http://hdl.handle.net/2160/1889 2013-05-23T22:08:49Z http://hdl.handle.net/2160/1892 From the Laboratory to the Centre: History, Training, the Academy and the Book Watt, Daniel A speculation on the future of performance and an evocation of the history of the Centre for Performance Research (CPR) The Aberystwyth based Centre for Performance Research (CPR) concludes its recent celebration of 30 years of work with the publication of the book, A PERFORMANCE COSMOLOGY: Testimony from the Future, Evidence of the Past. CPR began as an experimental theatre company (Cardiff Laboratory Theatre, founded by Mike Pearson in 1974) before evolving into the Centre for Performance Research (founded by Richard Gough and Judie Christie in 1988), a multi-faceted theatre organization located and rooted in Wales, working nationally and internationally. Thriving on a broad curiosity in theatre and performance, the organization has achieved an influence far beyond Wales, with programmes combining cultural co-operation, collaboration and exchange, practical training, education and research, performance, production and promotion, documentation and publishing, information and resource. With a mission to develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and practice of theatre, CPR and Cardiff Laboratory Theatre has pioneered in Wales and the UK the presentation and exposition of a wide range of acclaimed companies and artists from around the world such as: Jerzy Grotowski and his Laboratorium and Gardzienice Theatre Association from Poland; Eugenio Barba’s Odin Teatret from Denmark; Beijing and Kunju Opera from China; Enrique Vargas’ Taller Imagen Theatre from Columbia, Victoria young peoples’ theatre from Belgium; Augusto Boal’s political theatre forms from Brazil, to name but a few, as well as developing a diverse range of training opportunities for artists in Wales and the UK. In A Performance Cosmology CPR’s exploratory past and vigorous present is charted through an illustrated chronology of thirty years’ contribution to the field of theatre and performance studies. At its heart, the book also explores the future challenges of performance and theatre through a diverse and fascinating series of interviews, testimonies and perspectives from leading international practitioners and academics. Contributors include: Philip Auslander; Rustom Bharucha; Tim Etchells; Jane Goodall; Susan Melrose; Alphonso Lingis; Mike Pearson; Richard Schechner; and Edward Scheer. A Performance Cosmology is structured as a travelogue through a matrix of strategic, imaginary, interdisciplinary fieldstations. This innovative framework enables non-linear readings and offer different forms of thematic engagement, opening new vistas and speculation on the old, new, and as yet unimagined, worlds of performance. From the Laboratory to the Centre: Watt, Daniel, 'History, Training, the Academy and the Book', A PERFORMANCE COSMOLOGY: Testimony from the Future, Evidence of the Past (Centre for Performance Research, 2006) 2006-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2160/1891 The Courage to Create: Food, Alchemy, Objects and Watt, Daniel The major conference gathering/festival organized in January 1994 in Cardiff was one of the Points of Contact conferences and was a significant departure from simply bringing theatre and performance into contact with other disciplines. The title was ‘Points of Contact: Performance, Food, and Cookery’. The series began with one on theatre and anthropology. Then one on nature and culture and on politics and ideology, shamanism and ritual. But sometime in 1992 or 1993, Richard Gough began to think of organizing a major gathering to bring scholars, food historians, restaurateurs, performance artists, theatremakers and food artists together in a festival. It was bigger than a conference because it was a whole programme of performance works, very much inspired by some of the discussions he’d had with Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimblett on his trips to New York. And it was an extraordinary gathering, truly, in terms of the range of presentations that were garnered. Watt, Daniel, 'The Courage to Create: Food, Alchemy, Objects and Performance', Cosmology (Centre for Performance Research, 2005) 2005-06-30T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2160/1890 Richard Gough: A Consuming Passion Thompson, Melissa Richard Gough’s talent for taking risks came at an early age. He left school at age 17, and while others were deciding whether to take up a trade or go to university, Gough struck out on his own journey, deciding to create his own education programme by traveling extensively through Europe and participating in a number of theatre workshops during his travels. This initial risk paved the way for what became, in essence, a career based on risk-taking—a career as an artist creating experimental performance. Thompson, Melissa, 'Richard Gough: A Consuming Passion', Cosmology (Centre for Performance Research, 2008) Also see interview at Wales Arts Internationl at http://www.wai.org.uk/index.cfm?UUID=9EE940BB-65BF-7E43-39B615A601F47716 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z