Nordic Theatre Studies 36:1 extended deadline June 5. Theatre and Displeasure..

We invite contributions that would trace negative theatrical experiences in form as well as in content of the theatrical event. The contributions could be devoted to the theoretical definition of displeasure or discomfort caused by textual, performative, visual and other dimensions of theatre production. We invite to consider the displeasure from various theoretical standpoints, for example philosophical (as suggested by Schroeder: 2001), queer studies and postcolonial readings (as pioneered by White: 2020).

The displeasure could also be regarded as an affective response that occurs due to particular socio-cultural dispositions of audience members (see Haedicke: 2006; Wetherell: 2012). We also welcome historical analysis of cases of performative displeasure such as audiences leaving in the middle of performances as in some of Romeo Castellucci’s or Angélica Liddell’s work or causing riots in theatre or outside it as in the USA (as registered by Richard Butsch (1995)), Ireland (case John Millington Synge and Sean O’Casey plays), England or recently Poland (cases of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti in Birmingham and Oliver Frljić in Warsaw). Proposed themes include but are not limited to:

• Sources of theatrical displeasure: writing, directing, performing, attending, spectating
• Displeasure as theatrical tool: zone of discomfort as a part of the process of creating theatre practice and / or as the objective of a work of theatre
• Aesthetic, ethical, economic aspects of negative experience in theatre
• Catharsis vs. feelgood theatre: theatrical experience and well-being
• Vulnerability of theatre maker and theatre goer

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Nordic Theatre Studies is the leading academic journal for theatre researchers in the Nordic and Baltic countries and for all scholars writing about theatre and performance related to these countries. It has been selected for inclusion in Web of Science and Scopus as well as Ebsco and Google Scholar. Nordic Theatre Studies covers theatre, dance, music theatre and other performances, mainly after 1850, in the Nordic and Baltic countries, and articles by authors from Nordic and Baltic countries that relate to theatre, dance and performance in all parts of the world. It is a peer-reviewed journal publishing two issues a year. The journal is divided into a thematic section, an open section for other topics, and a book review section. The journal also publishes occasional shorter essays (which are peer-reviewed and can use a more personal approach). Specialising in Nordic and Baltic theatre research, it prioritizes articles that relate to some aspect of Nordic or Baltic theatre and performance, or that have been written by a scholar resident in a Nordic or Baltic country. It has been a print journal since 1988, and recently converted into an online publication so that it is freely accessible to scholars around the world.  It is published by the Association of Theatre Scholars. 

https://tidsskrift.dk/nts/announcement/view/1092