Active Aurality

During the global pandemic theatre-making and research practices drew particular attention to aurality. From the relocation of ‘live’ performance into ‘audio’ art, to the conscious ‘tuning in’ to the sound of online theatre – audiences and researchers alike re-engaged with the possibilities of sound and listening in theatre production. The concomitant reconfiguring of listening as a part of the methodology of making and research was, in turn, also inspired by new sound-led theatre practices that emerged in response to the contemporary moment. Focusing on UK examples of works that responded to the sonic possibilities of theatre during the pandemic, i.e. Darkfield and Sylvia Mercuriali, and research practices, including the website Auralia.space, this discussion with Duška Radosavljević and Lynne Kendrick will focus on the opportunities that approaches to aurality can present in the face of a global crisis of health, of sociality, and of the arts.