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GRiT (Graduate Research in Theatre) Seminar #1: Lisa Woynarski, "Decolonising Ecodramaturgies"

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Venue: Online

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This paper is premised on recent critiques of the Anthropocene as homogenising, erasing difference and ignoring the unequal effects of climate change. Settler colonialism has been suggested as one the key markers in the shift in epochs to the Anthropocene, placing the exploitation of Indigenous peoples and lands at the heart of the concept (Lewis and Maslin 2015). Indigenous ecodramaturgies can critique western binaries between human and nonhuman as well as revealing the way colonialist oppression has had shared material effects on environments and Indigenous communities. Looking at Indigenous ecological performance from Turtle Island, such as activist performances from the Idle No More movement or The Unplugging (2014) by Yvette Nolan, I argue that Indigenous ecodramaturgies can reframe destructive thinking and centre marginalised ecological worldviews and traditional knowledge. Thinking about the idea of recovery, I ask what is recovery from colonial violence and climate crisis and what role does performance pl?

Lisa Woynarski (she/her) was born on traditional Anishinabewaki territory in Ontario, Canada. She is of white European settler/immigrant ancestry. She is now an immigrant herself as well as Associate Professor in Theatre in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading. As a performance-maker and scholar, her work connects performance and ecology, from an intersectional lens. She is the author of Ecodramaturgies: Theatre, Performance and Climate Change (Palgrave, 2020).

 

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