ACTING WITH FACTS: PERFORMING THE REAL ON STAGE AND SCREEN 1990-2010
http://www.reading.
An International Conference - University of Reading 1-3 September 2010
The Arts and Humanities Research Council of England and Wales project 'Acting with Facts: Actors Performing the Real in British Theatre and Television Since 1990' is one of the activities of the Centre for Television Studies, based in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television. It is led by Dr Derek Paget, working with Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Heather Sutherland, (Co-Investigators: Professor Jonathan Bignell and Lib Taylor). Running since 2007, the project concludes in 2010.
This conference is linked to the work of the project, which has involved interviews with some thirty British actors and industry workers, all of whom have worked in the burgeoning field of factual drama. Subjects researched include:
- Verbatim and Tribunal Theatres
- Community and Constituency Theatre involving documentary/
factual material - Screen [that is to say film as well as television] docudramas and hybrids programming that include elements of reconstruction/
drama - Theatre and/or Screen dramas based on fact and focused on social and political themes
- Film and television 'biopics'
- 'Historical-Event' television
Research questions addressed have included:
- the specific demands made by different media on actors' and other creatives' competencies when making or performing fact-based drama
- comparisons and correspondences between docudrama and fictional drama
- the ways television docudrama has responded to:
– the 1990 Broadcasting Act,
– increased international co-production,
– the digital revolution,
– accelerated social and political change since 1990
- the impact of social and political change (nationally and internationally) on documentary theatre since 1990
- the ethical, institutional and practical constraints on docudrama (e.g. legal restrictions, marketability, cost), and the aesthetic consequences that follow
- the usefulness of existing academic theories (of form, genre, format, audience) in the analysis of docudrama.
September's international conference will seek both to disseminate data from the research and to broaden the inquiry through the participation of practitioners and academics from the UK and abroad. Factual drama of all kinds has been a major feature in stage and screen performance during the two decades under the project's review, and the conference presents an opportunity for makers of drama and academics to debate the significance of a key cultural shift. The following distinguished guests have agreed to attend and contribute (schedules permitting):
David Edgar
Patricia Hodge
Mark Lawson
Jan Ravens
Sylvia Syms.
'Keynote Panels' rather than 'Keynote Lectures' will be a feature of the conference. A Call for Papers went out to academic colleagues on 29 January 2010 (with a deadline of 30 April 2010). Some of the distinguished academics who have agreed to participate are:
Steven N. Lipkin
Mary Luckhurst
Carol Martin
Bella Merlin
Alan Rosenthal
Brian Winston.
There will be more information on the University website on the composition of these and other aspects of the conference over the next few months. In the meantime, for enquiries about the Project or the Conference write or email to:
Dr. Heather Sutherland
Postdoctoral Researcher: 'Acting with Facts' Project
Department of Film, Theatre & Television
Bulmershe Court
University of Reading
RG6 1HYUK
email: h.a.sutherland@