Theatre in the Dark

Adam Alston is a Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Surrey, UK. His research explores the aesthetics and politics of immersive theatre, and work and labour in contemporary theatre and performance. He is a founding member of Curious Directive and part of a small editorial team for Contemporary Theatre Review’s newly launched online resource.Martin Welton is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Performance Studies in the Department of Drama at Queen Mary University of London, UK. His research is concerned with practical and critical approaches to movement and the senses in performance. He is the author of the monograph Feeling Theatre (2011).

Alston and Welton's important book is about theatre's relationship with darkness and its many complex allies ... the essays [are] useful for theatre scholars and practitioners at all levels.

• Introduction: ‘the dark draws in’, by Adam Alston (University of Surrey, UK) and Martin Welton (Queen Mary University of London, UK)Part One: Dark AestheticsChapter 1 ‘Harnessing shadows: A historical perspective on the role of darkness in the theatre’, by Scott Palmer (University of Leeds, UK)Chapter 2 ‘Melting into air: Dining in the dark, reification and the aesthetics of darkness’, by Adam Alston (University of Surrey, UK)Chapter 3 ‘Creating in the dark: Conceptualising different darknesses in contemporary practice’, by Liam Jarvis (Analogue/Royal Holloway University of London, UK)Part Two: Dark Phenomena Chapter 4 ‘Aural visions: sonic spectatorship in the dark’, by Lynne Kendrick (Central School of Speech and Drama, UK)Chapter 5 ‘Darkness, perceptual ambiguity and the abyss’, by Tom Espiner and George Home-Cook (Sound & Fury), in interview with Adam Alston and Martin WeltonChapter 6 ‘Missing rooms and unknown clouds: Darkness and illumination in the work of Lundahl & Seitl’, by Josephine Machon (Middlesex University, UK) with Christer Lundahl and Martina Seitl (Lundahl & Seitl)Chapter 7 ‘Staring at blindness: Pitch black theatre and disability-led performance’, by Amelia Cavallo and Maria Oshodi (Extant)Part Three: Dark CultureChapter 8 ‘Playing with shadows in the dark: Shadow theatre and performance in flux’, by Matthew Cohen (Royal Holloway University of London, UK) Chapter 9 ‘Under the Starry Night: Darkness, community and theatricality in Iannis Xenakis’s Mycenae Polytopon’, by Marina Kotzamani (University of the Peleponnese, Greece)Chapter 10 ‘In praise of gloom: The theatre defaced’, by Martin Welton (Queen Mary University of London, UK)EndnotesBibliographyNotes on ContributorsIndex