Output details

"Patsy Rodenburg Brings You: Shakespeare in the Present" (DVDs), "Power Presentation" (Book)

This output comprises two elements from a single source of research. (A separate REF note claims double weighting for the output.) The research built on earlier work submitted to the 2008 RAE, but extends it by developing new theoretical models of its effectiveness and practical methods of broadened dissemination.

The current work’s first research goal was to discover optimal models and methods through which people can communicate honestly, effectively and respectfully with each other when using the spoken word. The second research imperative was to devise ways through which the required techniques could be introduced to those wishing to improve their skills in this area.

The research process used the training of student and professional actors as an experimental workshop in which emerging theories and their applications could be tested. From this grew the researcher’s deepened understanding of her paradigm of the “three circles”, drawing new ideas from disciplines including neuroscience; psychotherapy; meditation and several physically-based practices. The DVD element of the current research output translates this research-based work into practical applications for actors.

The second element, "Power Presentation", extends the reach of the research to those wishing to communicate more effectively within their professional interactions with colleagues. A functional thread that links both output elements is the researcher’s use of Shakespeare: in the set of DVDs his plays and sonnets provide source material that demands the actor be “present” within the text; whilst for "Power Presentation" – and the many corporate workshops and seminars that the book has prompted – Shakespeare injects questions of morality and leadership that can result in significant changes emerging in modes of communication within a company.

The justification for this claim is based on the complex and extensive period of workshop and studio practice that was required to complete both the initial conceptual research and the subsequent research on implementation. (REF 01.2012; page 86; para. 64; bullet 5). The process was essentially experimental and demanded that the researcher worked with many different groups of people throughout the period of the current REF cycle, forming, testing and refining hypotheses, and evaluating subsequent results.