Finding Identity through Directing is a practice-led autoethnographical monograph that provides an in-depth exploration into the field of theatre directing and an individual’s endless creative pursuit for belonging. The book specifically examines how a culturally displaced individual may find a sense of identity through their directing and addresses the internal struggles of belonging, acceptance and Self that are often experienced by those who have confronted cultural unhoming. The first half of the story scrutinises Dr Yekanians’ own identity as an Iranian born Armenian-Australian and how she struggled with belonging growing up in a world that for the most part, was unaccepting of her differences. The second half, looks at how theatre directing, aided her (re)discovery of Self. While evidence shows that within the past decade there has been a growing interest in the vocation of theatre directing, embarking on a career within this field, while exciting, can often be a daunting and experimental vocation.
Finding Identity through Directing questions this conundrum and specifically asks, in a competitive artistic profession that is rapidly developing, what attracts an individual to the authoritative role of the director and what are the underlying motivations of this attraction? By uncovering that there is more to the role of the director than the mere finality of a production, we can observe that the theatre is a promising setting for cultural exchanges in dialogue and for personal development. Theatre directing as the vehicle for these expansions and progressions of self can potentially address the internal struggles of identity often experienced by those who, in some form, have encountered cultural displacement.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments IV
Introduction 1
Field of Study 1
Structure of the Book 6
Methodology 7
Practice-led Research 8
Tacit Knowledge 9
Autoethnography and Reflexivity 11
The Interviews 13
In Summary 14
References 15
Chapter One: Attracted to Theatre 18
Setting the Scene 18
Prologue 18
The Essence of Theatre 19
Theatre as a Social Construct *3
The Theatre and Me 26
References 31
Chapter Two: Seeking Identity 33
Searching for Self 33
Identifying Identity 33
What’s in a Home? 42
Belonging and Displacement 47
Flirting with the "Unhomely" and the "In-Between" 49
The Other 52
References 58
Chapter Three: Affinity with Armenia, a Narrative in Two Parts 62
Part I What Went Before 62
Birth of a Nation 62
The Beginnings of the Invaders 65
The Armenian Genocide 66
The Republic of Armenia Today 71
My Voyage from a Dream to Reality 72
September 2008 72
Part II The Journey Back 76
September 2014 75
A New Armenia or a New Me? 78
References 87
Chapter Four: Dating Directing 90
Deconstructing Directing 90
Background 90
Collaborative Research through the Kitchen Sink Collective 95
Turning Points in the Research 98
Moment One 98
Moment Two 100
To Be or Not to Be 102
Homing versus Belonging 104
The Director’s Journey 109
Immersion into the Practice of Directing 112
No Worries and Uncle Jack 112
Background 112
Stereotype, Defamiliarisation and Difference 115
References 128
Conclusion 131
Final Thoughts 138
Appendices 140
Appendices 1 140
1.1 Interview Questions from Phase 1 140
1.2 Interview Questions from Phase 2 143
1.3 Full list of theatre directors interviewed 145
Biography
Dr Soseh Yekanians is a senior lecturer in Theatre Media at Charles Sturt University. While her research focuses on understandings of Self, belonging and identity formation with specific reference to theatre directing, she is also fascinated with how theatre and the performing arts more generally, can speak to an individual’s sense of displacement. Dr Yekanians hopes that with more research on how cultural stereotypes manifest in individuals through the pressures of society and how these stereotypes are performed via theatrical representations onstage, performance as a cultural phenomenon can begin to break down harmful stereotypes and offer cross-cultural exchanges that develop and empower people’s (re)discovery of identity offstage.
