Omnibus and Palgrave Macmillan are pleased to announce the launch of a ‘landmark study’ of aural phenomena in theatre, taking place in Clapham, London, on Monday 11^th May at 7.30pm.

This free event will include a Q&A with George Home-Cook and a panel discussion.

The question of attention in theatre remains relatively unexplored. In redressing this, ‘Theatre and Aural Attention’ investigates what it is to attend theatre by means of listening. Focusing on four core aural phenomena in theatre – noise, designed sound, silence, and immersion – George Home-Cook concludes that theatrical listening involves paying attention to atmospheres.

MORE INFO:

Theatre and Aural Attention on Palgrave Macmillan’s website: http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/theatre-and-aural-attention-george-home-cook/?sf1=barcode&st1=9781137393685

REVIEWS:

‘Theatre and Aural Attention is an inspiring model for how one might do performance philosophy now: producing new understandings of 'attention' and 'listening' in and through paying attention to theatre and its sounds (as well as to the process of attending itself). That is, Home-Cook does not just describe but performs attention as a dynamic, embodied and creative act – and in so doing, he provides a welcome corrective to the idea of attention as 'spotlight,' but also the false opposition of attention and distraction. Clear as a bell, Home-Cook's lucid account leads the reader through the 'messy reality' of theatrical listening with a modest authority, promising to make a real contribution to the kinds of thinking we do about and as theatre audiences.'

Laura Cull, University of Surrey, UK

‘This is a brilliant practice-based study of a subject crying out for more attention: how in paying attention as listeners to theatre events we stretch ourselves self-reflexively. Home-Cook writes carefully, quietly, and tactfully, but his reach is wide-ranging, stretching across auditory culture, listening, phenomenology, and theatre studies. He reads often difficult texts with ease, sometimes against the grain, and works through issues and concepts with an ear for what might be most productive aesthetically and phenomenologically for theatrical engagement. Discussing such matters as aurality, atmosphere, attunement, embodiment, enactment, environment, resonance, and sensation, he offers numerous insights into the multiple relations between listening, hearing, attending, and spectating. The lessons to be learnt from this book are profoundly unsettling but essential.'

Anthony Gritten, Royal Academy of Music, UK