1st Edition
The Radical Act of Listening: Making Documentary and Investigative Theatre
The Radical Act of Listening: Making Documenatry and Investigative Theatre explores best practices in the field of Documentary and Investigative theatre and offers readers a how-to guide for making their own work, written by a leading practitioner in the field.
This book looks at how listening can radically bring about change through documentary and investigative theatre. It examines the mechanics and value of listening and how theatre practitioners can use these skills to create theatre. What does it mean to really listen, especially during a time when everyone is shouting? Can we listen without an agenda? Can we take what we hear and find ethical ways to share it with others so that we capture nuance, complexity, contradiction, i.e., all things human? In exploring these questions, author KJ Sanchez shares conversations with peers and fellow artists who work in the fields of interview-based and non-fiction art practices, to look at what it takes to be a great listener and a great theatre maker.
Featuring key artists, themes, and practices, this book is written for students and practitioners interested in creating documentary and investigative theatre, as well as other interview-based artforms.
Part 1: Essays 1. A Bridge Between People 2. Listening, Memory and ReEntry 3. Listening and Reconciliation 4. Tell Them I Was Here 5. The Ethics of Listening 6. Studs 7. Listening as Civic Engagement Part 2: Interviews 8. Leigh Fondakowski, The People’s Temple 9. Les Waters, Joint Stock 10. Steve Cosson, The Civilians 11. Sara Zatz, Ping Chong and Company 12. Mark Valdez, Serving Community 13. Idris Goodwin, Who Can Tell the Story 14. Larissa FastHorse, Ty Defoe, Michael John Garcés
Biography
KJ Sanchez is a professional playwright and director. She is an Associate Professor and head of the MFA Playwriting and Directing programs at the University of Texas, Austin. She is also the founder and CEO of American Records, a theatre company dedicated to making theatre that chronicles our time and serves as a bridge between people.
"Ground-breaking theatre-maker KJ Sanchez has given us both a manual and a manifesto. Her comprehensive knowledge of the art of the interview is delivered here in clear and lucid terms, braided with inspiring examples (from her own career, and from other leaders in the field) of how private reflection can be transformed into public artistry. Sanchez never loses sight of the fact that the true 'heroes' of this work are those being interviewed; those brave and vulnerable enough to give testimony in the courtroom of their own lives. A moving, bracing, and indispensable book for theatre-makers and citizens of the world alike."
Steven Dietz, Playwright/Director
