Relief or reiteration? Performing and transforming pain

Murphy, A

Relief or reiteration? Performing and transforming pain

Murphy, A

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Publisher:: Intellect
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Applied Theatre Research, 2017, 5, (2), pp. 129-140
Issue Date:: 2017-07-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Murphy, A https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6567-8857
dc.date.accessioned	2022-08-29T01:23:28Z
dc.date.available	2022-08-29T01:23:28Z
dc.date.issued	2017-07-01
dc.identifier.citation	Applied Theatre Research, 2017, 5, (2), pp. 129-140
dc.identifier.issn	2049-3010
dc.identifier.issn	2049-3029
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/161000
dc.description.abstract	This article asks which approaches are the most effective when making 'performances of pain' - performances that not only represent pain, but also transform it. I bring together three performances of pain from around the world: Backyard Games, which is based on a rape in Israel; Thetha Ngikhulume, which tells stories from victims and perpetrators of apartheid in South Africa; and Fagaala, which represents the genocide in Rwanda. According to critics and even the artists themselves, each performance fails in its quest to transform pain. Rather than transforming pain, critical interpretations of these works show that they either reinforce or undermine painful events. Through examining performances that are considered to have failed, I wish to highlight the factors that make works successful in their transformation of pain. An analysis of the critical interpretations of these works shows that performances of pain are more likely to foster transformation when they foreground the experiences of victims and show these victims as creating an existence beyond pain. In order for performances to transform pain, this pain must not be overlooked, but rather allowed to evolve into hope and triumph.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Intellect
dc.relation.ispartof	Applied Theatre Research
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1386/atr.5.2.129_1
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1303 Specialist Studies in Education, 1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing, 2002 Cultural Studies
dc.title	Relief or reiteration? Performing and transforming pain
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	5
utslib.for	1303 Specialist Studies in Education
utslib.for	1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Teaching and Learning)
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2022-08-29T01:23:27Z
pubs.issue	2
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	5
utslib.citation.issue	2

Abstract:

This article asks which approaches are the most effective when making 'performances of pain' - performances that not only represent pain, but also transform it. I bring together three performances of pain from around the world: Backyard Games, which is based on a rape in Israel; Thetha Ngikhulume, which tells stories from victims and perpetrators of apartheid in South Africa; and Fagaala, which represents the genocide in Rwanda. According to critics and even the artists themselves, each performance fails in its quest to transform pain. Rather than transforming pain, critical interpretations of these works show that they either reinforce or undermine painful events. Through examining performances that are considered to have failed, I wish to highlight the factors that make works successful in their transformation of pain. An analysis of the critical interpretations of these works shows that performances of pain are more likely to foster transformation when they foreground the experiences of victims and show these victims as creating an existence beyond pain. In order for performances to transform pain, this pain must not be overlooked, but rather allowed to evolve into hope and triumph.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/161000