Applied Puppetry in Practice Matt Smith
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Speaking the Unspeakable: Applied Puppetry in Practice Matt Smith The Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance Royal Holloway, University of London A thesis submitted as a partial fulfilment of the university’s requirements for the degree of Ph.D. September 2016 1 Declaration of Authorship I, Matt Smith, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed:______________________ Date:______________________ 2 Abstract This thesis explores applied puppetry and how it works in practice. I examine how bodies and objects interact in workshop spaces in a practice-as-research (PaR) project conducted over two years in an immigration removal centre (IRC) through writing and a series of lecture performances. I also provide a consideration of why puppetry in traumatic contexts with groups and individuals is conducted in particular ways. I explore the complex dynamic between puppet participants and facilitators as a space of political and ethical problems. The thesis applies contemporary theories of biopolitics and new materialism to derive a performance practice that might be a model for using puppetry responsibly in relation to participants. This PhD contributes a new approach to applied theatre using puppets. One of the most significant findings is that puppets are effective in developing dialogue and alternative creative spaces. Disruption of scopic regimes is only possible when puppetry is used in an ethical and flexible manner. Therefore the artist in an IRC has to take into account the powerful biopolitics that surround this workshop practice. Furthermore, the puppet and performing objects after the closure of the institution concerned become witnesses to practice with groups traumatised by immigration detention. This witnessing is expressed when the puppets are present in lecture performances outside of the prison. The use of puppets cast as witnesses and collaborators and the issues surrounding their relationship to participants’ is expanded in this work. 3 Table of Contents Declaration of Authorship .................................................................................... 2 Abstract…………….. ........................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ................................................................................................ 4 List of Figures……………………….. ................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. 8 Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................... 9 The Project at HMP Haslar IRC: Spectres of Uncertainty ................................ 9 Socially Engaged Puppetry ........................................................................... 15 Biopower and Puppetry ................................................................................. 22 Theatre in Difficult Circumstances ................................................................ 26 Lecture Performances and Thesis Format .................................................... 38 Project Aims and Research Questions ......................................................... 43 Chapter 2: ......................................................................................................... 46 Reflections on HMP Haslar IRC Workshops and Performances. .................. 46 Chapter 3: ......................................................................................................... 97 The Immigrant Identity Represented as ‘Über-Marionette’: Developing an Approach to Participants in an Immigration Removal Centre. ....................... 97 The Context of Haslar .................................................................................. 103 Bare Life and the Puppet ............................................................................. 111 Cultural Geography and HMP Haslar IRC ................................................... 116 Shadow Representations ............................................................................. 119 Chapter 4 ........................................................................................................ 124 Hand-to-Hand: The Ethical Puppet Workshop ............................................. 124 4 The Puppet Workshop Borders .................................................................... 126 Hospitality and the Welcome in the Workshops. .......................................... 132 From Face to Shoulder to Hand ................................................................... 135 Spontaneity, Control and the Limits of the Puppet Workshop ...................... 148 Chapter 5: ....................................................................................................... 157 The Puppet as Witness ................................................................................ 157 Absence and the Puppets’ Presence ........................................................... 161 The Alien Experience of the Puppet ............................................................. 166 Border Theatre and Vibrant Objects ............................................................ 176 Puppet Witnesses ........................................................................................ 180 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 188 Wider Implications………………………………………………………...……...199 Appendix 1: Feedback from Four Detainee Respondents........................ 203 Appendix 2: Script for Lecture Performance ............................................ 205 Appendix 3: DVD of Lecture performance May 20th 2pm Caryl Churchill Theatre, RHUL Campus Egham. .............................................................. 221 Works Cited .................................................................................................... 222 5 List of Figures Figure 1. Marble sculpture of the Earth in the gardens inside HMP Haslar IRC. Photograph. Matt Smith. 2015. ................................................................................................ 9 Figure 2. Corridor leading to the education block in HMP Haslar IRC. Photograph. Matt Smith 2015. ............................................................................................................................... 46 Figure 3. Painting of Venice by immigrant detainee behind bars in corridor of HMP Haslar IRC. Photograph.Matt Smith 2015. ........................................................................... 49 Figure 4. Institutional bell that was rung to indicate the closure of the educational department. Photograph. Matt Smith 2015. ......................................................................... 55 Figure 5. The music room in the education block of Haslar IRC. Photograph.Matt Smith. 2015. .............................................................................................................................. 58 Figure 6. Benches in the prison yard where puppets were constructed as part of workshops. Photograph. Matt Smith 2015. .......................................................................... 66 Figure 7. Giant chess pieces in the prison yard. Photograph. Matt Smith 2015. ........... 69 Figure 8. Music room in education block HMP Haslar IRC. Photograph.Matt Smith 2015. .......................................................................................................................................... 71 Figure 9. Audience at the community day event October 2013. Photograph. Rose Morton 2013. ............................................................................................................................. 72 Figure 10. Shadow puppet performance at the community event October 2013. Journeyman puppet crossing the ocean with fish. Photograph. Rose Morton 2013. .... 72 Figure 11. Empty tool box with the shadows of tools on the back board education block HMP Haslar IRC. Photograph. Matt Smith 2015. ................................................................ 73 Figure 12. Long corridor connecting dormitories in HMP Haslar IRC. Photograph. Matt Smith 2015. ............................................................................................................................... 77 Figure 13. Shadow puppet of journeyman with drawn acetate background by detainee. Photograph. Greg Smith 2015. .............................................................................................. 82 Figure 14. Female dancers. Marionettes constructed in HMP Haslar. Photograph. Matt Smith 2014. ............................................................................................................................... 90 Figure 15. Master of ceremonies puppet built in HMP Haslar IRC. Photograph. Matt Smith 2014. ............................................................................................................................... 92 Figure 16. Bird marionette constructed in HMP Haslar. Photograph. Matt Smith 2014. 96 Figure 17. Shadow puppet in prison. 2015. Photograph. Gregg Smith. .......................... 97 Figure 18. Hands crossing in the lecture performance. 2016. Photograph. Walid Benkhaled ................................................................................................................................ 124 Figure 19. Cardboard