Routledge Performance Archive

摘要

As befits performance, the Routledge Performance Archive (RPA) is a visually striking site that sources streamed audio and video footage directly from theatre practitioners. Partnering with Digital Theatre, RPA focuses on theatre practitioners, past and present from the past 50 years, and adds critical commentary and master classes to the mix. Practitioners take the form of actors, directors, dancers and others who perform or bring the performance to fruition. The site is updated with new content each quarter. Content is cross-referenced and is searchable. Perhaps the design of the site mimics a dark theatre or cinema with its dark blue background and the spotlight on the two main areas of the resource: practitioners and subjects. These subjects are divided into eight broad areas, two of which are Actor & Actor Training, and Dance. The broad areas are then further subdivided. These subject entries have all been taken from the reference book Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance. As of January 2014, 43 practitioner entries were listed. Examples include performer and playwright Bertolt Brecht, and Butoh dancer Tadashi Endo. As well as the thumbnails on the front page, users can also navigate via alphabetical links from the top of the page for practitioners, subjects, commentaries and keywords. Commentaries are brief critical interpretations and pointers to further readings. Commentaries have been provided by some of the leading performance practitioners such as Phillip Zarrilli, Professor of Drama at the University of Exeter and known for his psychosocial training of actors. RPA also provides further reading in the forms of partner journals such as Research in Drama Education.