Understanding spaces of potentiality in applied theatre

He-ART-istic Journeys: Transformative Experiential Learning Through Applied Theatre

“…This echoes what Sloan describes as a space of potentiality (Sloan, 2018). A collective space to envision desired change or to explore an issue and reframe past (knowledges) experiences in a new way (Sloan, 2018). Adding to this, we suggest that this creative space celebrates a state of liminality of creative (un)knowing necessary to engage in relearning something anew.…”

“…The He-ART-istic Journeys-Heart DIS-ease play [https://mirrortheatre.ca/performance/heartistic-journeys/] provides a creative space to engage in reflexive practice to raise consciousness of a specific issue. This echoes what Sloan describes as a space of potentiality (Sloan, 2018). A collective space to envision desired change or to explore an issue and reframe past (knowledges) experiences in a new way (Sloan, 2018).…”

Troubling aesthetics: mapping vulnerability as a generative force in community theatre

“…Considering the range of research that problematises the concept of safe space (e.g. Norris and Salverson 2021;White 2021;Hunter 2008;Busby 2021;Sloan 2018), I recognise that practitioners and researchers are well aware of the complexity of spaces produced in applied theatre practice. There is now a move away from the notion of safe space and instead explore spatial concepts such as 'third space' (Soja 1996) or 'heterotopia' (Foucault and Miskowiec 1986) when trying to capture the multitude of spaces created in the drama room (e.g.…”

The drama of development in intervention: An investigation from the perspective of cultural psychology of semiotic mediation

“…Experience in the drama world is experiencing in a third space, which is detached from, suspends and challenges the mundane normative life. Sloan (2018) stressed that, the term "space" is closely connected to potentiality, freedom, fluidity, indeterminacy, experimentation. Besides all the positive words, O'Grady ( , cited in Sloan, 2018) also warned the risk and vulnerability arising from the openness and complex navigation.…”

“…It is also important to note that feeling, affects and emotions are endowed with a special role to bypass ideological discourses and bring about innovative meaning construction through metaphors (Courtney, 1995), because of their embodied and pre-semiotic characteristics and their power in facilitating and driving actions. For instance, Sloan (2018) developed the notion of "potentiality" from the autonomous and unconscious affective force and as a theoretical consequence, the affective experience in theatre is understood as a space of liminality and potentiality. Best (1989) reminded us that there is a danger of regarding the subjective feeling involved in artistic creation and appreciation as direct and pure feelings, which escapes the interruption, prejudice, limit and control from the rational understanding.…”