Our Collaboration Programmes

The overall aim of our collaboration work is to ask one question; what can we learn from our work that will help us all better live our own lives? A big question. 

 

The research we want to complete focuses on such things as: -

·     documenting and cataloguing the work we have done to date

·     analysing the work to establish what outcomes have been achieved

·     establishing a 'living research' methodology

·     sharing conclusions by means of publications (books, videos, websites etc) with interested researchers/practitioners/general public

 

We believe that our work will be interest to a wide range of people (e.g. researchers, students, academics, practitioners, educationalists, actors, directors) working in the fields of Humanities, Literature, Shakespeare, Creative Writing, Theatre.

 

alternativeShakespeare Research Programme

Shakespeare's Bones 

To start the process of getting answers, from the very outset we worked on the precept that it would be more fruitful to 'discover' Shakespeare from within, through a once-removed immersive process, and only then going outwards. A parallel is the way method actors choose to go about researching the character they are playing by immersing themselves in that character.

 

For us, this is done by taking the written material he left us (words, characters, themes, structures etc.), and reforming them into new works. By doing this process, many insights have been revealed into the man himself, insights into the works themselves, and also the processes behind their creation. It is these things that we wish to capture, analyse, and then share.

 

Unfinished Shakespeare

Research on this particular part of our work can only be completed after the outcomes of Shakespeare's Bones research are known, and it is likely to follow the same process.

 

alternativeTheatre Research Programme

A by-product of our journey is that we have had to learn new ways of performing, and these in turn have provided many insights into Shakespeare's works. We believe a rich vein of Knowledge Exchange could come out of these insights by working alongside Theatre companies, academic centres, actors, directors, and research establishments.

 

Collaboration Partners

We are always looking for open-minded individuals and organisations who want to work with the Collaboration, and this is our next major step. 

 

There are clear advantages to be gained from such a collaboration: -

 

To Collaboration Partners

·         access to unique existing laboratory material and processes

·         opportunity to develop further research practices and initiatives

·         jointly creating a research methodology based on the respective needs of each partner

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To alternativeShakespeare

·         more focus to their future work with the establishment of a research ethos

·         working on and sharing the research findings 

·         a higher profile for its work

·         access to funding not currently available to the Collaboration

 

Collaboration Outcomes

We believe that the best results come through collaboration. Here are some starting possibilities:

·         Develop a strong 'living' Research methodology for the Collaboration's work

·         Document and then evaluate the Collaboration's work to date

·         Formulate future work strands and directions for the research programme

·         Resource appropriate funding to further the Collaboration's work

·         Help make our intuitive way of working more explicit and therefore more accessible

 

The most important outcome of working with a partner is the objectivity to be brought to the project; our work of the project is, by its very nature, highly subjective and therein lies potential issues that need to be addressed.