Treading the boards, talking truth

Subjects as diverse as Shakespeare, Stanislavski's method acting and the special effect's bonanza Avatar were covered at a gathering of drama academics and practitioners on campus last week. ANU hosted the annual conference of the Australasian Association for Theatre, Drama and performance Studies (ADSA), the peak academic body in the region for the study of drama. Conference convenor and ANU Drama Lecturer Cate Clelland said that the conference was based on the provocative theme 'stripping bare'. ?Applied to performance, the words 'stripped bare' suggest an honesty of approach, a guarantee of authenticity or a connection with original truth,? said Clelland. A feature of the four-day event was the opening address by Robyn Archer - Creative Director for Canberra 100, a festival celebrating the national capital's centenary in 2013. Reflecting on her own career in the arts, Archer spoke about the significance of academic contributions to the development of the performing arts sector in the country. Other keynote speakers at the conference included Professor Sharon Marie Carnicke from the University of Southern California, a specialist in the life and methods of Russian drama theorist Constantin Stanislavski.