# BEYOND GAMES: AFTERLIFE OF HISTORY AND ITS STAGES - A LECTURE AND WORKSHOP ON ARCHIVES AND DOCUMENTS IN/ON THREE STAGES #### calendar\_today Date and Time **March 27, 2023** 04:00PM - 04:00PM EDT #### pin\_drop Location **Music Building (Paine Hall) - PH6 and PH9** ## [](/ludics) ## [LUDICS](/ludics) ## **SPEAKER:** KAI TUCHMANN, Central Academy of Drama in Beijing NOTE ON THESE THREE STAGES: Throughout this Lecture-Workshop I will display how documentary theatre uses autobiographical elements -in order to critically engage with historiography. A central feature in this critical attempt towards historiography lies in the fact that performers address their body as an archive. A phenomenon that I will describe by referring to the concept of afterlife. STAGE 1 (60mins): We will begin our gathering by sharing basic exercises that I use in my theatre of the real. These exercises range from simple games that put focus on our bodies and their connections to fundamental approaches towards story-telling. Opposed to classical acting games, these exercises refrain from imagining situations and instead honor the reality of past, present and future. STAGE 2 (60mins): This second stage is basically an artist talk, in which I will present and discuss the documentary dance performance RED, that I have co-created together with the choreographer Wen Hui. I will center my talk around excerpts of RED that originated in exactly the exercises we studied in/on Stage 1. RED finds its inspiration and point of departure in "The Red Detachment of Women," one of the eight revolutionary model theatrical works that formed the official cultural canon during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). RED draws upon and invests in the memories and understandings of the performers and interviewees in regard to the Cultural Revolution to critically reflect upon "The Red Detachment of Women" as an ideologically-charged cultural and collective symbol. \[LINK TO RED (Trailer): \] STAGE 3 (60mins): During this/on our last stage we will take the time to breath, reflect, and discuss our impressions and our experiences. ### About the Speaker Kai Tuchmann graduated in directing from Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch in Berlin. He works as a dramaturge, director and academic. As a visiting professor at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, he helped develop the curriculum for the BA Dramaturgy program there. Kai has also researched the history of dramaturgy as a Fulbright Scholar at the Graduate Center of the City University New York, and he is a Fellow of the Mellon School of Theater at Harvard University. In his internationally shown documentary theater works, Kai has explored the afterlife of the Cultural Revolution in contemporary China, the impact of urbanization on migrant workers in Europe and Asia, and the role of the body in the face of digital technologies. He is the co-editor of [www.connectingrealities.org](http://www.connectingrealities.org), which examines Indian and Asian performance practices, both traditional and contemporary, that relate to performing reality. He is also the co-translator of Li Yinan`s 当代剧场访谈录. "Juchang Performance in Contemporary Chinese Society (1980–2020)." His recent publication is the edited volume "Postdramatic Dramaturgies-Resonances between Asia and Europe" (transcript, 2022). See also:- [ Seminar ](/event-type/seminar) - [ Ludics ](/seminars/ludics) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#) Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://mahindrahumanities.harvard.edu/node/1481171/event-feed.ics) Copy link link