The MAMM team had a fantastic fall, with our data collection work bracketed by two amazing events.
Alisa Palmer Visits
In September, we welcomed Canadian director and frequent AMM collaborator Alisa Palmer to Brock’s downtown campus, where she led a workshop on Space and the Theatre.
In working with team members, alongside Dramatic Arts students, Alisa gave us a new spatial vocabulary for how performers develop relations with their audience and with the stage. The MAMM team will integrate this vocabulary as they explore the adaptation of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s play The Arab’s Mouth (1990, Factory Theatre) into Belle Moral (2006, Shaw Festival).
Body Mapping
Alongside the new data collection project focused on the two plays, the MAMM team started another data collection project focused on the representation of women’s friendships in Fayne.
For both projects, we make use of the terms developed in our pilot project, which mapped routes in The Way the Crow Flies. While the Drama team has added in vocabulary emerging from Alisa’s visit, the Fayne team is focused on exploring the spatial relations of women’s friendships. To prepare for this work, Ebru had the team think about how space is variously comprehended by the body.
Omeka Archiving
Work on the Mapping Ann-Marie MacDonald Omeka Site continued, with team members focused on cataloguing items associated with AMM’s research for The Arab’s Mouth, Belle Moral, and Fayne.
In late-October, Neta had the opportunity to discuss the integration of archival work and digital mapping with faculty and students from the University of Guelph’s amazing Culture & Technology Studies Program.
In Discussion with Ann-Marie MacDonald
Finally, in December, Neta travelled to Montreal to join in a discussion with Ann-Marie herself on the subject of digital mapping and feminist collaborations. Thanks to Professors Erin Hurley and Ara Osterweil (McGill University) for setting up this event at the stunning Redpath Museum.
Up next for the MAMM team! Another term to complete data collection and then – in Spring 2025 – continued work on digital mapping and other forms of visualization.
