Flight to Arras.
An adaptation for stage of the 1942 book, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
- Submitting institution
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Liverpool John Moores University
- Unit of assessment
- 34 - Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management
- Output identifier
- PIASECKI2
- Type
- I - Performance
- Venue(s)
- Multiple venues including performance at the Cornerstone International Festival Liverpool.
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of first performance
- November
- Year of first performance
- 2014
- URL
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https://vimeo.com/381844260
- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Flight to Arras was an adaptation for stage of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book (1942). Written for a solo performer, the work invited audiences to see identity as fluid and transient (Bauman 2004).
The research challenged the phenomenon of cultural amnesia that forgets that millions of Europeans were refugees themselves just eighty years ago, asking why we should welcome Others in times of conflict. It considered the deployment of a historical text as a reflection of foci regarding issues of migration, belonging and Otherness. Its development required the translation of philosophical ideas into physical action and dialogue, in the construction of storytelling theatre. Relatedly, through adaptation and emphasis within the writing process, the cruciality of cultural memory in challenging contemporary political attitudes was explored.
The writing emphasised questions of nationality (Bauman 2004; Butler & Spivak 2007) and the dichotomy between ambivalence and opposition to power (Bhabha 2003). The process allowed an instinct for altruism to emerge, operating within a specific milieu, antagonising victim stereotypes and drawing out dichotomies of moral beneficence. It mobilised Saint-Exupéry’s realisation that any future is dependent on a human instinct to help (Rand’s Objectivism with Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiment), tempered by the localised phenomenon of altruism in times of terrorism, attack or disaster. Underpinning research included readings on cultural theory and identity (Fischer Lichte 2008 & Lawler 2007), and biographical contexts for Saint-Exupéry that illustrate his (Schiff 1996; Cate 1996).
After headlining the International Cornerstone Festival, the adaptation was performed at Highfest, Yerevan, for Memorial to the Armenian Genocide, and at Lille Catholic University, France.
Further research dissemination occurred through an Inaugural Lecture (2015), a TedX talk (2016), a keynote (Chester), two papers (Galway and Lille) and at the European Parliament, Brussels, framing a policy debate in its Promoting Peace: Creating a Welcoming Europe round-table event.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
