Heddon, D. (2015) Going for a walk: a verbatim play. Studies in Theatre and Performance, 35(3), pp. 177-188. 10.1080/14. (doi: 10.1080/14682761.2015.1067387)
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Abstract
"Going for a Walk" is one outcome of an AHRC-funded research project, "Walking Interconnections: Performing Conversations of Sustainability". Led by an interdisciplinary team of academics from the Universities of Bristol, the West of England and Glasgow, "Walking Interconnections" responds to the fact that environmentalist discourses seem too readily and without awareness to place the unmarked, able body at their centre. And yet, in terms of daily practices of resilience, disabled people have experiences that are useful for planning towards more sustainable futures. Walking Interconnections aimed to identify and share those wisdoms. Walking was a key methodology of the research. Working with 19 co-researchers drawn from the disabled and sustainability communities, each participant was invited to take a partner on a walk of their choice. They were joined in some instances by Personal Assistants. The walks chosen by co-researchers included harbours, esplanades, national trust landscapes and parks. Co-researchers documented their walks with digital cameras whilst their conversations ‘on the move’ were audio-recorded. The audio-recorded material – more than 25 h in total – was subsequently transcribed and edited into a play by me. The script is presented here. All of the words in the play were spoken by the co-researchers or their Personal Assistants. This is just one possible story made from the conversations, the story I have chosen to tell. "Going for a Walk" provides the opportunity to walk as if in someone else’s shoes and to listen out for performances of planning, creativity, commitment and persistence, risk-taking, resilience and interdependency, as well as listen in to diverse bodies on the move.
| Item Type: | Articles |
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| Keywords: | Walking, disability, verbatim drama, resilience, audio walk |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Heddon, Professor Deirdre |
| Authors: | Heddon, D. |
| College/School: | College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies |
| Journal Name: | Studies in Theatre and Performance |
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
| ISSN: | 1468-2761 |
| ISSN (Online): | 2040-0616 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2015 Taylor and Francis |
| First Published: | First published in Studies in Theatre and Performance 35(3):177-188 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher |
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Funder and Project Information
Funder and Project Information