CREATING SAFER “UNSAFE” SPACES: EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RISK, AUDIENCE-PARTICIPANTS AND RESPONSIBILITY IN IMMERSIVE AND PARTICIPATORY PRACTICES

I am a PhD researcher at the University of Greenwich where I am studying risk and safety in immersive and participatory theatre.

 

This workshop involves discussing risk in participatory performance, as well as creating a small piece of participatory work and risk assessing it during the workshop. During this workshop, we will discuss the various physical, psychological and social risks that can occur in participatory performances, how to identify them, and how to mitigate them using traditional risk assessment guidelines augmented by care. There will also be a brief questionnaire at the beginning and end of the workshop. You can skip any questions you don’t want to answer.

 

This workshop should run between three and four hours.

 

Please note that your contributions to the workshop may be recorded. You can decide to leave at any time.  

 

You will also be asked to create a random sentence of five or more words at the end of your questionnaire. You can withdraw your consent to be included in this research until October 1, 2024 by emailing m.l.bondar@greenwich.ac.uk and sharing that random sentence. Your questionnaires will then be removed from the responses, and I will not use any information you provided during the workshops.

 

Your responses will be used to help judge the functionality of the existing risk and safety procedures of the theatre company and determine how they might be improved.

 

It is not uncommon for some immersive and participatory theatre performances to delve into sensitive topic areas. If you find that today’s performance caused you any emotional distress or recounting those moments causes emotional distress, please find someone to talk with. At the bottom of this information sheet are several mental health resources and hotlines you can use.

 

For further information, problems, or complaints, the principal researcher, Melissa Bondar, can be reached via these contact details:

m.l.bondar@greenwich.ac.uk

 

If you would be more comfortable speaking to someone else, you may contact her Supervisor, Dr. Jorge Lopes Ramos at j.ramos@greenwich.ac.uk.