TaPRA 2024 Applied and Social Theatre working group
Deadline: Wednesday 10 April 2024
Below the Radar: The minor gestures of applied and social theatre
Applied and social theatre often occurs within the interstices of the ‘mainstream’; both in terms of the contexts in which it takes place and the modes of participatory performance it involves. Debates in this field have attended to the inherent power dynamics and neoliberal agendas that practitioners and artists must navigate with critical awareness to attend to the political potential of socially conscious performance practice. Within the varied socio-cultural contexts in which performance practice operates, we wish to explore the significance of small initiatives, gentle actions and understated moments in the work of applied theatre practitioners, pedagogues and scholars.
In her book, The Minor Gesture (2016), Erin Manning emphasises the contribution of the minor alongside and in between the major key. It is the subtle, even covert, minor tendencies that create the conditions for change that can intervene on the hierarchies of the major and its predominant systems of value. Manning’s minor gesture is not known in advance, but emerges in the moment of doing. It invites dissonance, disturbance and neurodiverse ways of knowing.
Our chosen theme for this year’s conference invites reflections and discussions on how such small actions of applied and social theatre embrace, experiment with and instigate the minoritarian creatively. We are also interested in applied and social performance initiatives that deliberately use limited funds and resources, thus functioning ‘below the radar’ of corporate/government funding institutions. We want to explore performance projects that work with intimate or domestic spaces, and/or minoritarian aesthetics to subvert hegemonic orders.
Although we invite thoughts on the small, we are also keen to imagine and examine the larger impacts of small gestures, when applicable. We acknowledge the importance of the global perspective. In particular, as Arjun Appadurai (2000) suggests, the vantage of ‘grassroots globalisation’ is vital in generating a truly global view. Themes to consider might include:
- Political minor gestures of applied and social theatre
- Covert or subversive performance practices
- Disruption as a performative strategy
- Evading censorship or constraints of the ‘mainstream’
- Local initiatives to embrace ‘globalisation from below’ (Appadurai)
- Neurodiverse praxis
- Instigating and/or navigating dissonance
- Revealing minoritarian viewpoints
- Queer performance practices
- Participatory pedagogies
We invite diverse modes of sharing research, including, but not limited to: short provocations, practice demonstrations, performative presentations or formal papers. Abstracts should be approximately 300 words. Please also include a title and a short biography of approximately 150 words. Send these to: appliedandsocial@tapra.org by 3 April.
(Please indicate your preference of format clearly in your proposal, with a specific breakdown of any technical requirements. We will endeavour to accommodate all requests, but as we are working within finite resources, we may need to suggest alternative formats.)
References:
Appadurai, Arjun. “Grassroots Globalization and the Research Imagination.” Public Culture, vol. 12, no. 1, 2000, pp. 1–19, https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-12-1-1.
Manning, Erin. The Minor Gesture. Duke University Press, 2016.
Conference structure
Northumbria University will host the TaPRA 2024 annual conference in central Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK) as a hybrid event from 4 to 6 September 2024. We welcome online and in-person delegates.
Process for submitting a proposal
Please email a submission with the following elements by midnight on 10 April 2024 to the Working Group convenors at appliedandsocial@tapra.org:
- 300-word max abstract
- 100-word max biography
- Confirmation on whether you plan to attend online or in person
- Any specific requirements relating to space or AV technology
Please note: You may only submit a proposal to one working group (or to the TaPRA Gallery) for this conference, proposals submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
Timescale
TaPRA will inform you whether or not your proposal has been accepted in mid-May 2024. Registration will also be open from mid-May 2024, which will ask for accessibility and dietary requirements. A draft schedule will be ready by the end of June 2023. Registration will close on 1 August 2024. Accommodation options in central Newcastle with special rates will be available to all delegates.
Conference costs
There are two main delegate types (standard and concession, definition below) and all fees include one-year TaPRA membership of £35 (standard) or £17 (concession). Early bird rates only apply to in-person full conference fees.
In-person fees: (early bird/late bird)
- Full conference fee: £250/£300 (standard) and £180/£230 (concession)
- Day rate: £130 (standard) and £100 (concession)
- WG Convenors and Exec: £198 (standard) and £17 (concession)
- Life members: £163
Online fees:
- Full conference fee: £110 (standard) and £90 (concession)
- WG Convenors and Exec: £108 (standard) and £17 (concession)
- Life members: £73
A day rate is not available for online delegates.
Concession definition
Concession rates apply to all students, postgraduate researchers (MA or PhD), unwaged, unaffiliated, and retired researchers, and staff on contracts of either less than 0.6FTE or else fixed for less than 12 months. These categories apply to the delegate’s circumstances on the first day of the conference.
Bursaries
Each Working Group manages a bursary to cover the fee and some expenses, offered on a competitive basis. Preference will be given to those without access to any institutional funds. This process is open to accepted presenters only and will be managed by the Working Group convenors post-confirmation of acceptance.
Please note: only one proposal may be submitted for a TaPRA event. It is not permitted to submit multiple proposals or submit the same proposal to several Calls for Participation. All presenters must be TaPRA members, i.e. registered for the event; this includes presentations given by Skype or other media broadcast even where the presenter may not physically attend the event venue.
