Making Routes Journeys in Performance 2010-2020

In 2010, Laura Bissell and David Overend became interested in the ways in which theatre and performance often took place on the move. They wanted to follow the paths being made in this field and to create their own. To this end they established ‘Making Routes’ – a network and online resource for artists and researchers working with mobilities in contemporary performance. Over a decade later, the mobile collective that emerged is still going strong, with a growing membership, flourishing website and serving as a valuable testing ground for new thinking and practice in journey-based performance. This book documents their collaborations, projects and findings, gathering texts of their own and others (including Jamie Lorimer, Phil Smith, Laura Ogden, Adrian Howells and Lewis Hetherington) to consolidate their ongoing research project, take stock of their journey, and to ask, ‘where next?’

Laura Bissell is Interim Head of Contemporary Performance Practice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her research interests include contemporary performance practices, technology and performance, feminist performance, ecology and performance, and performance and journeys. Her recent collaborative projects have been interdisciplinary, focusing on rewilding performance, while her solo research has explored shorelines and tidal spaces as sites for performance. She is co-editor of Performance in a Pandemic with Lucy Weir (Routledge 2021). David Overend is a Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on contemporary theatre and performance, often at the intersection with cultural geography. As a director, he has worked for the National Theatre of Great Britain and several other theatres, and has toured internationally with award-winning productions. He is editor of Rob Drummond Plays with Participation (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama 2021).