Mackenzie, N.K., 2013.

Three Sisters by Plane Performance, touring theatre practice, presented at University of York St John, University of Central Lancashire, Z-arts Manchester, Axis Arts Centre, Prema Arts Centre Gloucestershire.

The Three Sisters project ultimately constituted a practical investigation into how the act of a performer speaking the words of a written dramatic character could be demonstrated in performance to be a complex discursive encounter. Via a developmental series of 25 collaborative workshops and performance presentations, strategies were developed to identify the differences, ideologically and culturally, between the historic, literary constructions and the idiosyncratic live performers. In addition the process targeted ways in which the symbolic 'locus' of the dramatic text resonated against the concrete 'platea' of its performance, creating what Stanton B Garner calls a 'perceptual instability' via the use of assorted representational processes including stage properties and spatial configurations, vocal modulation technology and digital projection. This work constitutes a cross-fertilization of large areas of theatrical practice, given the lack of the practical interrogation of this area in the wide-spread engagement with classic dramatic text, and the rejection of dramatic text by much 'performance theatre'. It also contributes to ongoing debates about the function of deconstructive approaches within live theatre, and extends the impact and potential of dramatic form and text in its relationship to the post-dramatic. Other international contemporary practitioners do re-address classic texts in performance (The Wooster Group (US), TG STAN (BE), Factory Theatre (UK)), but they don't address the specific questions here. The resultant performance piece, Three Sisters, has been presented at three university theatres and two public arts centres in the UK so far. Additional performances, both national and international, are currently being planned for the next 12 months, following invitations to the Sibui International Theatre Festival in Romania, and the award of a grant by Arts Council England, in addition to its online presence in video, stills and text based versions via the website and social media.