Revisiting The Player’s Passion: the Science(s) of Acting in 2015 – Call For Papers

Revisiting The Player’s Passion: the Science(s) of Acting in 2015
Department of Performance Studies, University of Sydney
23-­26 June, 2015

In 1985, Joseph R. Roach published his seminal work The Player’s Passion: Studies in the Science of Acting. Professor Roach’s book reinterpreted theories of acting in the light of histories of science, examining acting styles from the seventeenth to the twentieth century and measuring them against prevailing conceptions of the human body. In 2015 it will be thirty years since the The Player’s Passion was published; therefore, taking Professor Roach’s work as a provocation or inspiration, the 2015 ADSA Conference will examine the current state of research into the
science(s) of acting.

In addition, ADSA members are also invited to respond to any of Professor Roach’s other research interests that include the study of celebrity, a range of topics in the eighteenth century, cultural exchange along the Atlantic rim and many others (http://english.yale.edu/sites/default/files/CV-­‐Roach.12.pdf).

The conference wishes to consider the science(s) of acting broadly, so the term “acting”, as we
use it, will include all genres of aesthetic performance such as dance, singing, physical theatre, circus, puppetry and objects. Questions the conference will consider include: Can we still speak of science(s) of acting? Is this a helpful rubric or does it limit the nature of enquiry? What do science(s) of acting make available?

ADSA members are invited to respond to the theme ‘Revisiting The Player’s Passion: the Science(s) of Acting in 2015’ in relation to theatre, drama and performance. The following ideas serve as points of departure:

  • New approaches and technologies for studying acting
  • Theories of emotion and the self in relation to acting
  • The sociology of acting
  • Non‐human performers
  • Intercultural approaches to performance
  • Anti‐theatricalism in the 21st century
  • The actor as trope in the public sphere
  • Reconstructing historical performances
  • The actor as manual philosopher

ADSA members are invited to respond to this call for papers by:

  1. Submitting an abstract of between 200-­‐300 words for an individual paper
  2. Submitting a 300-­‐500 word proposal for a themed panel with names of participants and their institutional affiliation
  3. Submitting a 300-­‐500 word proposal for a performance or workshop

to the conference convenors: Dr Glen McGillivray glen.mcgillivray@sydney.edu.au or A/Prof.
Ian Maxwell ian.maxwell@sydney.edu.au

Abstracts Due: 31 October 2014; acceptance advised 15 December 2014.