This project will examine what transformations in research occur as communities of practice (CoPs) from different spheres interact around digital content created from primary source material in the collection of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Through a series of observed workshops, the project will generate data which will show shifts in research attitudes, approaches, and methods. This data will be analysed by the CoPs concerned to promote self-reflection and to scope future research and projects.

This resarch development project interrogates the value attribution of theatre audiences. The starting point is the phenomenological description of embodied experiences of individuals who attend the theatre, and the associational networks which influence them to attribute value (or not) to the event in question. Their specific responses to the performance will be combined with information about past theatre experiences and related associations (personal, public, imaginary, or historic) invoked in response to the performance. The impact of the experience will be re-assessed after time has elapsed to see if subjects retain valuations, change their perspectives, integrate their experience into social networks, and/or make use of it in different ways. We also tap memory by asking subjects about a performance they saw one year ago. The project partners with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Young Vic, and the Drum Theatre in Plymouth, identifying three productions to study for each of their 2013-2014 seasons in three genre categories. Audience members will be solicited to participate through the aegis of the theatres (on line and at the theatres). They will provide information to the research team before, right after, and three months after the production, and can also volunteer for follow-up interviews or creative workshops. The theatres will support this project through their websites, by promoting the opportunity to participate to their patrons, and by allowing us access to archives and press materials. The theatres will co-host a dissemination event at project's close. The researchers will ask subjects about their direct experience of the theatre event, what it meant to them, how it made them feel, what other associations it triggered, and what value(s) they would assign to the experience. The purpose of these questions is to see how individuals absorb theatre experiences and translate them into other areas of their lives; how long and strong theatre stimuli last; how cognitive and affective registers process the experience over time. We will be interacting with approximately 120 subjects (10 for each of the 2013-14 performances and 30 for the year-old performance), plus 45 subjects in long interviews, and 15-20 subjects in creative workshops. In addition to this research data, we will harvest data from social media through establishing running Twitter searches through a platform like Tweetdeck, a raft of Google Alerts to capture blog and comment-box mentions of our performances, and use Facebook's search facilities to capture interactions on the social network. These social media data will act as a kind of control group to offset the effect of having the targeted subjects' interest/attention in the performances heightened by being a part of the study. The project is a collaboration between the University of Warwick, the British Theatre Consortium (BTC), and the theatres. BTC is a cooperative of theatre experts (including the PI and CIs) that has carried out previous research for Arts Council England on new theatre writing and co-sponsored a roundtable with the Royal Society of the Arts on Spectatorship to Engagement. BTC is currently running 'The Spirit of Theatre' with Manchester Metropolitan University and The Theatre Library, researching audience valuation and memory in relation to a current production of Mother Courage. This study can be seen as a pilot for the present bid. The PI and one CI are senior theatre and performance scholars, each with expertise on contemporary British theatre and many publications, and the other CI is a creative writing scholar from MMU. The fourth member of the research team is the distinguished playwright David Edgar. The administrator, Jane Woddis, also holds a PhD in cultural policy studies and has collaborated on other BTC projects. All five are members of BTC.

Professional theatre-makers often view their amateur counterparts with suspicion or even derision. Frequently assumed to be artistically conservative, the creative output of amateur dramatics companies is often stereotyped, with the consequence that there appears to be very little formal contact between the two artistic communities. In practice, however, the twenty-first century is redefining what is meant by amateur participation and the boundaries between amateur and professional theatre are rather more blurred than is popularly believed. This research both responds to the contemporary 'amateur turn' in the arts, and recognises that amateur theatre is a form of cultural participation that has sustained the interest of many people over decades. It will test the assumption there is little contact between professional and amateur theatre-makers and will analyse why, how and when amateur dramatic companies and professional theatre-makers work together. For Love or Money? Collaboration between Amateur and Professional Theatre analyses three contexts in which different sectors work together. With the Royal Shakespeare Company as a leading partner, the research will investigate the RSC's Open Stages Programme, the first large-scale project that seeks to establish formal artistic partnerships between a major professional theatre company and amateur theatres. Amateur companies who are selected for the Open Stages Programme are often highly organised, bringing a professional attitude to their productions and producing work that RSC professionals identify as high quality. We will analyse the impact of the RSC's intervention on the artistic practices and creative processes of their amateur theatre partners and, reciprocally, we will examine how engagement with amateurs is influencing policy and practice at the RSC. This raises questions about how artistic quality and cultural value are understood within these two artistic communities, and considers how this form of professional-amateur collaboration might be developed in the future. Second, the research will investigate the work of professional theatre-makers employed by amateur theatre companies. Amateur theatre companies often hire professional musicians, musical directors and choreographers to work with them on their productions. Some playwrights are sustained by selling rights for amateur productions and professionalised adjudicators' accept lucrative bookings to judge competitive festivals. The research will analyse how the work of trained and professional theatre-makers shapes and defines the repertoire, influences production values and impacts on the culture of amateur theatre in national festivals and local productions. Third, we will investigate the social and economic impact of amateur theatre on professional theatres. This strand of the research will investigate how audiences for amateur theatre contribute to the economic viability of regional theatres, many of whom have struggled to survive in an area of low funding. It will analyse what, if anything, can be learnt from the successful operations of building-based amateur theatres. The research will investigate the opportunities, contradictions, tensions and mutual dependency between the two sectors, and how this speaks to wider (and neoliberal) political agendas. These three research contexts will illuminate distinctions between professional and amateur knowledge, investigating where and how boundaries between amateurism and professionalism are drawn. This research raises pressing questions about artistic quality, cultural value and the contribution amateurs make to the cultural economies of different of forms of professional theatre, whether it is commercial, subsidised, or the work of freelance theatre-makers. The study has far-reaching implications, with the potential to shape cultural policy and creative practice in ways that recognise the opportunities that cross-sector collaboration invites.

