Audiences and Participants: Researching Theatre Users at Contact, Manchester A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2012 Uwe Gröschel School of Arts, Languages and Cultures LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ 4 LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ 5 LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. 6 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 7 DECLARATION................................................................................................................ 8 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ................................................................................................ 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ 10 THE AUTHOR ............................................................................................................... 11 PART 1 ......................................................................................................................... 12 1 CHAPTER 1 - AN INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCHING NEW THEATRE PARADIGMS ... 12 1.1 AIMS .......................................................................................................................... 14 1.2 PURPOSE ..................................................................................................................... 20 1.3 CONTACT’S USERS ......................................................................................................... 25 1.4 CONTACT’S USERS CHALLENGE TRADITIONAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH ........................................... 30 1.5 MULTI-METHOD RESEARCH ............................................................................................. 39 1.6 PARTICIPATION ............................................................................................................. 40 1.7 THE ‘CLASSIC PARADIGM’ ................................................................................................ 42 1.8 LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 48 2 CHAPTER 2 - WHAT IS CONTACT? .......................................................................... 60 2.1 A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO CONTACT’S HISTORY, 1966-1998 ............................................. 70 2.2 CONTACT YOUNG ACTOR’S COMPANY (CYAC) ................................................................... 82 3 CHAPTER 3 - METHODS OF RESEARCH ................................................................... 85 3.1 APPROACHES FROM OUTSIDE TRADITIONAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH ............................................ 86 3.1.1 Participant Observation ................................................................................... 88 3.1.2 Walking Fieldwork ............................................................................................ 89 3.1.3 Visual Methods ................................................................................................. 90 3.1.4 Creative Workshops ......................................................................................... 94 3.1.5 Focus groups .................................................................................................... 97 3.2 TRADITIONAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH METHODS ..................................................................... 97 3.2.1 Qualitative, semi-structured Interviews ........................................................... 97 3.2.2 Video Interviews and Questionnaires ............................................................ 101 3.3 THE RESEARCH JOURNEY AND THE EVOLUTION OF THE THEORETICAL APPROACH ....................... 111 PART 2 ....................................................................................................................... 119 4 CHAPTER 4 – LONG-TERM AND CASUAL USERS AS PARTICIPANTS ....................... 119 4.1 THEATRE USERS AND PARTICIPATION .......................................................................... 122 4.2 CASE STUDIES ........................................................................................................... 129 - 2 - 4.3 WHAT IS A ‘ROLE’? ...................................................................................................... 133 4.3.1 Roles of theatre users ..................................................................................... 134 4.4 THEATRE CONVENTIONS AND LONG-TERM USERS’ ROLES IN MEMORIES OF THE RAIN ................ 138 4.5 USERS’ ROLES IN MOSTON D.N.A. ................................................................................. 144 4.6 EVALUATION OF PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION AND VISUAL METHODS ....................................... 151 5 CHAPTER 5 - THEATRE USERS AS COMMUNITIES ................................................. 155 5.1 ‘CONTACT CAREERS’ .................................................................................................... 157 5.2 COMMUNITY .............................................................................................................. 159 5.3 EXTENDED INTERVIEWS ................................................................................................. 168 5.4 EVALUATION OF EXTENDED INTERVIEWS ........................................................................... 185 6 CHAPTER 6 – RESEARCHING CASUAL USERS THROUGH CREATIVE METHODS ....... 193 6.1 INNOVATIVE RESEARCH METHODS .................................................................................. 197 6.2 CASE STUDIES ............................................................................................................. 199 6.2.1 Loreto College ................................................................................................. 199 6.2.2 People in Glass Cases Shouldn’t Throw Stones .............................................. 224 7 CHAPTER 7 – RESEARCHING USERS THROUGH ESTABLISHED METHODS .............. 239 7.1 SHORT, QUALITATIVE VIDEO INTERVIEWS .......................................................................... 240 7.2 SOME LONGITUDINAL ASPECTS OF PEOPLE IN GLASS CASES SHOULDN’T THROW STONES........... 248 7.3 EVALUATION OF RESEARCH METHODS ............................................................................. 273 7.3.1 Short, qualitative (snapshot) interviews ........................................................ 274 7.3.2 Questionnaire and follow-on telephone interviews ....................................... 276 8 CHAPTER 8 – CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 280 8.1 CONTACT USERS AND THEIR PRACTICES ............................................................................ 285 8.2 REMAINING QUESTIONS AND FUTURE AUDIENCE RESEARCH ................................................. 287 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................. 291 APPENDIX A ....................................................................................................................... 291 APPENDIX B ....................................................................................................................... 293 APPENDIX C ................................................................................................................... - 295 - APPENDIX D ................................................................................................................... - 297 - BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... - 299 - 81.133 words (permission granted to exceed word limit) - 3 - List of Abbreviations ALD Alcoholic liver disease A/R/T Artist/ Researcher/ Teacher, Topographer CLTU Contact long-term user Contact Contact (Theatre), Manchester CYAC Contact Young Actors’ Company DJ Disk Jockey D.N.A. Dynamic New Approach (outreach project in Moston) HND Higher National Diploma MC Spoken-Word Artist MOSI Museum of Industry and Science (Manchester) Moston D.N.A. see D.N.A. Panda Performing Arts Network and Development Agency PA system Personal Address system TfD Theatre for Development TIE Theatre-in-Education - 4 - List of Figures FIGURE 1 VIEW FROM CONTACT ONTO OXFORD ROAD; ........................................................................... 60 FIGURE 2 CONTACT'S CHARACTERISTIC AIR VENTS, .................................................................................. 61 FIGURE 3 CONTACT'S UPPER FOYER, ......................................................................................................... 62 FIGURE 4 CONTACTING THE WORLD PREVIEW NIGHT; ........................................................................... 63 FIGURE 5 CONTACTING THE WORLD 2012; ............................................................................................. 63 FIGURE 6 SPACE 1; ....................................................................................................................................... 68 FIGURE 7 CONTACTING THE WORLD 2012: CYAC AND ARTS-IN-ACTION WORDSMITHS (TRINIDAD); ..............................................................................................................................................................