Performance and Participation

The twenty-first century is redefining the political relationship between performance and participation, with profound and sometimes contradictory consequences for theatre-makers and audiences. This edited collection gathers together leading voices in theatre and performance studies to debate the politics of participation across a range of performative forms – including community theatre, live art, applied theatre, one-to-one performance and marathon running – and to find points of connection between them. Arranged in three sections, 'Recognising Participation', 'Labours of Participation', and 'Authoring Participation', the book raises productive questions about how and why audiences are encouraged to participate in creating the artistic work. This blurs the boundaries between maker and spectator, promising modes of engagement that are at once political, social and aesthetic.