In this section, you’ll find content about work created for and performed outside of conventional theatre spaces. Artists describe the reasons for making such work, and the challenges that come along with it. Consider starting with Anne Hamburger’s “The Why and How of Site-Specific” or Gab Cody’s essay on writing for immersive and site-informed experiences.
Preparing and Performing Site-Specific Immersive Work
22 July 2015
Liane Tomasetti shares some words of wisdom following the performances of the site-specific, immersive piece Animating the James and Ann Whithall House at Red Bank Battlefield.
Phil Weaver-Stoesz describes an immersive theatrical experience where the audience took control of the narrative, and asks what rules, if any, we should set for audience members in non-traditional works.
Liane Tomasetti explores what timing can mean for site-specific theatre, and how helpful a pilot performance was for her team to tackle some big issues.
Sarah Cameron Sunde explores the issue of water rising on our planet, explores the drastic changes through art, and implores people to consider the water.
In this installation, Liane Tomasetti explores how tricky a first reading of a new site-specific play is, and how important it is to listen to all the community members involved.
In this installation, Liane Tomasetti talks about the initial brainstorming sessions exploring what they were going to make, and what the partnerships could look like.
Site-specific Theatre and the Politics of Public and Private Space
30 January 2015
In this installment, Kate Kremer discusses the difference between public and private space, and the kind of theatregoing experience one can have in situations with unfamiliar rules.
Liane Tomasetti’s first post in her series on creating a site-specific theatre project at a historical site in New Jersey, where she considers point of view, integrity, and expectations.
Peculiar Works Project Illuminates the Insides of the City
16 December 2014
3Christs is an adaptation of a study about therapeutic experiments with three men who believed they were Jesus Christ at Ypsilanti State Hospital in the 1960s. Performed in Judson Memorial Church, 3Christs exemplifies the essence of Peculiar Works Project.
Haley Honeman writes about The Kirkbride Cycle, a site-specific musical performed at Fergus Fall State Hospital, a deinstitutionalized asylum in Minnesota.
Andrew Alexander offers tools for appreciating the art and value of live performance while reflecting on gloATL's 2013 public art project, Liquid Culture.
A dazzling performance art scene is being born in Hungary, which, though quite small, boasts artists from all walks of life. Puha means “soft” in Hungarian, and PUHA stands for Performative Unity in the Hungarian Arts. It is an ambitious project by theatremaker and performer Zsófia Kozma and choreographer-performer Bíborka Béres that brings makers and creators of the Hungarian performance art scene together for discussions. From dancer to set designer, jazz musician to game designer, we talk with all sorts of people about thoughts, approaches, challenges, and ideas in their work. They sit down to explore topics like climate change, gender, queerness, improvisation, and public space in order to replace division and competition by fostering unity and dialogue in the field.
A series taking an in-depth look at the process, start to finish, of working collaboratively on a site-specific theatre project with a community to animate a historical site.