The doctor is in

Hannah Ballou (Artist)

    Research output: Practice-based/Artistic researchPerformance/Live event

    Abstract

    The Doctor Is In is a feminist investigation into the performativity of the comic pedant by way of an autobiographical neo-burlesque re-imagination of Il Dottore (the archetype from the commedia dell'arte) as La Dottora, who must negotiate a contemporary landscape of casualised labour, sexism embedded in the academy, and the student-as-consumer model of higher education. How might the scholarliness within feminist comic practice as research produce the very comic material it pretends to analyse? It is an artistic intervention in the conversation surrounding inequality for female-identified academics that phthonically targets hetero-patriarchy induced 'impostor syndrome'.
    Original languageEnglish
    Publication statusPublished - 21 Jan 2018
    EventCalm Down Dear - Camden People's Theatre, London, U.K.
    Duration: 21 Jan 201821 Jan 2018

    Bibliographical note

    Reviews: Bordo, S. (1995) Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body, Berkley, University of California Press.

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    Duration: 53 min.

    Impact: As an artistic intervention in the conversations surrounding contemporary manifestations of patriarchy in the academy, and the intersection of feminist scholarship, casualised labour, and the student-as-consumer model of higher education, this practice as research performance was impactful in its debut performance (documented for this repository) by drawing Kingston University students, faculty, and members of the public into a feminist arts festival to contemplate the issues raised by the performance. Remounting of the production or further dissemination of the documentation has the potential to impact wider academic communities by addressing systemic issues of inequality and exploitation.

    Keywords

    • feminist comedy
    • commedia dell'arte
    • stand up
    • neo-burlesque
    • Drama, dance and performing arts

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