23rd – 24th
January 2020
Protagonists
of contemporary puppet theatre can assume multiple forms – bare hands, glove
puppets, marionettes, shadow puppets, everyday objects or moving mouth puppets
that are manipulated or animated by players. In contrast to conventional
acting, puppet theatre has never been burdened with questions concerning the
corporeal and psychological unity of the player and his/her dramatic role.
However, puppet theatre has only recently begun to make use of this division –
a development attested to by the sudden proliferation of puppet designs,
manipulation modes and dramaturgical techniques over the last four decades. The
division between player and role, arguably the fulcrum of contemporary puppet
theatre practice, has proven invaluable as a mainspring of innovation in both
artistic expression and intellectual reflexivity.
In
Bunraku-style forms of puppet theatre, the human body acts merely as a
corps-castelet, as a living booth upon which puppets and objects perform, and
is thereby effectively ousted from the centre of specular attention it
habitually occupies. The body is relegated to the position of just a scenic element
among many, all of which constitute a network of animate and material actors
whose individual agency unfolds only in their interdependent relation to one
another. Puppet theatre figuratively disassembles and rearranges bodies in
kaleidoscopic fashion as it remodels objects into physical extensions of the
players: Staging a dialogue between a puppet-bearing hand and a knee fashioned
into a face poses no problem in the realm of puppet theatre.
The
extension, duplication, superimposition or hybridisation of the human body also
implies its fragmentation into dissociated characters, which in turn challenges
the idea of a stable and unitary identity and undermines normative concepts of
a holistic body and their underlying discourses. Puppet theatre acts as a laboratory
for alternative models of identity in a variety of ways. In its combination of
different modes of interaction and miscellaneous scenic tools, puppet theatre
constitutes a type of experimental design which inquires into how human and
non-human identities are perceived, generated and changed through techniques
and processes of play.
Such
inquiries take on various forms, e. g. via the production of fragmented bodies
(principally in the works of Ilka Schönbein and Mossoux-Bonté), the use of
manipulation techniques derived from object theatre (particularly in the work
of Agencia El Solar, a ‘detective agency for objects’ which reconstructs the
biographies of everyday objects), the splicing of human bodies and puppets
(notably in Invisible Lands by Livsmedlet Theatre, a production which
investigates issues of refugeeism), or by employing mixed materials to explore
figurative strategies of identity generation, transformation and
con-/destruction (especially in Wax by TJP Strasbourg or 3 Akte by Antje Töpfer).
The manner
in which puppet, object and material theatre deconstructs anthropocentric,
holistic concepts of identity through specific techniques and aesthetics may in
turn prove productive for contemporary theorisations of theatre and acting.
We welcome
different approaches and perspectives and therefore encourage proposals for
papers from all disciplinary backgrounds. We are particularly interested in
contributions that engage with contemporary puppet theatre from the vantage
point of
- Theories of acting and/or theatre
- Postcolonial Theory
- Gender Theory
- Disability Studies
- New Materialism and Enhanced Humanity
Panels
- Concepts of Identity: In what way does the fragmentation and precarious reassemblage of bodies in puppet theatre engender new concepts of identity and/or generate trans-identities?
- Concepts of the Body: How are concepts of the body made visible, commented on or challenged by such figurative processes as the duplication, cross-contamination or hybridisation of human and non-human, animate and inanimate bodies?
- Concepts of Theatre: To what extent does puppet theatre contribute to theorisations of the relationship between players/actors, objects and dramatic roles? How is the relationship between dramatic acting and the theatre of objects negotiated on stage?
- Agency: How does puppet theatre make manifest the agency of objects, thereby constituting an appropriate space to reflect on complex global actor-network entanglements?
The
conference At Odds –Models of Identity in Contemporary Puppet Theatre will take place at the University of Bern and Bern University of the Arts on the 23rd and 24th of
January 2020.
Submissions
Please send
an abstract (300 words) as well as a brief bio and list of publications to:
figurentheater@itw.unibe.ch
Submission
deadline: June 7th 2019.
Applicants
will receive notification of acceptance by end of July 2019.
Abstracts
may be written in English, German or French.
Conference
papers may also be held in these languages.
We
endeavour to support guest speakers with financial contributions towards
covering their travel expenses and accommodation costs. Registration fees will
be waived for guest speakers.
Organising
Committee
Marcel
Behn, Franziska Burger, Laurette Burgholzer, Angela Koerfer-Bürger, Nadja
Rothenburger.
Funding
Body
figurentheater@itw.unibe.ch
Marcel Behn
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