PERFORMANCE RESEARCH JOURNAL 

UPCOMING PROPOSAL DEADLINE: Monday 19 October 2020

Vol. 26, No. 5: ‘Undercover’ (July/August 2021)

Issue editors:

James Harding and Fraser Stevens (School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, University of Maryland)

Throughout history theatre and performance have been utilized to subvert authority and enable activities that seek to remain undetected. Within scholarship the concepts of ‘performing ground’ (Levin 2014), ‘not-not Identities’ (Schneider 2008: 29) and ‘dark play’ (Schechner 2006: 119) represent just a few of the many ideas and areas of investigation that branch out to the world of undercover work. This issue of Performance Research looks to uncover instances of performance that would otherwise remain undercover, which may also be identified as ‘covert operations’, ‘clandestine theatres’ and ‘deceptive practice’.

A key aspect of this area of investigation is that many undercover engagements are rooted in acts of deception. As Thomas L. Carson identifies, ‘in order for there to be deception it is necessary that the deceiver believes what she causes the other person(s) to believe is false’ (2010: 48). This indicates that there is a planned and calculated aspect in undercover affairs. Arising from this point is how a performer might negotiate deception? Sara K. Schneider determines that an undercover operator in policing ‘prepares and lives out a highly volatile triple secret: what his true identity is, that an investigation is going on, and that he is a part of it’ (2008: 175). Part of the dramaturgy of undercover work is to negotiate a multitude of planes of performance, which, to Schneider’s point, are not limited to embodied practice alone. The challenge in these endeavours is maintaining the core ‘secret’ at the centre of the deceptive undertaking, a term that Sissela Bok would define as ‘intentional concealment’ (1984: 9). Not only is Bok’s definition a reinforcement of the idea that clandestine affairs are often contextualized by planned deceptions, but it also suggests that in undercover theatre and performance practice there are ethical and moral pitfalls that must be negotiated.

Undercover practices are not necessarily rooted in malicious or nefarious intention either. It may be that such practice is necessary for the outright survival of an individual—that a person engages in a performance of ‘passing’, which Randall Kennedy defines as ‘a deception that enables a person to adopt specific roles or identities from which he or she would otherwise be barred by prevailing social standards’ (2003: 283). It is clear, by these ideas alone, that the manifestation of covert and clandestine performance is multitudinous. Cover stories and secrecy are merely two aspects of covert and undercover practices. The Belarus Free Theatre, Augusto Boal’s ‘Invisible Theatre’, and personal performance in life- threatening situations, all contain elements of performance work that may take place undercover.

Questions that we hope to broach include the following: how does society understand covert, clandestine and undercover operations? Where do theatre and performance intersect with undercover practices? Which theatre and performance methodologies might help us better understand these areas of work? Which histories, performances and projects remain secret and unknown? And how have theatre and performance remained integral to both the enacting and analysis of undercover operations? This issue invites proposals that interrogate and illuminate these topics, and help draw back the curtain on otherwise unseen practices and knowledge.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

● Espionage by both states and corporations
● Surveillance
● Military operations
● Undercover policing
● Clandestine or secret theatres
● Issues and instances of passing
● Back-alley operations or black-market medicine
● Secret movements, such as migration, immigration and refugees
● Under (the) Cover(s): Marginalized sexualities
● Alter egos
● Masked personas

We also wish to engage with the journal’s emphasis on the intersection of practice and theory. With this in mind, we welcome contributions from technicians, designers, scenographers, artists, poets, musicians, dancers and performance-makers, as well as scholars.

As with other editions of Performance Research, we also welcome artist(s)’s pages and other contributions that use distinctive layouts and typographies, combining words and images, as well as more conventional essays.

REFERENCES

Bok, Sissela (1984) Secrets: On the ethics of concealment and revelation, 1st edn, New York, NY: Vintage Books.

Carson, Thomas L. (2010) Lying and Deception: Theory and practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kennedy, Randall (2003) Interracial Intimacies: Sex, marriage, identity, and adoption, 1st edn, New York, NY: Pantheon.

Levin, Laura (2014) Performing Ground: Space, camouflage and the art of blending in, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Schechner, Richard (2006) Performance Studies: An introduction, 2nd edn, New York, NY: Routledge.

Schneider, Sara K. (2008) Art of Darkness: Ingenious performances by undercover operators, con men, and others, Chicago, IL: Cuneiform Books.

SCHEDULE

Proposals: 19 October 2020
First Drafts: February 2021
Final Drafts: May 2021
Publication: July/August 2021

ISSUE CONTACTS

All proposals, submissions and general enquiries should be sent direct to Performance Research at: [log in to unmask]

Issue-related enquiries should be directed to the issue editors:

James Harding (School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, University of Maryland): [log in to unmask]

Fraser Stevens (School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, University of Maryland): [log in to unmask]

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS

- Before submitting a proposal, we encourage you to visit our website (www.performance-research.org/) and familiarize yourself with the journal.
- Proposals will be accepted by email (Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format (RTF)). Proposals should not exceed one A4 side.
- Please include your surname in the file name of the document you send.
- Please include the issue title and issue number in the subject line of your email.
- Submission of images and other visual material is welcome provided that all attachments do not exceed 5 MB, and there is a maximum of five images.
- Submission of a proposal will be taken to imply that it presents original, unpublished work not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
- If your proposal is accepted, you will be invited to submit an article in first draft by the deadline indicated above. On the final acceptance of a completed article you will be asked to sign an author agreement in order for your work to be published in Performance Research.

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