Psychogeographic Excursions: Mapping Calgary’s Contemporary Theatre Scene

Abstract

This thesis focuses on artist responses to urban landscape as they relate to the works of six Calgary-based theatre artists. I employ the theory of psychogeography to investigate artistic responses to urban landscape, emphasizing sensorial and behavioural responses to a particular geographic environment. I also investigate the ways in which the myths and histories associated with the region of Calgary inform the representation of the city in contemporary artistic works. Using four case studies of theatrical works created about or in response to Calgary’s urban landscape, I explore how notions of landscape are evident within theatrical works in an attempt to bring psychogeography into the field of the performing arts. I conclude that a psychogeographical awareness of landscape allows for new ways of experiencing the urban landscape, contributing to diversified understandings of space and spatiality within a performative context.