Bring me a souvenir: performing Herstory on Ayr beach

Victoria Bianchi*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    1 Citation (Scopus)
    39 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This article employs Massey’s conceptualisation of gendered space to explore the ways in which the unrepresented narratives of women in heritage sites can be promoted through site-specific performance practice. It focuses on the development and creation of Souvenir, a site-specific play performed at Ayr beach in South Ayrshire, Scotland in 2017. The project involved the development of a public performance work inspired by stories shared by local women at reminiscence workshops. Implementing a practice-as-research (PaR) methodology, this performance was created to celebrate the narratives of ‘ordinary’ women so often unrepresented in heritage spaces. The aim of this study was to extrapolate principles of feminist performance practice that can be used to respond to the lack of women’s stories, termed ‘Herstory’, in such sites. This article delineates the development process of Souvenir, noting the particular frameworks and methods employed to foreground Herstory. The performance process drew upon Smith’s mythogeography and Berger’s hydrological dramaturgy in order to explore how creative practice could highlight the feminist possibilities of the space. The combination of practice and theory serves to interrogate the performance methods used in representing marginalised narratives of women, while simultaneously exploring how personal conceptualisations of space can be altered through such work.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)47-67
    Number of pages21
    JournalStudies in Theatre and Performance
    Volume42
    Issue number1
    Early online date17 Apr 2020
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2 Jan 2022

    Keywords

    • feminism
    • heritage
    • site-specific

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Bring me a souvenir: performing Herstory on Ayr beach'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this