The Loss of Small White Clouds: Dementia in Contemporary Performance
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The Loss of Small White Clouds: Dementia in Contemporary Performance Morgan Batch Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) (QUT) First Class Honours (Drama) (QUT) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Creative Practice Faculty of Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology 2019 Abstract Statistics consistently report that dementia is on the rise. Cultural studies scholarship finds that despite growing research, there remains a lack of understanding of the condition and of people with dementia. The Western cultural construction of dementia renders those with the condition as vulnerable, burdensome, and even brain dead. Journalistic and fictional accounts of people with dementia echo these perceptions. Although a significant academic literature exists on the representation of dementia in poetry, novels, and photography, there is, a dearth of research that addresses the staging of dementia in theatre. Research at the intersection of dementia and drama is currently preoccupied with applied practices. This thesis investigates contemporary theatre about dementia. It examines a number of performances for emergent themes, trends, tendencies, and resonances of the prevailing Western view of dementia, and asks how these develop in the particular medium of live performance. The core findings of this thesis are related to clinical markers, demarcation, the generational discourse, performance forms, constructions of diegesis, erasure, and selfhood. Keywords Contemporary theatre, Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, Gerontology, Western culture, Representation, Positioning, Narrativisation Batch The loss of small white clouds Page | i Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... i Keywords .................................................................................................................................................... i Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ v Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... vii Statement of Original Authorship .......................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................... ix 1. Introduction to the Research ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Significance of the Research .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Problem ........................................................................................................................... 2 Key Research Questions ......................................................................................................................... 2 Sub-questions .......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Framing .......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.4 The Layout of this Document......................................................................................................... 3 2. Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Lenses and Framing ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Methods .......................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 Textual Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 8 2.2.2 Interviews ................................................................................................................................. 10 2.3 Available Materials ...................................................................................................................... 11 2.4 Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 12 3. Literature Review: Dementia in Medicine and Culture .................................................... 13 3.1 An Introduction to Dementia........................................................................................................ 13 3.2 Dementia in Medicine .................................................................................................................. 15 3.2.1 Dementia and Cognition .......................................................................................................... 16 3.2.2 Clinical Presentations of Dementia .......................................................................................... 17 3.2.3 Clinical presentations: Memory ............................................................................................... 17 3.2.4 Clinical presentations: Communication ................................................................................... 18 3.2.5 Clinical presentations: Behaviour ............................................................................................ 20 3.3 The Medicalisation of Dementia .................................................................................................. 21 3.4 Stigma .......................................................................................................................................... 23 3.5 Dementia in Western Culture ....................................................................................................... 24 3.5.1 Notions of Burden .................................................................................................................... 28 3.5.2 Dementia and Euthanasia ......................................................................................................... 29 3.5.3 Selfhood ................................................................................................................................... 30 Batch The loss of small white clouds Page | ii 4. Literature Review: Representations of Dementia in Media .............................................. 34 4.1 Journalistic Media ........................................................................................................................ 34 4.2 Images and Illustrations ............................................................................................................... 37 4.3 Photography and Portraiture......................................................................................................... 40 4.4 Novels and Memoir ...................................................................................................................... 41 4.5 Screen ........................................................................................................................................... 43 4.6 Applied Arts and Dementia .......................................................................................................... 47 4.6.1 Music Therapy ......................................................................................................................... 48 4.6.2 Dance Movement Therapy ....................................................................................................... 49 4.6.3 Reminiscence Therapy ............................................................................................................. 49 4.6.4 Dramatherapy ........................................................................................................................... 50 4.6.5 Intersections of Applied Drama and Performance ................................................................... 50 4.7 Conclusion and the Current Gap in the Knowledge ..................................................................... 52 5. Contextual Review: The Existing and Emerging Landscape of Dementia in Theatre ..... 54 King Lear – a historic case study .......................................................................................................... 58 5.1 Performance Styles – a guide to terminology .............................................................................. 60 Dramaturgy ........................................................................................................................................... 60 Structure and Diegesis .......................................................................................................................... 61 Language ............................................................................................................................................... 62 Postdramatic Performance .................................................................................................................... 62 5.2 Contemporary Performance ........................................................................................................