Output details
35 - Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts
University of Manchester : B - Drama
Portfolio title: Understanding in Place of war
This portfolio documents Thompson’s ongoing attempts to summarise and present the “In Place of War” project (IPoW) for diverse audiences, internationally. The underpinning practice-as-research question is that of how best to frame and ‘perform’ the project’s work in different contexts, so as to maximise potential for dissemination and further dialogue.
The portfolio’s centrepiece is a recording of Thompson’s presentation for the 2013 Cockroft Rutherford Lecture – the highest profile lecture in the University of Manchester’s calendar. Thompson was the first non-scientist invited to present in this context. The lecture sought to place the findings of IPoW into a form that communicated to people from different disciplinary and professional backgrounds. It built on the interactive, dramatic qualities developed by Thompson in previous ‘performance lectures’ since 2008 (portfolio includes full listing and DVD). This approach uses performance to dynamise the lecture format, and to problematise the occasionally self-congratulatory narratives of applied theatre practice. The performance lecture approach has most recently been used for Arts Council-supported presentations at UK music festivals during summer 2013.
The portfolio also includes print publications demonstrating other contexts in which Thompson has presented versions of IPoW’s key findings. These include:
1. Theatre and Nationalism (2011 – IPoW/Qendra Multimedia). Publication presenting outcomes from IPoW’s conference event in Kosovo (2010) seeking to raise debates within Kosovo and the Balkans. Thompson edited the dual-language book, wrote the introduction (pp 10-11/pp 104-5) and one chapter (pp. 20-29/114-123).
2. Chapter contributed to Golden Prism (2012), a Sri Lankan book exploring the role of the arts in cross community dialogue work during that country’s civil war. The book was published by the Centre for Performing Arts (CPA), Sri Lanka, as a festschrift for their director Professor Rev. Fr. N. M. Saveri. CPA was founded in 1965 and is Sri Lanka’s oldest arts and peacebuilding organisation.
