In Search of an Audience A Dialogue with Mischa Twitchin
Mischa’s teaching at Goldsmiths College covers performance making as well as courses on Modernism, Post-Modernity, and Polish theatre. Being a member of a performance collective himself he combines theoretical knowledge with practical experience. In this interview we asked Mischa about the political significance of working conditions in Britain and Germany, the difficult search for an audience, and the importance of teaching.
Mischa Twitchin is a founder member of the performance collective, Shunt. He also makes his own performance projects. Working in the Theatre and Performance Department at Goldsmiths College, University of London, his teaching addresses theoretical and practical aspects of theatre, performance and culture.
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Katharina Herold (for theatrama): As a lecturer of drama at Goldsmiths College you teach, amongst others, a course on specifically Polish theatre and Kantor. Where does your involvement with Polish theatre come from? Mischa Twitchin: Indeed, how and why do different theatres fascinate different people’s imagination – this is a vital question for theatre studies, beyond simply biographical interest! What sort of experience does theatre offer specifically? This is also a question for teaching, of course. What might a ‘history of Polish theatre’ mean for a class taught in English, in London today – not least in the context of the contemporary British theatre that the students are seeing?