winner of the Lawrence Prize

[Scott, Shelley]

The Canadian Association for Theatre Research/ 
Association canadienne de la recherché théâtrale is pleased to announce the winner of the 2008 Robert Lawrence Prize. 


The Lawrence Prize is awarded to Lydia Wilkinson for her paper, "Creating a Canadian Odyssey: George Elliott Clarke’s Global Perspective in Trudeau: Long March/Shining Path."  The committee were particularly impressed by Wilkinson’s sophisticated analysis of Clarke’s opera and her argument that Clarke’s manipulation of the historical record and resulting portrayal of Trudeau as “a symbol for an ideal Canadian multiculturalism” is a self-conscious construction that expresses Clarke’s politics. Her argument is supported by a carefully nuanced examination of Clarke’s libretto and commentary, and by her use of a theoretical framework based on Sharon O’Brien’s concept of anti-biography. Wilkinson’s argument is coherent, well-structured, and well-written, making her claims about the complex relationship between author and biographical subject remarkably lucid. 

Honorable mention goes to Parie Leung  for her paper "Siting the Utopian Performative: 
Exploring Human Agency through Site-specific Theatre and Small Audiences." Leung 
 reconsiders notions of utopian theatre in relation to non-traditional, site-specific performance, theorizing a shift in agency. When audience members are integrated as performers in such productions, their individual acts of reception generate “transformative utopian moments,” suggests Leung, moments that remain with the spectators and may continue to influence them. Rethinking work on euphoria and reception by Dolan, Dyer, Schechner, Knowles and Auslander, and allowing that the possibility of transformation is inherently romantic, Leung recounts her own experiences in participating in two quite different performances, interrogating both her responses to the processes of production and to the contents themselves. The paper provides precise descriptions of the material conditions of performance, cogent analyses of reception, a theorization of the post-performance attitude of viewers, and a compelling suggestion that archived euphoria may linger, extending the moment of performance beyond the fact of disappearance.

The Robert Lawrence Prize was established in 1995 by the Association to honour the memory and contribution of a valued member and friend. The prize recognizes the research of an emerging scholar who has presented an outstanding paper at the Association's yearly conference. The award of $150.00 is supported by the generous donations of Mrs Robert G. Lawrence.
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