From the Laboratory to the Centre: History, Training, the Academy and the Book

Abstract

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.