Aural/Oral Dramaturgies: Post-Verbatim, Amplified Storytelling and Gig Theatre in the Digital Age

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In the 21st century, contemporary live performance and theatre are increasingly concerned with exploring the potential of speech and sound. This project' focus on the aural aspects of speech, sound, voice and sound design replaces the late 20th century dominance of literary textuality (new writing) and/or corporeality (physical theatre) as the primary dramaturgical motors in live performance. Some notable works that illustrate this trend include Robert Lepage's Lipsynch (2008), Simon McBurney's The Encounter (2016) but also, more symptomatically, the works known as 'gig theatre' in the UK (by artists such as Kate Tempest, Christopher Brett-Bailey, Kieran Hurley, Rash Dash, Middle Child etc). The trend emphasising aurality/orality has an international dimension and can be detected in its various manifestations in the works of, for example, Taylor Mac in the US, Lola Arias in Argentina, Valentijn Dhaenens in Belgium. Other noteworthy examples that privilege the dramaturgical rather than a merely utilitarian or decorative use of sound in live performance include forms such as headphones theatre (Rimini Protokoll, Rotozaza, ZU:UK) ordinarily considered a form of immersive or participatory theatre.Taking a broad spectrum approach, but at the same time focusing on examples found at the intersection of orality, aurality and contemporary performance-making, the project seeks to also connect this trend to verbatim theatre of the early 2000s and to argue that the renewed interest of makers in speech and sound should be viewed together as a part of a paradigm shift, rather than as isolated phenomena or unrelated sub-species of contemporary performance. These trends can be understood as belonging to the same paradigm as they seek to engage the audience primarily, though not exclusively, through an act of listening.The project will provide leadership by taking an interdisciplinary approach to the topic bringing together insights and expertise from ethnography, philosophy, digital humanities, musicology, museology and voice training as well as dramaturgy, performance and theatre studies. It will involve original field research as well as networking and public engagement activities. A two-tier international research network consisting of a pre-appointed Steering Group and an Advisory Group yet to be convened will be engaged to support various leadership and public engagement activities. The Fellow will co-commission new work with Battersea Arts Centre (BAC), which will form part of primary research together with a series of interviews with a range of performance-makers and experts on speech and sound from other disciplines. The research will be disseminated through a podcast, an international project conference, a special journal issue, a monograph, a workshop and a professional practice document for curators.As an example of innovative collaborative research activity, the Fellow will work with sound producer Tim Bano, members of the Research Network and in partnership with BAC and Digital Theatre Plus (DT+), on creating a 12-part podcast series ('Lend Me Your Ears') to be hosted by the DT+ website as an open access feature, dealing with the research topic of the project in a way accessible to publics outside of academia. In order to foster wider impact, the Fellow will also work with voice coach Jane Boston on creating a public speaking workshop based on the research generated through this project. Additionally, she will engage in relevant knowledge exchange with V&A's curators to investigate together ways of developing use of aural dramaturgies in curatorial practice.All these activities will serve to generate different kinds of knowledge and/or research outcomes suitable for widest possible dissemination.