Laboratory of methodologies and collaborative practices in postdramatic theatre | Afonso Becerra

In the nature of the performing arts is the relational fact. In theatrical acts, in any scenic modality (dance, theatre, circus, performance and various hybridizations), whether in theatres and other venues, or in unconventional spaces, meeting and sharing are fundamental bases. It is evident, therefore, that the realization and enjoyment of the performing arts or also called, under French influence, “living arts”, depend on collaboration. A person alone cannot do, nor can fully enjoy, theatre, dance, performance, circus...

Within scenic creation, we can establish two very general ways of acting, from the perspective of engineering and methodologies: postdramatic process dramaturgies, on the one hand, and concept dramaturgies, in the lineage of drama, on the other hand. The latter operate from a hierarchy and an order similar to the one we use in most areas of our daily lives. One person, the playwright, plans the concepts, themes, arguments and style that will guide the creation. When the process of rehearsals and preparation-creation of the show begins, the dramaturgy has already been designed, the play has already been written, the project has already been imagined and formulated. Therefore, the artistic team, respecting the hierarchies (playwright, director, actress/actor, performer, dancer, scenographer, light and sound designers, etc.), will have to follow the plans already established and try to represent the previously conceived piece.

In the case of postdramatic process dramaturgies, the play, show or artistic object does not exist at the beginning, it will be the result of a collaborative process by the entire team, within a horizontal creation regime in which all elements enrich, diversify and add complexity. In the beginning, if there is any concept, theme or idea, they will only be starting points, on an equal footing with regard to other materials that will trigger this process. Here the work of dramaturgy and staging, on the one hand, will be a function shared between all the people of the artistic team, and, on the other hand, it may be the work of management and coordination, perhaps, of someone dedicated solely to this or which also intervenes directly in the action of the show.
In post-dramatic process dramaturgies, the play, show, or artistic object will be the result of the collaborative procedural game itself. But this complexity and diversity need some foundations and methodologies that help to establish cohesion mechanisms and to find the possible shareable sense or meaning. It is an artistic experience that will be shared with other people, with a community.

In this laboratory we will reflect and train an open methodology, based on rhythmic tensions that provide meaning, attraction, interest and effective and affective participation in a scenic creation, generated in a procedural and collaborative way. A methodology that will also expand our perceptive capacities, as spectators, as well as help to carry out a more in-depth reading.

Topics to be addressed (briefly) and, if possible, to do:

— Dramaturgy as a function and action engineering in the performing arts.
— The action and its scenic devices.
— Sense and meaning. Sensorialism, emotion, affect, cognition.
— Post-dramatic process dramaturgies versus dramatic concept dramaturgies.
— Rhythmic mechanisms that generate cohesion and determine the meaning of creation. Rhythmic tensions that establish bridges with reception.
— The starting point materials. Heterogeneity, diversity, contiguity, simultaneity, disjunction, plethora, horizontality, de-hierarchization.
— The collaborative creation processes/ devised theatre.