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Welcome to UTP’s Critical Dialogue project, a series of essays written in dialogue between artists and theorists that examine the relationship between artistic practice, critical thinking and contemporary culture.
Throughout UTP's history, there has been an ongoing dialogue between artists, academics and theorists. This relationship is mobile and alters with each new project and while many of the company's works have been documented through critical writing, this will often occur on an ad hoc basis. We wish to formalise some of these relationships through commissioning artists and writers to enter into a dialogue and reflect on recent projects and current trends.
We hope that you enjoy this new initiative and come back for more as we continue to add new contributions already in the pipeline.
The middle years: Death Defying Theatre transformed
By Ian Maxwell
Department of Performance studies
University of Sydney
The first essay in our series of Critical Dialogue essays was launched as part of our 25th birthday celebrations. Written and edited by Ian Maxwell, the essay combines critical analysis with a dialogue between Ian and previous DDT/UTP artistic directors Fiona Winning and John Baylis. The essay represents key issues that have emerged from the practice of DDT/UTP.
Read the Essay 
Plaza Real: Re-imagining Urban Spaces of Cultural Resistance
By Melissa Butcher
A discussion on the UTP and Branch Nebula co-production Plaza Real, examining that urban mega-magnet The Mall. Melissa discusses her role as a critical adviser to the production and its development as a commentary on contemporary society and how we express individual and multicultural identity within corporatised monocultural spaces.
Read the Essay
Performing Outside One’s Comfort Zone: India@oz
By Devleena Ghosh
Senior Lecturer, Social Inquiry Program
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Technology, Sydney
Reflecting on UTP’s 2003 project india@oz.sangam, social and cultural theorist Devlenna Ghosh discusses the complexity of reconciling traditional cultural influences with contemporary experiences for young South Asians living in Sydney.
Read the Essay
Crossing Divides
By Deborah Pollard & Paschal Berry
An email exchange between performance/installation artist Deborah Pollard and writer/dramaturg Paschal Berry maps out their unique experiences collaborating with artists in unfamiliar cultural contexts. Crises of culture shock, miscommunication and first-world guilt are shared as they recount working on projects in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Read the Emails
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The middle years: Death Defying Theatre transformed
By Ian Maxwell
Plaza Real: Re-imagining Urban Spaces of Cultural Resistance
By Melissa Butcher
Performing Outside One’s Comfort Zone: India@oz
By Devleena Ghosh
Crossing Divides
By Deborah Pollard & Paschal Berry |
