*Call for Papers – International Conference “Politics of Theatre.
Current and Future Transnational Strategies for Building and Improving
the Theatrical Experience”, 28–29 November, 2017*
*Department of Cultural Heritage and Environment, University of Milan*
*Deadline for submissions: April 30, 2017*
This international conference will provide a final assessment of the European Cooperation Project «SENSES: the sensory theatre. New transnational strategies for theatre audience building» http://www.sensesproject.eu
The conference will be divided in two sections, in accordance with the complementary dimensions that play a role in working with the theatrical audience.
/Theatrical Politics: the audience and its scene/. The first section is conceived as a multidisciplinary platform for dialogue among institutional representatives, theatre professionals and scholars in philosophy and aesthetics upon the function of the theatre in the public sphere and the central role of the spectator in the performing arts. The purpose of this comparison is to outline transnational strategies for enhancing the theatrical experience. With this aim, the section will offer a space to examine the relationship between
theatre, spectator and public sphere in the present context of gradual dematerialization of performance and participation practices. In order to deepen the perspective of the comparison, which mainly addresses the contemporary world, a relevant part of the discussion will be
devoted to the historical and intellectual-historical study of significant cases of theoretical reflection on theatre audience and its function.
/Theatrical Aesthetics: sense and fruition/. The second section will contribute to the aims of the conference by examining the experience of theatre audiences within the perspective of modern aesthetics. Since the beginning of the 18th century the popularity of theatre has
attracted the attention of philosophers and critics as a result of their becoming aware that appealing to the norms of “good taste” is no longer enough to educate the “tastes” of a wider and more heterogeneous public. To this aim, the receptive faculties must be
trained in order to increase or attenuate the intensity of sensations.
The experience of the spectator in theatre may serve as a model for
the appreciation of different art forms, such as for instance
painting. On the other hand, a generalization seems to be prevented by
the specific interaction of text, staging and performing that
contribute to the theatrical representation, and by the peculiar
ethical-pedagogical purposes assigned to theatre. The section will
investigate the theoretical premises and the history of the
relationship between the general issue of forming a public taste and
the exemplary case of building the theatrical audience, from the 18th
century all the way down to contemporary theories of reception
aesthetics.
Languages of the conference will be English, Italian and French.
Please submit, by *April 30, 2017*, *abstracts (in PDF format only)*
not exceeding *200 words* and *a short CV (also in PDF format)* to:
senses_call@unimi.it
With your submission, please also indicate which of the two conference
sections you would like to be considered for.
Please find the complete call for papers at:
http://www.sensesproject.eu/congress.php