Baby Becomings

Towards a Dramaturgy of Sympoietic Worlding

Authors

  • Lise Hovik Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education
  • Elena Pérez Norwegian University of Science and Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v32i1.120410

Keywords:

Baby theatre, Becoming, Dramaturgy, Postdramatic, Posthuman, Science art worlding, Sympoiesis, Theatre for early years, TEY, Worlding

Abstract

The article proposes new concepts of dramaturgical thinking for baby theatre productions. With an arts-based research approach, allowing insider
perspectives of the artmaking process to come forth, the authors, who are the director and dramaturge of the performance Baby Becomings by Teater Fot, discuss different concepts of postdramatic dramaturgical aspects in relation to the work. By adapting Donna Haraway’s theories of sympoiesis and science art worldings as a theoretical framework, the article explores how Haraway’s philosophy serves both as artistic inspiration and provides new concepts for dramaturgical reflection. The authors ask how posthumanist and sympoietic perspectives connect to postdramatic dramaturgy and wish to propose a posthumanist dramaturgy of sympoietic worlding in theatre for babies.

Author Biographies

Lise Hovik, Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education

Lise Hovik (b. 1962) is a children’s theatre director and associate professor at Queen Maud University College of Early Childhood Education (QMUC). Her Ph.D. is about Theatre for Early Years (2014), and is based on her artistic research project The Red Shoes (2008) by Teater Fot, of which she has been the artistic director since 2004. The company has toured international children’s theatre festivals. Hovik has been a professional adviser in several artistic councils and boards: Art Council Norway, UNIMANorway, and ASSITEJ Norway. She was research leader of SceSam – interactive dramaturgies in performing arts for children (2012-16), and is now project manager and researcher of the artistic research project LYDHØR (2019-21) with artists, young children, and pedagogues.

Elena Pérez, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Elena Pérez (b. 1978) is assistant professor at the department of Art and Media Studies at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where she also completed her Ph.D. (2016). Her research interests span contemporary theatre and performance, and its convergence with technology, visual art and gaming. She has investigated socially engaged art and play practically through the creation of participatory performances in public spaces, and theoretically through the publication of several articles in journals such as Nordic Theatre Studies, Digital Creativity, and the International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media. From 2016-20 she was artistic director of Trondheim Art Association.

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Published

2020-05-31

How to Cite

Hovik, L., & Pérez, E. (2020). Baby Becomings: Towards a Dramaturgy of Sympoietic Worlding. Nordic Theatre Studies, 32(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v32i1.120410

Issue

Vol. 32 No. 1 (2020): Theatre and the Anthropocene

Section

Articles thematic section

License

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