Critical Spectatorship. Participation in Contemporary Theatre
10. Dezember 2015, 13.00 Uhr Interface Culture Lecture Room, Kollegiumgasse 2, 3.OG
Vortrag von Dr. des. Marc Caduff und Dr. Stefanie Heine im Rahmen der
Interface Cultures Lectures Series.
A development towards increased audience-participation can be observed from the 1970ies on. Originally, it was intended as an act of emancipation: spectators should be able to break out of their passive role as mere observers and enjoy the freedom to take part in artistic productions. Breaking down the fourth wall in the theatre implied breaching hierarchical relations between artists and audience and invited spectators to take responsibility. Today, participation and interaction is a common practice across all art forms – especially in the theatre, there is a notable boom in participatory productions. At the same time, the claim for active participation has reached a precarious point. Paradoxically, ‘open’ works are especially susceptible to manipulation. Some forms of staged freedom of choice are clearly illusionary, and the demand to be active and participate can be considered as complying with the interests of a capitalist, liberal, achievement-oriented society. However, there are contemporary participatory theatre productions that deliberately reflect the discrepancy between improvisation and instrumentalization and thus articulate new forms of aesthetic and social criticism.
Dr. des. Marc Caduff studied German Literature and Linguistics, Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the University of Zurich. He works as Senior Research and Teaching Assistant at the German Department, University of Zurich. Latest publications: Revision und Revolte. Zu Robert Walsers Frühwerk. München: Fink 2015 (upcoming); Choreographie des Widerstandes. Zu William Forsythes Performance-Installation "Human Writes". In: Variations 23/2015.
www.ds.uzh.ch
Dr. Stefanie Heine studied English, Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the University of Zürich. She works as a Research and Teaching Assistant at the Department of Comparative Literature, University of Zürich. Selected publications: Visible Words and Chromatic Pulse. Virginia Woolf’s Writing, Impressionist Painting, Maurice Blanchot’s Image. Wien: Turia + Kant, 2014; Variations 23.Tanz/Dance/Danse. Marie Drath, Stefanie Heine, Clemens Özelt, Reto Zöllner (Eds.). Bern: Peter Lang, 2015.
www.avl.uzh.ch
