Making routes: Relational journeys in contemporary performance

Dramaturgies of mobility: on the road with Rob Drummond’sBullet Catch

“…In a previous article on mobility in the work of Kieran Hurley and Lone Twin, I discussed an emerging trend in contemporary performance to utilize and respond to the ideas and practices of journeys and travel (Overend 2013). I termed my research methodology 'travel ethnography' to describe a process involving 'numerous journeys to attend performances and meet practitioners, and [responses] to the people, places and events that I have encountered using a variety of research methods, from interviews to textual analyses' (Overend 2013, 371).…”

“…Relational touring practice Some practitioners and companies, such as Kieran Hurley and Lone Twin, have directly explored the ability of travel to engender relationships with the people and places that are visited, through the form and content of their work (Overend 2013;Williams and Lavery 2011). In these examples, the 'relationality' of the work directly influences its aesthetic, operating as it does within 'the realm of human interactions' (Bourriaud 2002, 14).…”

“…Developing this paradigm, a putative 'mobility turn' has now also established itself in theatre and performance (Wilkie 2015). This has most frequently been developed in regard to performances that literally travel within and between sites (Overend 2013;Wilkie 2012). Work in this area has tended to focus on 'the embodied activity of movement itself and the experiential opportunities that open up' through mobilizing performance (Birch 2012, 199).…”

“…This is one of the key ways in which a performance aesthetic is determined by the conditions of mobility. I suggest that Bullet Catch can be considered as 'relational theatre practice' as the performance text is flexible and can change significantly depending on the relationships that are developed during, and around, the performance, as the production is reiterated under different conditions and in new contexts (Overend 2012(Overend , 2013.…”

Keynote address: Rhythmic routes: developing a nomadic physical practice for the daily commute

“…This grid of different boundaries and trajectories comprises bridges, footpaths, cycle lanes, roads, railways, canals and flight paths [...] But as I walk from point to point, following some routes and crossing others, I do not feel hemmed in or constrained. There is a freedom in this journey and an exhilarating sense of moving beyond the prescribed uses of urban space (Overend, 2014).…”