Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2023 - 66

Jacob Nash's Country, the exhibit by Australia in the ECR. | Photo by Viktor Tuček, Prague Quadrennial 2023.
of mind boggling; actors perceiving nonhuman
objects as less than human, and
that this is wrong, that we should appreciate
objects as being part of the world
and consider it part of our research. And
I'd never really thought of it in that way,
or objects as performers. I'd never seen
them performing in that way. It was also
cool after, during the discussion, how
they were talking about the intersection
of colonization, how actors are trained
in a very specific cultural way not to appreciate
the objects, or the broader scenography,
like the earth, the weather.
Which was just crazy because I had just
never considered that. " Ryan observed
that the community created in the audience
of the talk also led to productive
exchanges of ideas. " I also really just
loved the questions after-it's unplanned,
it's the unplanned conversation that's so
interesting. "
This year's PQ was about experience.
There was a feeling of raw art, of
genuine simplicity in the face of storytelling.
Coming from the American world
of spectacle, my conversations with the
students often centered on the new impressions
of what performance could
be beyond the American sphere. I asked
66 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY | FALL 2023
them how the PQ changed their perspective
on theatre and scenography, and was
not surprised (but quite thrilled) to hear
their answers. Kaila Cohen of Rollins
College was inspired to engage in more
creative risk-taking. " After seeing the exhibits
from all around the world, I am
more inclined to take risks. Some exhibits,
such as Australia, took risks by being
so incredibly simplistic, with just the ring
dimly lit and encapsulated by fog floating
in a black box. It really confused me and
forced me to ask questions about what
it meant. It keeps me thinking about the
exhibit even now, weeks after I interacted
with it. That's what I want to achieve in
my direction and theatrical work: a story
and message that maybe confuses people
and keeps them pondering after the final
curtain drops. "
Meanwhile, the ability to interact with
a global artistic community stood out to
Ivy Moore from Sewanee. " The beauty,
history, and community of Prague made it
a very welcoming home. The PQ festival
was unlike anything in the U.S., introducing
me to the diversity of global theatre
with boundary-pushing work that opened
my eyes to what's possible. " Similarly,
Victoria Ryan from Sewanee valued the
expansive ideas of performance that
the PQ introduced. " The World Theatre
Future & Past program was an incredibly
meaningful experience that left me with a
much deeper, more nuanced understanding
of performance as a concept. Beyond
that, it gifted me with perspective, allowing
me to recognize that the very definition
of performance is different all over
the world. "
As a faculty member, this is exactly
what I hope for my students. Practically
speaking, one could connect with these
schools and possibly partner on the study
abroad trip, as most programs-in efforts
to fill their courses-will accept students
from other universities to travel with
them. Alternatively, one could contact
their university's study abroad center and
begin building their own program with
the knowledge that they have three years
to construct, budget, and advertise their
course. The nice thing about building
a course around the PQ is that there is
built-in content that one can budget for.
The objectives of the conference also directly
correlate to the learning goals of
many theatre courses, both introductory
and advanced. Finally, Prague is indeed
an international city. Getting around is
perfectly walkable and affordable, with

Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2023

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