Staging decadence: Decadent theatre in the long twentieth century

This research will address how theatre makers have advanced the aesthetics and cultural politics of decadence. It will be the first focused study of decadent theatre, and will result in two substantive research publications, and an innovative programme of leadership activities addressing specialists and the general public. I aim to show that decadence is a practice that resonates beyond the printed page and canvas, and has much to offer to our understanding of cultural politics both historically, and in the present moment.

While 'decadence' has accrued connotations of indulgence and luxury, in decadence studies - which is now a very active field - the term is linked to ideas of decline and exhaustion, as well as identities, sexualities and desires that transgress normative institutions and traditions. Decadence's transgressive connotations are largely derived from French and English literature and criticism of the fin de siècle, which accounts for the traction that decadence studies has gained in these areas today. However, scholarly research has neglected rich histories of experimentation with the enactment and embodiment of decadence in theatre. This accounts for the fellowship's lines of enquiry: In what ways have theatre makers contributed to the aesthetics and cultural politics of decadence, and what is the value of embodying or enacting decadence in cultural practice?

This project will resist the strictures of a 'Decadent Movement' associated with the European fin de siècle. While it will be engaging with theatre makers and playwrights who were active at the time (e.g. Oscar Wilde, Rachilde, Jean Lorrain, Zinaida Gippius, Paul Fort and Lugné-Poe), I will be approaching decadence as a practice that cuts across time periods, cultures, genres and disciplines. This project looks to transform how decadence is understood by framing decadence as a travelling practice that emerges at the intersection of competing ideologies.

The first of this project's objectives involves leading and pooling expertise from a range of scholarly fields, including decadent theatre at the fin de siècle, cabaret in the Weimar Republic, actionism in the US, UK, and Austria in the 1960s and 1970s, and the international proliferation of live art from the 1990s to the present. Rather than imposing a lens inherited from the nineteenth century, the cultural specificity of these areas will be explored through two international symposia held in London and New York, and a commissioned issue of Volupté: Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, which will be the first sustained treatment of the theme. The second objective will build on this groundwork by drawing on my own expertise as a contemporary theatre researcher. This will result in a single-authored monograph focusing on how theatre makers and live artists including Toco Nikaido, Lucy McCormick, Lauren Barri Holstein, Ann Liv Young, Taylor Mac, Made in China, Wunderbaum, Jan Fabre, De La Guarda and La Fura dels Baus, are innovating the aesthetics and cultural politics of decadence today by making a ruinous spectacle of how taste, decency and appropriateness are policed and valued. The fellowship will also develop leadership and public engagement activities centred on three salons modelled on those of the European fin de siècle. The salons will be held at Rich Mix and HERE, which are highly respected arts centres based in London and New York, respectively, and will give specialists and the general public the chance to experience decadent theatre in the flesh. They will also result in two short films accessible via a project website.

These activities and outputs will provide intellectual leadership by establishing and shaping decadent theatre as an emerging research area, enhancing the reach and impact of decadence studies, and providing advocacy for theatre research and practice by forging new partnerships and research collaborations with key stakeholders.

The proposed fellowship addresses fundamental questions about cultural politics that reach beyond the academy. Charges of decadence have been used to marginalise and oppress artists for over a century. The Nazi Party sought to cleanse what it regarded as a 'culture of decadence' in Germany by demonising artworks that transgressed extremely narrow horizons of taste, and in more recent years queer and feminist artists have had their funding retracted on grounds of cultural decadence in the US, and funding for the arts has been called into question as a decadent expenditure in austerity Britain. In each case, it is not just the work produced by artists that is under threat; to varying degrees, it is their livelihoods as well. But staging decadence as a site of conflict has also been used as a tactic for queering the ideologies that produce marginalisation and oppression. In response, this fellowship will focus on how theatre makers have participated in testing debates about the cultural value of the arts by staging decadence as a practice forged at the interface of competing ideologies. It will benefit theatre makers, cultural institutions, and the general public, and will impact cultural production, cultural programming, and education.

Firstly, theatre makers will be commissioned to create work for three publicly accessible salons modelled on those of the European fin de siècle, which will support theatre makers materially and developmentally, while opening their work out to new audiences in a format that facilitates dialogue and interaction with and amongst academic and non-academic beneficiaries. The salons will also conclude with informal club nights, which will diversify the audience base, and enable scholars to widen the reach of their research by presenting short provocations to a lay public.

Secondly, this fellowship will forge close collaborations with Rix Mix and HERE, which have become key cultural institutions committed to programming experimental and culturally diverse performance in London and New York, respectively. Widening participation sits at the heart of Rich Mix's activities, particularly through its dedicated Learning and Participation department, and supporting work by and for historically under-represented demographics sits at the heart of HERE's mission. Roundtables on 'decadence, theatre and austerity' and 'decadence, degeneracy and the culture wars' will also be held at Rich Mix and HERE as part of each symposium, and will include representatives from Arts Council England and the National Endowment for the Arts to ensure the engagement of key stakeholders in the cultural sector.

Finally, this project will generate educational impact that will benefit the general public and Higher Education teachers and students. Two short films will be commissioned that will introduce the cultural politics of decadence and of decadent theatre especially to a lay audience, and will be designed for use as a teaching resource. The films will be available via a dedicated project website, which will also present a blog featuring short and accessible posts by scholars and artists. The general public will benefit by appealing to interest groups invested in decadent art and literature, and to the cult followings that many of the theatre makers directly or indirectly involved with the project have accrued. A selection of cutting-edge research articles will be disseminated via an open-access journal, Volupté; Interdisciplinary Journal of Decadence Studies, which will be the first publication of its kind addressing decadent theatre, and will facilitate the establishment of a new area of significant cultural interest.