Appropriating the Real

Appropriating the ‘real’ is a practice-led investigation that researches the extent to which verbatim theatre techniques can be appropriated to create a fictional performance. Criticisms of verbatim theatre’s ‘truth claims’ – that it is a re-presentation of the ‘real’ – are both dramaturgical and ethical. Addressing these concerns, the practice presented here sets out to experiment with “indecidability” (Lehmann, 2006:101), heightening the audience’s perception of the gap between ‘truth’ and ‘fiction’, chiefly by drawing attention to the role of the theatre maker. The practice-led research is made up by this trilogy of performances: The Unsettling; Everybody Always Tells the Truth; and Is It Different Now? and an accompanying thesis.