Performance and the World

Performance is everywhere. We encounter it not only on stage, but in public spaces, on our devices, in everyday life – and in the mirror. It is used for entertainment, invention, provocation and profit, often at the same time. In this subject, we apply a Theatre Studies approach to a diverse and fascinating range of artistic events and cultural practices to help us think critically and appreciatively about how performance both shows and shapes the world around us. Among other topics, we consider how intercultural performances stage cultural difference; how activists use performance to bring about social change; and how artists use experimentation to challenge what audiences think they know about history, memory, the body, identity and our relationships with technology and the non-human world. Reflecting the varieties of performance studied, class activities and assessments combine critical and creative thinking in ways that are original, interesting and fun.