Skip to main content
Skip to main content

Japan Speaker Series - Dr. Peter Eckersall

Japan Speaker Series - Dr. Peter Eckersall

Japan Speaker Series - Dr. Peter Eckersall

School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures | Japanese Thursday, February 20, 2020 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Gildenhorn Recital Hall

Title: Atmospheres and Non-Human Agency: Dramaturgy and Affect in Recent Japanese Theatre

 

Abstract:

Recent contemporary performances in Japan often shift in register from the dramatic to the creation of a new media dramaturgy. They seem to refuse narrative in favour of the production of uncanny atmospheres and the dramaturgy of affect. Theatre in terms of narrative (and the postdramatic decentring of this) in crucial instances is being replaced by ambient moments and uncanny ruptures. Non-human systems of visual effects, objects and atmospheres are central elements in this creative process. The paper will consider how contemporary performances often shift their registers and dramaturgy from a modern sensibility into something more like performance installation and performance that is not quite like, but perhaps better discussed, in terms of the framework of visual arts.

 

Bio

Peter Eckersall is Professor of Theatre Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. His research interests include Japanese performance, dramaturgy and theatre and politics. Recent publications include: The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Politics, co-edited with Helena Grehan (Routledge, 2019), New Media Dramaturgy: Performance, Media and New-materialism, co-authored with Helena Grehan and Ed Scheer, (Palgrave 2017) and Performativity and Event in 1960s Japan (Palgrave 2013).  He has worked as a dramaturg for more than 30 years and is the co-founder of the Not Yet It’s Difficult performance group based in Melbourne.

Add to Calendar 02/20/20 3:30 PM 02/20/20 5:00 PM America/New_York Japan Speaker Series - Dr. Peter Eckersall

Title: Atmospheres and Non-Human Agency: Dramaturgy and Affect in Recent Japanese Theatre

 

Abstract:

Recent contemporary performances in Japan often shift in register from the dramatic to the creation of a new media dramaturgy. They seem to refuse narrative in favour of the production of uncanny atmospheres and the dramaturgy of affect. Theatre in terms of narrative (and the postdramatic decentring of this) in crucial instances is being replaced by ambient moments and uncanny ruptures. Non-human systems of visual effects, objects and atmospheres are central elements in this creative process. The paper will consider how contemporary performances often shift their registers and dramaturgy from a modern sensibility into something more like performance installation and performance that is not quite like, but perhaps better discussed, in terms of the framework of visual arts.

 

Bio

Peter Eckersall is Professor of Theatre Studies at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and is an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. His research interests include Japanese performance, dramaturgy and theatre and politics. Recent publications include: The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Politics, co-edited with Helena Grehan (Routledge, 2019), New Media Dramaturgy: Performance, Media and New-materialism, co-authored with Helena Grehan and Ed Scheer, (Palgrave 2017) and Performativity and Event in 1960s Japan (Palgrave 2013).  He has worked as a dramaturg for more than 30 years and is the co-founder of the Not Yet It’s Difficult performance group based in Melbourne.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center