Performing the Fantastic conference

Interdisciplinary conference exploring the fantastic in society, culture & beyond. Organised by @Farnellian, keynote by @sadiseshiah. Online via Teams, 25.05.23

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Today’s the day! #PTF2023 starts at 10am and just look at the fantastic line-up we’ve got. Very much looking forward to hearing from everybody.

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Slowly processing my thoughts after yesterday's super stimulating conference - but already, there's new ideas to engage with. This upcoming event is from one of our wonderful panel chairs @_bee_scott - do sign up!

[Bee Scott @_bee_scott]

Coming up on June 8th! Join me on Zoom as I talk about queer futures in science fiction theatre as part of the 2023 @YorkFestofIdeas — it's free, but make sure to book ahead so you can access on the day! #YorkIdeas https://t.co/GM1uF0k19l

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

And finally, thanks to anyone who came along, joined in the conversations and showed their support for the conference and our speakers. Collegiality is a wonderful thing - thank you, all.
#PTF2023 over and out!

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

And that’s it! #PTF2023 has come to an end. I hugely enjoyed the papers shared today, and was very happy to hear so many themes emerge across the talks - from questions of time to the unique dynamics of theatre and performance in comparison with other fantastic forms.

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

My sincere thanks go out to all our speakers today, and to @sadiseshiah for her excellent keynote. Also massive kudos to @Gheorghe_L_W and @_bee_scott for chairing - deeply appreciated.

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Spatial choices were integral to Mike’s production - for instance, the lighting gantry was incorporated into the performance. Gormenghast surrounded and enveloped the audience #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Last speaker of the day is Mike Griffin, who will be talking us through his staging of Mervyn Peake’s mad, epic fantasy Gormenghast #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

There’s interesting questions here about how Gormenghast reveals the absurd of contemporary life, in which we are caught in cycles of meaningless yet very busy action #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Tyrone starts to tease out the tensions between authentic, realist performance and the supernatural, which defies that logic #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

It’s our final panel of the day! Leading us into this last discussion is Tyrone Grima, who is walking us through his performance research project “The Way it Came: An Exploration on Fear” #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

As part of this project, Tyrone sought to manifest the supernatural in performance, as a method of producing fear in the audience #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

She also picks up the theme of time that emerged in earlier panels, with Bond forcing the audience to construct meaning while the narrative is stretched, truncated and made strange #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Up next is Kate Katafiasz who is looking at the eminent strangeness of Edward Bond’s short plays #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Summarising the varied and strange images of Bond’s one-act plays, Kate suggests that they “conjure a sense of something which is presently absent […] they are haunted by something other and different” #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Ars Electronica functions a site through which we are encouraged to think about the future, particularly through embodied experience #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

Closing our third panel is Sanja Vodovnik, who is talking about SF performativity at Ars Electronica #PTF2023

[Performing the Fantastic conference @PTF2023]

For Sanja, SF performativity produces a change in the fabric of the world - she builds this concept from Mieville, Haraway and Csicsery-Ronay #PTF2023