In this seminar we reflect on how we might gain access to material generated by actors from different periods and what it can illuminate in theatre history and research, as well as what it can tell us about prevailing beliefs about practice and theory. We’ll use two interviews with actors from Mary’s book ‘Playing for Real’ (Palgrave 2010) to think about the perspective that actors provide; how their viewpoints might complicate our research in interesting ways; and to think about the ethics and politics of the material. How can statements made at particular moments in an actors’ career be used with integrity? How as researchers do we treat contradiction? What do we need to make clear about culture, community, context and material production to best utilise material?
Professor Mary Luckhurst is Associate Director of Research and Professor of Theatre at the University of Melbourne. She is currently the Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities Visiting Professor. She co-founded the Department of Theatre Film and TV at the University of York in 2007 working with leading industry professionals. She is a director, actor trainer and theatre historian and an authority on the analysis of theatre processes. Her latest books are on Caryl Churchill (Routledge 2015), Theatre and Human Rights (Palgrave 2015) and Theatre and Ghosts (2014).
