CFP: Play/Ground Roundtable series for ATHE 2013, hosted by Theory and Criticism focus group

[Susanne Shawyer]

Please circulate widely



REMINDER: deadline for abstracts is October 24!


Call for Papers: Theory and Criticism Focus Group of the Association for
Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), 2013 conference

Orlando, August 1-4, 2013



*"Play/Ground**” – An Interactive Roundtable Event*



*In response to the 2013 ATHE conference theme of “P[L]AY: Performance,
Pleasure, and Pedagogy,” the Theory and Criticism Focus Group seeks praxis
and scholarship that explore the notion of a “performance playground.” *

Performance is practiced on the playground. In parks or street corners,
rooftops or rooms, on playgrounds we explore performance through play. By
kicking a soccer ball or stacking blocks, we investigate physical movement
and spatial relationships. By trying the roles of soldier and doctor,
princess and president, we test racial, social, and gender boundaries as we
discover the rules of play. By promoting or challenging those rules, we
create art and arguments today. Actors play roles. Teachers play theatre
games. Critics go to a play. Writers play with words. Theorists play with
ideas. Activists confront power plays. Yet our performances of play, and
our playful performances, are always ideologically grounded, shaped by
cultural practices, historical moments, spatial configurations, and moral
philosophies. Stanislavski and Suzuki ground the actor’s craft. Ground
plans shape movement choices. Technological innovations improve the daily
grind. Performance challenges or sustains ground–in assumptions and
practices.



The Theory and Criticism Focus Group is curating a roundtable series that
encourages participants and audiences to imagine a performative *Play/Ground,
a place where theory, practice, and play come together.* We aim to create a
series of panels where scholars, teachers, and practitioners can
investigate, challenge, re-imagine, and explode how* historical or
contemporary theatre-makers and theorists have played with performance
forms, thereby challenging cultural practices, contesting ideological
norms, and intervening in social and political debates. *



Theory and Criticism seeks submissions from theatre artists, pedagogues,
scholars, activists, philosophers, and critics interested in exploring the
notion of the performative *Play/Ground*. Building on the tradition of our
previous panel series, we strive to include a diverse range of participants
from graduate students and emerging scholars, to professional critics,
established artists, and senior scholars. For the 2013 conference, we will
host a series of roundtable discussions that take up the notion of the
performative *Play/Ground* from a range of disciplinary practices and
methodological approaches. Questions to consider include but are not
limited to:





*1)      **How has theatre or performance theory historically engaged with
notions of play?  How do specific schools of criticism frame play? What
contemporary or historical performances exemplify or resist the classic
theorists of play? How do new performance forms, or the new media
landscape, challenge our understandings of performance as play?*

*2)      **How does performance pedagogy adapt play for artistic or
political purpose? What assumptions do performance pedagogy or theatre
history pedagogy make about how students should be “grounded,” or what
knowledge and skills they need? What playful performance pedagogy do you
use, and why? How does your institution frustrate or support play on your
campus and in your community?*

*3)      **How can play be harnessed for outreach or community engagement?
What can we learn from playful attempts to engage with publics and
counterpublics? How can play work as criticism or activism? What are the
ethical considerations or boundaries of play or playful performances?*

*4)      **How can play be embodied in performance? How are theories that
engage with notions of playful creativity useful for performance practice?
How can playful praxis challenge or explode accepted performance practices?*

*5)      **How do notions of space, place, and location ground our sense of
play? How can space be used playfully in performances? How does space
ground social and political debates, or playfully disrupt ideological norms?
*

*6)      **How does play relate to ideology? How do performances of play,
or playful performances, erase or reveal issues of labor, gender, race,
and/or class, in both the theatre and in the academy? *



Position papers could take the form of a short essay, a manifesto, an
outreach exercise, a critical review, a theoretical musing, a research
report, a creative project, an interview, or an embodied performance
practice.



The Theory and Criticism Focus Group will be accepting individual, 250–word
position paper abstracts for the *Play/Ground* roundtable series until
*Wednesday,
October 24th, 2012*. Submissions should include an abstract (250 words or
less), a title, contact information (name, institutional affiliation, email
address, and phone number), a brief bio (50 words or less), and any
specific A/V requirements. Participants will be informed of their
acceptance by *Monday, October 29th*, and Theory and Criticism will oversee
the submission of the series panels through ATHE’s online proposal process.
Send your paper abstracts to Theory and Criticism focus group conference
planner Susanne Shawyer at sshawyer at gmail.com*. *





*Complete session proposals, sponsored by the Theory and Criticism Focus
Group *



We also seek complete session proposals for the 2013 conference that
include a broad range of theoretical interrogations and applications. We
encourage multidisciplinary dialogues across the fields of performance
scholarship and seek participants from a variety of focus group
affiliations. Note that all multidisciplinary proposals must be authorized
by three sponsoring ATHE focus groups; please contact the appropriate focus
group conference planners and or committee chair for authorization. For a
list of the ATHE focus group conference planners visit
http://www.athe.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=14  and click on the desired focus
group.



*The Theory and Criticism Focus Group supports broad definitions of
criticism and performance, and therefore encourages a wide range of
examples and topics. Feel free to explore both historical and contemporary
critics and theorists, in popular culture, academic scholarship, and
performance praxis. Panel proposals that engage scholarly conversation in
creative ways are highly encouraged.*

* *

Complete session proposals (separate from the roundtable series) should be
submitted directly to ATHE:
http://www.athe.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=156. All
participants must be included in these proposals.  The website includes
submission information and forms.  The session proposal deadline is November
1st, 2013.



NOTES:

If you have any questions about the ATHE panel proposal submission process,
feel free to email Susanne Shawyer at sshawyer at gmail.com.



Single paper submissions (outside of our annual roundtable series or a
complete proposed session) looking for a session home may contact
sshawyer at gmail.com.



Individuals do not need to be a member of Theory and Criticism or ATHE to
submit single presentations or panels.  However, if chosen and scheduled,
participants must become members of ATHE by the time of the conference.
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