The Bartlett Research Conversations

The Scrapped Script: Reimagining Waste for an Ecological Theatre

Hamish Muir

Supervisors: Dr Yeoryia Manolopoulou and Dr Jan Kattein

Abstract

When a theatre production takes an ethical stance, often it is manufactured by unethical means, creating a disparity between what is communicated and the way in which it is communicated. Hamish’s research investigates the relationship between waste and theatre in order to develop a philosophy of performance that responds to a time of climate crisis. He claims that waste can be redefined by a play’s script, as a means to promote stronger spatial and material awareness, and induce a more ecologically conscious theatre that questions current assumptions of theatre aesthetics. 

About The Bartlett Research Conversations

The Bartlett School of Architecture’s Research Conversations seminars comprise work-in-progress and upgrade presentations by students undertaking the MPhil/PhD Architectural Design and MPhil/PhD Architectural and Urban History and Theory. All current UCL staff and students are welcome to attend.

Held regularly throughout the academic year, the seminars are attended by the programme directors, Professor Jonathan Hill and Professor Ben Campkin, PhD Coordinators, Dr. Nina Vollenbröker and Dr Sophie Read, and other PhD supervisors.

Image: Imagined Theatre disposal space, by Hamish Muir, 2019