Practice Research: At the intersections of thinking and doing

A conversation between performance and philosophy

Wednesday 7^th December 6 – 8pm

Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

In his essay Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil, in what appears to be an almost throw away comment, a moment in parenthesis, the philosopher Alain Badiou writes that ‘all thought is a practice, a putting to the test’ (Badiou 2002: 41).

In this roundtable discussion we pick up from Badiou’s parenthetical comment and consider the relationship between thinking and doing. While there have been many developments in the academy’s response to practice-as-research in recent years, in this discussion we hope to open up this debate further by examining the ethical dimensions of the relationship between thinking and performance which emerges in many different forms of performance making and practice-as-research. 

Drawing on some of the dialogues between philosophy and performance that have emerged in recent years, we consider what obligates us to act, how we might understand our responsibility towards others and what philosophy and practice research might reveal about relationships of care.

Contributors:

Laura Cull Ó Maoilearca, Reader in Theatre and Performance, University of Surrey

Tony Fisher, Reader in Theatre and Philosophy, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Maurice Hamington, Professor of Philosophy, Portland State University, Oregon and Visiting Fellow, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

David Harradine, Professor of Interdisciplinary Practice and Co-Artistic Director of Fevered Sleep

Amanda Stuart Fisher, Reader in Contemporary Theatre and Performance, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (convenor and chair).

This event is free, but booking is essential.

To reserve your place please contact: catherine.sloan@cssd.ac.uk