Working Group Statement

TaPRA's Documenting Performance Working Group became active after the 2010 annual conference in Cardiff, in an effort to rekindle interest in the area originally covered by a short-lived working group with a similar name. The first activity of the group was a full-day symposium on the theme Documenting Performance: Exploring The Problems, which took place the Jarman Building at the University of Kent in Canterbury on Saturday 7 May 2011. A substantial number of non-TaPRA members (many of whom were PGs or early career academics) presented their research work related with the theme of the symposium, and eventually joined TaPRA for further working group sessions on the same theme at the 2011 annual conference.

This working group is dedicated to methodologies and approaches for Documenting Performance. The purpose of this group is to bring together different perspectives to documenting and archiving performance, particularly in relation to the new communication technologies, which have radically changed the way documents and archives are created and managed. The group welcomes new and experienced scholars with an interest in these concerns. Particular emphasis is placed on different approaches to documenting performance as observed and practiced in disciplines other than theatre and performance, such as architecture, digital humanities, visual arts, archaeology, etc. The group's focus is to provide a platform for researchers to share their works-in-progress or finished projects with others working on similar studies and/or practical applications for documenting performance.

The group has its own JISCmail list, which can be accessed at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/DOCUMENTING-PERFORMANCE

Please join this JISCmail list to receive updates specific to this working group.

Annual Conference: Call for Papers 2012

We would like to continue our investigation on the theme of the interim symposium: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Documenting Performance.

This working group's focus is to provide a platform for researchers to share their works-in-progress or finished projects with others working on similar studies and/or practical applications for documenting performance. We are particularly keen to provide a platform for examples of different approaches to documenting performance, as observed and practiced in disciplines other than theatre and performance, such as architecture, digital humanities, visual arts, archaeology, etc. However, all proposals will be given due consideration, particularly because interdisciplinary interests can often be found in what appear to be discipline-specific projects.

Please send a short description (up to 300 words) of your 15-20 minute presentation/provocation/workshop along with your technical requirements and a short bio (100 words) by Friday 27 April 2012 to the working group conveners: Toni Sant ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and Nicki Shaughnessy ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

NOTE: Participants in the 24 March interim symposium may propose a reworked version of whatever they're presenting in Scarborough, in consultation with the WG convenors.