Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium 2024
Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium 2024
Theatre as Catalyst for Liberation: Creativity Within Constraints Friday, May 3, 2024
The Philadelphia Theatre Research Symposium (PTRS) is seeking abstracts for the 2024 gathering of theater scholars and practitioners. We invite proposals for panels and roundtables for our in-person conference at Villanova University this May. This year’s theme is “Theatre as Catalyst for Liberation: Creativity Within Constraints,” which asks us to think about how theatre practice and non-traditional storytelling forms are connected to liberation – (Black Liberation specifically in the case of NBT), freeing ourselves, our ideas, and others. Theatre as a form and craft teaches us how to be creative within constraints, inviting discussions of not only what our narratives are, but also how the processes by which they are created are honed and crystalized for impact. This becomes even more important when ideological, aesthetic, political, and financial limitations are continual pressures that center “traditional” western ideology (inclusive of colonialism, capitalism and co-option/appropriation) in the current global theatre landscape. These topics will be explored in a keynote address by National Black Theatre’s (NBT) Chief Executive Officer, Sade Lythcott, and Executive Artistic Director, Jonathan McCrory, as well as in their workshop on Holistic Producing: Decolonizing the Western Frame.
We invite proposals for individual papers or roundtables on topics that could include, but are not limited to:
- Artivism: Artists & Art making and fighting for social change
- Applied Indigenous practices in theatre making
- Applied theatre
- Community theatre (as in theatre for community-building)
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility models
- Experimental / Avant Garde theatre and/or producing
- Liberatory theatre making (playwrights, companies, productions that liberate)
- Storytelling for new audiences
- Teaching methods for liberation
- Theatre of and for the Global Majority
- Theatre of the Oppressed (as a tool for teaching, making performance, community organizing)
How to Submit:
Please submit a 250-word abstract for a 15-minute presentation to Bess Rowen at bess.rowen@villanova.edu along with a 100-word biography, including your current affiliation, by March 3, 2024. Please also include: the paper’s title, the presenter’s name, affiliation, and email address.