Adam Alston
Biographic Data
| ID | 4512325 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Adam Alston |
| GIVEN NAMES | Adam |
| FAMILY NAME | Alston |
| SIGNATURE | ALSTON A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Surrey |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6413-9085 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 7 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1948 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Staging Decadence
Why are so many theatre makers staging their experiences of going nowhere fast? Runners stumbling atop treadmills, cyclists spinning on exercise bikes, torsos flailing wildly while feet remain rooted to the spot. ‘Frenetic standstill’ identifies the strange paradox of racing to keep up with an accelerating pace of life in stagnating economies. What happens if we take seriously the claim that theatre is both unproductive and decadent? What can per…
‘Burn the Witch’
This article introduces and theorizes ‘decadence’ as a key feature of Lauren Barri Holstein's performance Notorious (2017). The decadence of Holstein's work is approached in light of two main considerations: the spectacular presentation of witchcraft as an occult practice, and what Holstein ‘does’ with the staging of witches and witchcraft. Situated in light of performances associated with the neo-occult revival (Ivy Monteiro and Jex Blackmore), …
Beyond Immersive Theatre
Immersive theatre currently enjoys ubiquity, popularity and recognition in theatre journalism and scholarship. However, the politics of immersive theatre aesthetics still lacks a substantial critique. Does immersive theatre model a particular kind of politics, or a particular kind of audience? What's involved in the production and consumption of immersive theatre aesthetics? Is a productive audience always an empowered audience? And do the terms …
Performing labour in Look Left Look Right's Above and Beyond
This article looks at the theme of ‘performing labour’ in Look Left Look Right's Above and Beyond (2013). In this performance, individual audience members participate as a generic staff member in a fully functioning five star hotel in London. I consider three modes of performing labour in Above and Beyond: audiences role-playing as staff; theatre workers role-playing as staff and hotel staff performing care and attentiveness. The aesthetics of pe…
Funding, product placement and drunkenness in Punchdrunk's The Black Diamond
This article responds to Stella Artois Black’s recent hiring of Punchdrunk members for their ‘immersive’ theatre marketing venture The Black Diamond (Scene 1). What happens to immersive theatre when product placement enters its world? And what happens to the product having entered the world of immersive theatre? These questions are addressed in relation to Arts Council England funding policy and Punchdrunk’s award of a significant rise in ACE fun…
Henry Walter Bates
Queries and Answers
Henry Walter Bates
Queries and Answers
Funding, product placement and drunkenness in Punchdrunk's The Black Diamond
This article responds to Stella Artois Black’s recent hiring of Punchdrunk members for their ‘immersive’ theatre marketing venture The Black Diamond (Scene 1). What happens to immersive theatre when product placement enters its world? And what happens to the product having entered the world of immersive theatre? These questions are addressed in relation to Arts Council England funding policy and Punchdrunk’s award of a significant rise in ACE fun…
Performing labour in Look Left Look Right's Above and Beyond
This article looks at the theme of ‘performing labour’ in Look Left Look Right's Above and Beyond (2013). In this performance, individual audience members participate as a generic staff member in a fully functioning five star hotel in London. I consider three modes of performing labour in Above and Beyond: audiences role-playing as staff; theatre workers role-playing as staff and hotel staff performing care and attentiveness. The aesthetics of pe…
Beyond Immersive Theatre
Immersive theatre currently enjoys ubiquity, popularity and recognition in theatre journalism and scholarship. However, the politics of immersive theatre aesthetics still lacks a substantial critique. Does immersive theatre model a particular kind of politics, or a particular kind of audience? What's involved in the production and consumption of immersive theatre aesthetics? Is a productive audience always an empowered audience? And do the terms …
‘Burn the Witch’
This article introduces and theorizes ‘decadence’ as a key feature of Lauren Barri Holstein's performance Notorious (2017). The decadence of Holstein's work is approached in light of two main considerations: the spectacular presentation of witchcraft as an occult practice, and what Holstein ‘does’ with the staging of witches and witchcraft. Situated in light of performances associated with the neo-occult revival (Ivy Monteiro and Jex Blackmore), …
Staging Decadence
Why are so many theatre makers staging their experiences of going nowhere fast? Runners stumbling atop treadmills, cyclists spinning on exercise bikes, torsos flailing wildly while feet remain rooted to the spot. ‘Frenetic standstill’ identifies the strange paradox of racing to keep up with an accelerating pace of life in stagnating economies. What happens if we take seriously the claim that theatre is both unproductive and decadent? What can per…
Art (6 works) · Aesthetics (3 works) · Art history (3 works) · History (3 works) · Literature (3 works) · Theatre and Performance Studies (3 works) · Computer Science (2 works) · Cultural Industries and Urban Development (2 works) · Decadence (2 works) · Philosophy (2 works)