A History of Collective Creation

Collective creation - the practice of collaboratively devising works of performance - rose to prominence not simply as a performance making method, but as an institutional model with profound social, political, and ethical implications. Tracing a lineage from explorations of collective creation in the work of Meyerhold, Stanislavsky, Copeau, St. Denis, Piscator, Reduta, Grotowski, and early protest and documentary theatre through mid-century manifestations as a theatrical expression of the New Left, A History of Collective Creation demonstrates that collective creation played a pivotal role in the evolution of the modern theatre. Examining collective and devised theatre practices in Europe and North America, the contributors explore collective creation's roots in the theatrical experiments of the early twentieth century, emerging just after the rise of the modern director.

Kathryn Mederos Syssoyeva is a theatre practitioner and historian, and editor of Collective Creation in Contemporary Performance (with Scott Proudfit, 2013). A specialist in devising, physical theatre, and Meyerhold's biomechanics, she holds a PhD from Stanford University in Theatre and Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities. Dr. Syssoyeva has taught performance and scenic movement at Yale School of Drama, Stanford University, Florida State University, and Colby College (where she was Irving D. Suss Guest Artist in 2008).

Scott Proudfit is Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre at Elon University, USA. He is the associate editor of Collective Creation in Contemporary Performance (with Kathryn Mederos Syssoyeva, 2013). Before receiving his PhD at Northwestern University, he worked with the Actors' Gang and the Factory Theater in Los Angeles and with Irondale Ensemble Project in New York, often on devised plays.