Reminder: roundtable on Unsafe Realism

[Kim Solga]

Hi everyone,

A quick reminder that the deadline for statements of interest for our  
Unsafe Realism roundtable looms. Roberta and I have extended the  
deadline until tomorrow, October 26, at midnight, just to give  
everyone that bit of time at the end of the week that is (for me  
anyway) often crucial for personal business. And remember: we don't  
require a full abstract at this point, just a statement of interest  
delineating the perspective from which you come to our conversation.

All the 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 Friday, October 26, 2007. Successful
participants will be notified on Monday, October 29.