Sign-In
Cart
Off Book: Devised Performance and Higher Education
Hardcover
General DramaGeneral EducationPerformance Art
ISBN13: 9781789387704
Publisher: Intellect Ltd
Published: Mar 31 2023
Pages: 272
Weight: 1.85
Height: 1.00 Width: 6.70 Depth: 9.60
Language: English
In the theatre world, 'off book' signifies a deadline in the creative process: the date by which performers are to have memorised their lines and will no longer be allowed to carry their play script - the 'book' - on stage. As such, Off Book makes a strangely appropriate title for a book about devised performance in higher education. In its usual context, 'off book' captures the tension between ephemeral, live performance and durable, authorized literature: in one sense, the book - the written play - is the essential core, the seed that gives the performance life and meaning. Yet the opposite could be equally true: an 'on book' performance would not really be a play at all, and an actor reciting lines out of a script in hand is not really acting. A play is only realised in, or through, a performance. We cannot really learn, or play, our part until we can put the book down and enter the stage without it.
Devised performance might be described as 'theatre without the book.' Yet devisors also often use books - books like this one, practical guidebooks and how-to manuals, as well as a myriad of literature outside the discipline mined for inspiration. This is particularly manifest when devising in the context of higher education - a milieu, like theatre, wherein books traditionally signify authority, status, and meaning. So, to the extent that theatres and campuses are places where one expects everything to be done 'by the book, ' devising on campuses is rebellious, even sacrilegious. But on the other hand, both the theatre and the university are expected to challenge tradition, defy expectations, and conduct experiments.
The book is presented in four sections reflecting the range of roles devising plays in higher education. The first section, 'Devising Pedagogy: Teaching Transferable Tools', examines how and why practitioners, educators, and programs conceptualise and plan for devising with adult learners in a range of higher education contexts. The second, 'Devising Friction: Ensembles, Individuals, and the Institution', shifts the discussion to the classroom, where abstract, pedagogical rubber meets the road of concrete reality. The third, 'Devising (by) Degrees', practice-led postgraduate devising projects features contributions by emerging scholar-practitioners who engage with devising as both an object and method of creative scholarship. Finally, the chapters in 'Devising Bridges: University-Community Engagement' explore how devising connects higher education institutions with the public they are intended to serve - particularly in populations and communities that are marginalised within, or even explicitly excluded from participating in, higher education, such as children and people with intellectual disabilities.
A valuable and unique resource for drama educators in universities, university students in education, drama, and arts managements, graduate students conducting research, theatre historians, practicing devised theatre artists.
1 different editions
Also available
Also from
Fitzsimmons Frey, Heather
Also in
Performance Art
Anishinaabe-Niimi'iding: An Anishinaabe Ceremonial Dance
Staples, Lee Obizaan
Gonzalez, Chato Ombishkebines
Paperback
There's a Criminal Touch to Art: How Ulay Stole Hitler's Favorite Painting and Redefined Performance Art
Charney, Noah
Hardcover
Designing Broadway: How Derek McLane and Other Acclaimed Set Designers Create the Visual World of Theatre
McLane, Derek
Mell, Eila
Hardcover
Beyond the Dream Syndicate: Tony Conrad and the Arts After Cage: A "Minor" History
Joseph, Branden W.
Paperback
Art Beyond the Edge: Creativity and Conflict in a World on Fire
Levine, Mark
Reynolds, Bryan
Paperback
Mothers of Invention: The Feminist Roots of Contemporary Art
Posner, Helaine
Princenthal, Nancy
Heartney, Eleanor
Hardcover
Creative Catalyst: Empowering Experience Design Teams from Ideation to Production
Ozier, Kile
Paperback
Befriending Performance Anxiety: Practical Tips for Performers of All Levels
Pestova Bennett, Xenia
Paperback
Salted Earth: Poetics of Place and Migration Through Four Journeys in Search of Salt
Beinart, Katy
Paperback
Art Beyond the Edge: Creativity and Conflict in a World on Fire
Reynolds, Bryan
Levine, Mark
Hardcover
The Positive Path for Actors: How to Stop Second-Guessing Your Talent & Start Kicking A$$ in Your Career
Shaw, Shari
Paperback
Risk Work: Making Art and Guerrilla Tactics in Punitive America, 1967-1987
Gleisser, Faye Raquel
Hardcover
Creative and Successful Set Designs: How to Make Imaginative Sets with Limited Resources
Muffatti, Todd
Hardcover
The House Manager's Diary: A Guide to Customer Service for Regional and Community Theaters
Callaway, Mike
Paperback
Black Patience: Performance, Civil Rights, and the Unfinished Project of Emancipation
Fleming Jr, Julius B.
Paperback
Paw to Pointe: An Irrefutable Coalition of Canine Wisdom and Ballet Truth
Mulcahy, Sallyann
Paperback
Dazzle Camouflage: Spectacular Theatrical Strategies for Resistance and Resilience
Nepon, Ezra Berkley
Paperback
Paw to Pointe: An Irrefutable Coalition of Canine Wisdom and Ballet Truth
Mulcahy, Sallyann
Hardcover
Zwischen Alleinherrschaft Und Kollektiver Leitung: Der Intendantenberuf in Der Weimarer Republik Am Beispiel Der Bayerischen Staatstheater
Heberling, Carolina
Paperback
Audacious Artistry: Reclaim Your Creative Identity and Thrive in a Saturated World
Pilcher, Lara Bianca
Paperback
How To Teach Drama To Kids: Your Step By Step Guide to Teaching Drama to Kids
Johnson, Julie
Howexpert
Hardcover
Heavy Metal Africa: Life, Passion, and Heavy Metal in the Forgotten Continent
Banchs, Edward
Paperback
Resistance and Politics in Contemporary East African Theatre: Trends in Ugandan Theatre Since 1960
Kasule, Sam
Hardcover
Theatre for Lifelong Learning: A Handbook for Instructors, Older Adults, Communities, and Artists
Lau, Linda
Mansfield, Rae
Paperback
Rhythm in Postdramatic Performance Process: Voyages Into the Work of Mime Omnibus, Dairakudakan and Siti Company
Samur, Sebastian
Hardcover
Staging Art and Chineseness: The Politics of Trans/Nationalism and Global Expositions
Davidson, Jane Chin
Paperback
Falling, Floating, Flickering: Disability and Differential Movement in African Diasporic Performance
Young, Hershini Bhana
Hardcover