A new volume of the longstanding theatre journal, documenting conversations that traverse disciplinary boundaries

Theater Symposium, Volume 32 delves into the collaborative dynamics and ritualistic exchanges within performance during the collective resurgence into a hopeful post-COVID world. This volume’s contributors embark on a journey through the vibrant realm of material performance, with puppetry at the forefront, guiding readers into an expansive landscape of object performance styles and structures. As they navigate this terrain, they pose critical questions that unravel the complexities of object performance analysis and its impact on audiences. Bringing together perspectives from designers, creators, and performers, this volume explores how object performances serve as a medium to engage with the world, fostering synchrony and positive outcomes across a diverse array of artistic practices. Theater Symposium, Volume 32 invites readers to expand their understanding of collaborative practices and the object world, whether it be through the lens of labor or entertainment.

Contributors
Ashley Bellet / Francesca Marie Chilcote / Elisabeth Hostetter / Rebecca Johnson / Kyla Kazuschyk / Keith Byron Kirk / Jesse Njus / Claudia Orenstein / Paulette Richards / Dory Sibley / Echo Sunyata Sibley / Skye Strauss

Keith Byron Kirk is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has a prolific career encompassing acting, directing, playwriting, and academia and has made significant contributions to the field.

A Note in Memoriam: Remembering Dr. Edmond Williams by Maegan McNerney Azar

Ethos Statement

Introduction: Objects Walk the World: Little Amal from Calais to Baltimore by Keith Byron Kirk

     Objects and Bodies by Claudia Orenstein

     Akbar Imhotep and the African American Object Performance Complex by Paulette Richards

     Stitched into the Story: Creating Connections through Quilting in A Monster Calls by Skye Strauss

     Mask-making and Performance in Southern Louisiana Mardi Gras Traditions by Kyla Kazuschyk

     Pandemic-Era Mask Performance: An Analysis of the Performing Medical Face Mask by Rebecca Johnson

     The “Henry Rifle” on the German Stage: Karl May’s Depiction of the American West as “Dark and Bloody Grounds” by Elisabeth Hostetter

     Silent Reflections—A Clown-Noir Cabaret: Transformation of Object and the Feminist Clown by Francesca Marie Chilcote, Dory Sibley, and Echo Sunyata Sibley (the Women from        Mars Theatre)

     The Costumes of Sonia Biacchi: Exploring the Object+Body+Dynamic by Ashley Bellet

     Why Objects Matter by Jesse Njus

Contributors