Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Bachelor of Performing Arts Honours

School

School of Arts and Humanities

First Supervisor

Tom Heath

Second Supervisor

Renee Newman

Abstract

Embodiment is an innately human experience. Why then, is it so difficult for society to come to a shared understanding of what it is to be embodied? This problem is particularly relevant in a theatrical context. Critical thinking across the disciplines of Philosophy, Science and History have impacted an actor's theoretical understanding of embodiment. However, this has not affected their corporeal understanding. As an actor I realised that this gap led to my inability to articulate the embodied experience in my practice. This inability to explain the experience meant I was unable to experience it consistently. This thesis examines how the gap in our current understanding of ‘self’ manifests within theatrical performance, and how this gap can be reduced through process to allow for a succinct interpretation and articulation of the embodied experience. Using practice-based research in live studio productions, I was able to analyse the performances and reflect on the experiential data collected to distinguish four performative Moments that I encountered. These Moments were, the Distracted Moment, the Structured Moment, the Embodied Moment, and Exceeding Embodiment. By establishing these moments in performance, I was able to develop a reflective aid used to discover the components that formed the Moments. This aid could, therefore, be considered a model for an actor to articulate and replicate their embodied experience

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Access to appendix A of this thesis is not available.

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