Working within an aesthetic of relationality: theoretical considerations of embodiment, imagination and foolishness as part of theatre making about dementia

ABSTRACT

Through this paper, I consider how we might be aesthetically and relationally accountable in creating research-informed theatre through the conceptual frame of an aesthetic of relationality, and in-depth considerations of the theoretical notions embodiment, imagination and foolishness (as vulnerability-bravery). Through the example of Cracked: new light on dementia, of which I am the playwright and director, I consider the ways artist-researchers foolishly and imaginatively engage in exploration from the starting point their own bodies, as socially, culturally and historically situated. I additionally extend these considerations towards a vision for how we might engage with persons with dementia beyond the tragic.

KEYWORDS:

• Performance research
• aesthetics
• relationality
• foolishness
• dementia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Julia Gray (PhD) is a playwright, theatre director and a postdoctoral fellow at Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Artistic/research interests include drawing on theatre and performance to overturn cultural assumptions of embodied differences, and stretching traditional/academic understandings of ‘legitimate inquiry’ through performance-research.

ORCID

Julia Gray http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0324-9146

Notes

1 I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to my doctoral supervisor Dr Pia Kontos and committee members Dr Tara Goldstein and Dr Bonnie Burstow for their enthusiasm for and support of my doctoral project. I completed my PhD at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education.

2 For examples of this team’s work, please see Dupuis et al. (2016), Jonas-Simpson et al. (2012), Kontos (2012a, 2012b); Dupuis et al. (2011); Mitchell, Dupuis, and Kontos (2013); Mitchell et al. (2011); Kontos et al. (2015); Kontos et al. (2018) and Gray et al. (2017).

3 Actors involved in the initial creative process included: Susan Applewhaite, Lori Nancy Kalamanski, Tim Machin, Mary Ellen MacLean, Claire Frances Muir, Mark Prince, and David Talbot.

4 Aligned with an aesthetic of relationality, drawing on Bourdieu and others, J. Adam Perry deftly discusses the ways that seasonal agricultural workers in Ontario, Canada attend to embodied experiences and ‘habitus’ through performance-research practices (Perry 2018).

5 Please note that as per ethics protocol for this study, Mary Ellen MacLean is this participant’s real name.

6 Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s eastern provinces situated on the Atlantic Ocean. The province has deep historical, economic, social and cultural roots in the fishing industry.

Additional information

Funding

Julia Gray is supported by a Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship; Matching funds are from The Kimel Family Opportunities Fund through the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.