The Role of Ensemble Theatre in Redefining 'Playwriting' and 'Writing for Performance' in the 21st Century

British plays and playwrights have had a profound influence on other cultures and their understanding of drama and theatre. Although Shakespeare, Wilde and Shaw continue to grace the repertoires of theatres around the world, Edward Bond and Sarah Kane's more controversial works have also caused a significant impact internationally in the second half of the 20th century. Interestingly, Kane's imagery-rich texts were more readily received and given a more adventurous treatment by Central European directors than they were in the English-speaking world.

In the second half of the 20th century a practice known as 'devising' emerged in the Anglo-American context. The term refers to theatre-making practices which do not have an allocated playwright or a playtext at the centre of the process, but which use text as one of many ingredients in making a performance. Ensembles mixing theatre and dance such as DV8 or theatre and multimedia such as the Wooster Group are known for this method, as are Lecoq-trained Theatre de Complicite and the British performance company Forced Entertainment.

A significant contribution to the development of playwriting as a studio-based rather than study-based activity could be seen to have been made by the director Max Stafford-Clark and his rehearsal-based work with writers which began as part of his ensemble Joint Stock in the 1970s. This is complemented by examples of playwrights who work with ensembles not just as writers but as actors, directors and designers (Steven Berkoff, Howard Barker, Chris Thorpe, Adriano Shaplin). This research project therefore aims to investigate the role of the ensemble way of working in changing the nature - and potentially changing our understanding - of playwriting in the 20th and 21st century. Part of the investigation is also the nature of authorship in theatre and the increasing cross-over between the previously segregated practices of 'playwriting' and 'writing for performance'.

Although some British playwrights have worked with ensembles (David Hare, Caryl Churchill, Howard Barker), and many performers have written plays (Harold Pinter, Carl Grose, Tim Crouch); a perceived dichotomy between playwriting and performance-making as distinct areas of theatre-making activity has persisted in many cultures including the UK.

This research project wishes to recognise the internationally emerging practice of writing which is entirely theatre and performance-oriented (such as the work of Kneehigh Theatre or Tim Crouch in the UK, Adriano Shaplin in the US and the collective of performance poets from Belgium, Ontroerend Goed). This writing is not motivated by meeting any literary standards and does not follow in the footsteps of classical poets. This writing is also not necessarily part of a devising process; it is a kind of dramaturgy which emerges from a kinaesthetic sensibility of a writer/performer (a quality which could also be re-ascribed to the actor/playwright Shakespeare himself).

By collecting and analysing testimonies from contemporary ensemble theatre-makers in Europe and the US, this project ultimately seeks to redress the understanding of playwriting as literature which emerged at the end of the 19th century, and to facilitate a wider understanding of the newly evolving functions of text and performance within contemporary theatre. On an empirical level, the project seeks to investigate the potential place of the playwright and text within an ensemble of theatre makers required to stage it. On an analytical and discursive level, the project will be concerned with various modes of the interplay between written text and live performance in contemporary theatre, with a view to a number of different genealogies which emerged in the 20th century in the Anglo-American context.

This will lead to three types of output: a monograph about Theatre-Making (Palgrave), a collection of interviews (Routledge) and a workshop package for practitioners.

Even though the project is primarily motivated by a desire to address a conceptual shift in the contemporary understanding of writing in theatre, its purpose is mostly concerned with being able to reach a broad cross-section of scholars, practitioners and interested individuals. In these terms, the project aims to have impact not only on the individuals who might normally be expected to be interested in just playwriting or just performance-making, but precisely to facilitate an encounter between the two.

The research will span theatre-making practices which range from the Royal Shakespeare Company to Tim Crouch and from the Berliner Ensemble to Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago. It is anticipated therefore that all of these subjects (who will contribute their first-hand testimonies to the project) will have a vested interest in it. The Royal Shakespeare Company is celebrating its 50 anniversary this year, and in 2013 the current Artistic Director Michael Boyd will mark the tenth anniversary at the helm of the company. I expect that this occasion will create opportunities for the two volumes to be launched as part of some of the associated celebrations (especially as my prior association with the company might make it possible to facilitate this).

In addition to potential book launches, I would expect that some aspects of the project might be able to raise some interest from the media - especially as this way of thinking about writing and theatre-making is seen as innovative by a lot of the readers who have commented on the book proposals. I am also confident that as a former journalist and theatre spokesperson, I will be able to communicate the main purposes of this project in a way which is palatable for the general public.

Finally, the workshop package, which will feature workshops on collaborative ways of working (as well as more specifically the role of writing within the process of collaborative theatre-making) will be transferrable to a lot of different kinds of environments - including both corporate and educational settings. Once again my previous experience of working in the theatre industry with a similar brief will inevitably help in this respect.