
again,

I'm not trying to put you on the spot here - it seems to me that drama and
theatre

offer powerful and compelling ways for thinking about the important questions
of identity as/in/ the "cultural" with/in the contexts of the "social" and
vicey-versa,
(as if they were distinct?)... rebel/guerrilla theeatre, and so on...

Certainly theories of "performance" play well in terms of our
"everyday" interactions -

the implications of the everyday use of the word "theatrics" when
describing someone (usually meaning "hysterical") -

and
as an intervention, especially in forms of articulation
for marginalized/minority groups, I think drama and theatre are potent
tools...

my own artisitic work tends to lean more towards the "theatre of cruelty" model,
because I think that too much of theatre/drama is about complacency
in the guise of entertainment... you know,

(for goddess's sake! don't make me THINK about anything!!!)

or summat to that effect. I like to disturb folks, similar to Walter Benjamin's
use of the "quotation" as a way for "interrupting" discourse (and maybe
you witnessed the effect of that recently here on xmca? ah. but I digress...)

Brecht's work, too, influences
a lot of what appeals to me about theatre as a tool, although Brecht certainly
has his problems (like, can u say self-centred misogynist alcoholic?)...

anyway, I'd be so interested in hearing more about where you go with your
work... theatre and drama are. as far as I'm concerned, a veritable
sociocultural
toybox!!!!

diane (is my enthusiasm showing?) ;-)

ooh ooh ! how about Guy Debord? (chicks! we need more chick names!!!)