This is an ambitious interdisciplinary collaborative project aiming to facilitate UK-Shanghai business in the theatre and performance space, focusing on immersive and mixed reality experiences, via curated networking and partnership building events involving creative IP companies, academics and technical partners in the UK and Shanghai, including a series of Investor Showcases to fund development of concepts/IP surfaced by project partners. Our UK-Shanghai Consortium will be led by Goldsmiths, University of London, and will include: - leading UK arts, cultural, immersive and digital content partners - leading Shanghai arts, tech, immersive and academic partners The project will result in sustainable model boosting economic impact of immersive and strong legacy collaborative R&D space, where project partners will share interest in commercial distribution company to be set up in Shanghai. Other setting up one or more companies in Shanghai, we will also build: - Goldsmiths Shanghai Research Centre - Social VR and online digital platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration, incorporating immersive technology

We are requesting a grant of £1,165,000 over four years (2023-2027) from AHRC to support a programme of artist-centred feasibility work. This will include a suite of work packages and Fellowships, creating new inclusive opportunities for interdisciplinary practice, research and development, and co-creation - which will attract wide-ranging talent, allow artists to take risks, and enhance the exchange of knowledge and best practice. This work will form the foundation of our business case for creation of a world-class Future of Performance Institute, ensuring the sustainability of, and future growth within the arts. Funding for artist-led research and cultural leadership is fundamental to set out the possibilities for the future of the arts and live performance. This rationale outlines the case that we must invest in artist-led research now as the sector and artists attempt to manage the combined pressures of the financial impact of Covid-19, reductions to public funding and unprecedented increases in costs - intersecting with pre-pandemic challenges such as fragile business models and structural inequalities. As summarised in the Big Freelancer Survey in 2022, we need "more creative, collaborative ways of working and funding infrastructures to support creative hubs, e.g. for theatre especially, the ability for collectives of artists to band together for single large projects without forming a company, and the flexibility to co-create work." The RSC is uniquely positioned to respond to these challenges and opportunities as a learning and teaching theatre and as the first performing arts Independent Research Organisation (IRO) - providing knowledge exchange (through R&D, practice, making and sharing) between tech, research partners and the UK arts ecosystem. We are a practice-based organisation with research interwoven into every stage of the artistic process and output, from performance history, to costume making, to harnessing digital technology, to music composition, to audience behaviours. This expertise is coupled with our reputation for innovation and R&D (Dream and The Tempest), national reach through theatre partnerships across the country and outstanding educational work, and international brand profile (including 1.2 million global supporters across our social channels). This feasibility programme is distinct from other funding opportunities such as AHRC's Convergent Screen Technologies And performance in Realtime (CoSTAR). Our proposal is artist and practice-led, and by putting the artist first we will find the relevant tools for them to make their work, rather than being driven by technologies. We will attract diverse talent, providing space and time for creatives to focus on their practice (including live performance, new media, and other art form disciplines) and interdisciplinary research. Our partners will predominantly be cultural and research organisations, building a field of artists with networks to share knowledge and best practice, whilst putting inclusion at the centre of our plans.