An Inclusive Approach to Research
We are allowing the marginalised and disempowered to have a voice in how the research is designed and delivered. Above all, we strive to ensure that any new creative technology, be it virtual reality, augmented reality, location-based or hybrid, is interrogated and deployed in thoughtful, human-centred and ethical ways.
Our applied research, teaching and enterprise falls into three distinct but complimentary thematic clusters:
- Narrative, Place, Identity
- Social Engagement and Creative Methods
- Intimacy, Serious Play and Belonging
Narrative, Place, Identity
This theme explores the relationships between narrative, place and identity. Recent work includes Story Cities: a city guide for the imagination. This anthology of flash fiction about cities is designed to be read in situ in any city, in order to facilitate a shared conversation between the reader, the printed page and the environment. Another project, involving archive research with London's Royal Court Theatre, seeks to understand the ways in which young people interact with professional theatres and specifically how they use those institutions and buildings to engage with ideas of, and for, social change.
Social Engagement and Creative Methods
Here, we focus on emergent practices and processes in contemporary drama, theatre and performance, including participation and social engagement through performance, as well as intergenerational methodologies, such as how best to train future performers, writers and other creative professionals. A recent example of work in this theme is 'Safe Working Practices in Theatre', a collaboration with theatre company Mrs C's Collective. This research project explores strategies to introduce accessibility, safe working with trauma-informed material and intimacy direction into a theatre production, with the intention to shape the future working practices in theatre industries in the UK and beyond.
Intimacy, Serious Play and Belonging
This theme encompasses a range of fascinating projects which address the central challenges of our time. For instance, we have explored multi-player serious games (i.e. games designed for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment) and audio-led instruction-based performances in public spaces for addressing consumption behaviour, human rights, climate change. Likewise, we have researched the application of XR (extended reality) technology and interactive performance in digital mental health therapies. Other recent projects have encompassed disabled people-led interactive technology and participatory performance, and women-led, non-white, working-class approaches to methodology, as well as post-immersive research into emerging technologies and human behaviour.