Event overview
The second in the autumn programme of Performance Research Seminars analyses a polemical topic from multiple perspectives.
Watching War: Spectacles of Conflict on the Twenty-First Century Stage
Words originating from the Latin verb terrere shift inconsistently from the negatively inflected noun “terrorism” or adjective “terrible”, to the positively inflected adverb “terribly”, used in phrases like “terribly good”. This etymological contradiction highlights the paradoxical reactions of fear and fascination provoked by terrorism. Terrorist acts are without a doubt devastating, destructive, terrifying. But the revulsion felt by victims and onlookers is often held in uneasy tension with the general public’s fascination for, and allure to, the visual spectacle that terrorism habitually provides. The aim of such a claim is in no way to diminish, dematerialize or deny the devastation caused by terrorism, that is all too real. Rather, it is to suggest that what the public understands and perceives as a terrorist attack, is not the reality of the attack, but its reconstruction as spectacle in the mass media. Taking several case studies from recent UK theatre, I ask if and how they might broaden the narrow scope of imagery offered by the dominant media.
Wine is served.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Nov 2014 | 4:30pm - 6:00pm |
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