CFP: ATHE 2008 roundtable on "new" realism

[Kim Solga]

Hi all,

Please find below a CFP for ATHE 2008. I hope it intrigues a few of you!

Best,
Kim

Unsafe Realism: Towards a New Dialogue on Realist Acting
Roundtable Proposal for ATHE 2008

Derived from the work of Konstantin Stanislavski and of his  
interpreters, realist approaches to acting exert a powerful influence  
on the contemporary stage. In Britain and North America, a majority  
of theatre artists are trained in some variant of the Stanislavski  
System. Many actors and directors use realist approaches to construct  
characters to whom they and their audiences can ‘relate.’ Theatre  
scholars, on the other hand, frequently criticize Stanislavski’s  
‘System’—and, even more, Strasberg’s ‘Method’—for a relentless focus  
on individual psychology. They associate realist acting with  
excessively ‘safe’ theatre that obscures both the historical  
strangeness of pre-realist plays and the fragmented, politically  
charged constructions of subjectivity inscribed in modern and post- 
modern drama. Dismissals of realism have come to dominate academic  
discourse almost as powerfully as realist practice dominates  
contemporary theatre. This status quo may prevent dialogue between  
theatre practitioners and scholars; it also risks blinding scholars  
to the many innovative uses of realist acting on the contemporary stage.

This roundtable invites its participants to consider whether  
contemporary versions of realist acting may help to make theatre “a  
safe place to do unsafe things.”  Papers may consider:

·      How specific contemporary directors, actors or teachers have  
reshaped the Stanislavskian legacy for the contemporary stage,
·      What productive or destructive tensions may be created when  
realist acting is used to interpret pre-realist drama,
·      Whether realist acting can still be used to question hegemonic  
constructions of power, identity and subjectivity,
·      How collectively-created and devised forms of theatre, often  
constructed in opposition to text-based realism, may engage with the  
realist acting tradition.

Each roundtable participant will produce a paper of approximately  
1500 words that will help to form the foundation for our conference  
presentation. Papers will be shared amongst participants in advance  
of the conference, and we will use the threads that emerge from our  
pre-conference discussions to develop a final roundtable format.

Interested participants should send a 100-200 word ‘statement of  
intent’ to Roberta Barker (barkerr at dal.ca) and Kim Solga  
(ksolga at uwo.ca) no later than Thursday, October 25, 2007. Successful  
participants will be notified on Monday, October 29.