Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2021 - 31

those walking through after them as
they read the tags tied along the pathway to their next destination. The place,
the performance, and the audience
members become a part of the whole
experience.
While WildWorks continues in
Mitchell's absence, the ebb and flow of
projects that once kept the room in the
attic alive is stilled. Preserving the attic
meant something different than preserving the production notebooks housed in
the Cornish Performance Archive. The
attic was not connected to a finished work
of art that had reached a point of stasis.
Rather, it was a tool that Mitchell used to
keep continually making art. To remain
true to their purpose, the contents of the
attic needed to become a fruitful part of
someone else's creative process.
Since my visit, Mitchell's wild and
wonderful collection has moved to a new
home in the Old Schoolhouse in Krowji,
Redruth (Cornwall, UK). The schoolhouse serves as an artists' hub, and
Mitchell had a studio space there in the
last year of his life.
Before the contents of the attic were
relocated, the Arts Council and JustGiving
facilitated a crowdfunding campaign that
financed the digital capture of the attic
in its original home by Scott Fletcher.
Now, you can visit Feastcornwall.org and
click on " Bill's Attic " to view a 3d model
of the space, photogrammetry, audio
recordings, and beautiful photographs
of the collection from anywhere in the
world. Fletcher is in the process of fundraising to convert even more digital assets into increasingly interactive virtual
environments.
The website will continue to be updated with new details on the digital
projects and on the physical collection's
ongoing " life " as visitors and artists in
residence continue to use it as a source
of inspiration.
I am grateful for the USITT
International Student Travel Grant
and the School of Communication
Graduate Research Ignition Grant from
Northwestern University that allowed
me to encounter both the archive and the
attic. Those in-person experiences have
helped me immensely with my research.
If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend that you go exploring too.

Skye Strauss is an advanced
Ph.D. candidate in the
Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in
Theatre and Drama at
Northwestern University.
Her research thrives on close connections with
her artistic practice in theatrical design and
technology, puppetry, and circus. In her
dissertation, " Materiality Matters: On the
Power of 'Things' in Collective Creation, " she
uses interdisciplinary theories of new
materialism to argue that the physical
properties of objects are an important source
of inspiration during the devising process
across performance forms, inviting artists
into a different relationship with the objects
and materials in their environment. Her
research was funded by an International
Student Travel Grant from The United
States Institute for Theatre Technology
(USITT) with additional support from
Northwestern University, where she received
both a Graduate Research Grant and a
School of Communication Ignition Grant.
Strauss has shared her work at conferences
through the Theory and Criticism, Design
and Technology, and Movement focus groups
at ATHE and the Puppetry and Material
Performance Working Group at ASTR.
Previous publications include a performance
review on Blair Thomas & Company's " Moby
Dick " in Puppetry International, a book
review on Costume in Performance:
Materiality, Culture, and the Body in
Theatre Topics, and a book chapter on
Michael Curry in Theatre Artisans and
Their Craft. She earned her B.A. in Theatre
with University Honors at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham and her M.A. in
Theatre and Performance Studies from
Queen's University Belfast (Northern
Ireland) as a Rotary Scholar.

Works Cited
Boland, Rosita. 2011. " A Gothic Tale of Weakness
and Betrayal. " Irish Times. October 12,
2011. Press AC2017-001-Box 15, General Press
(2009-2014): Including The Wild Bride U.S. Tour
Box; Cornish Performance Archive, Falmouth
University, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Gardner, Lyn. 2017. " Obituary for Bill Mitchell. "
The Guardian website, Published April 18,
2017. Accessed January 17, 2021. https://www.
theguardian.com/stage/2017/Apr 18/billmitchell-obituary.

Gardner, Lyn. 2006. " Theatre Review: Souterrain. "
The Guardian website, Published May 15, 2006.
Accessed January 22, 2021. https://www.
theguardian.com/stage/2006/may/15/ theatre1.
Harvey, Brett and Mitchell, Bill. 2017. " Designing
Tristan & Yseult: Interview with Bill
Mitchell. " Video, 8:10. The Kneehigh Cookbook
website. https://kneehighcookbook.co.uk/
designing-tristan-yseult/. Accessed November
2, 2020.
Harvey, Brett and Mitchell, Bill. 2017. " Interview Bill Mitchell. " Video, 7:29. The Kneehigh
Cookbook website. https://kneehighcookbook.
co.uk/interview-bill-mitchell/. Accessed
November 2, 2020.
Isherwood, Charles. 2013. " Faustian Bargain in a
Bluegrass Fairy Tale. " New York Times, Feb.
27, 2013. Press AC2017-001-Box 15, General
Press (2009-2014): Including The Wild Bride U.S.
Tour Box; Cornish Performance Archive, Falmouth
University, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
Lehmann, Hans-Thies. Postdramatic Theatre.
Translated by Karen Jürs-Munby. London; New
York: Routledge, 2006, Reprinted 2009.
Machon, Josephine. 2013. Immersive Theatres:
Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary
Performance. Basingstoke; New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Morris, Tom and Rice, Emma. " Emma Rice and
Tom Morris Talk about Tristan &Yseult. " June
6, 2005; Platforms Audio Recordings, Digital
Audio File, mp3 format; RNT/PL/3/851; National
Theatre Archive, London, UK.
The Wild Bride. Kneehigh theatre company,
Director Emma Rice. DVD recording, copy
undated. Penryn Archive: AC2015-Box 2, The
Wild Bride DVD; Cornish Performance Archive,
Falmouth University, Penryn, Cornwall, UK.
100: UnEarth. WildWorks theatre company. The
Lost Gardens of Heligan, St. Austell, Cornwall, UK.
July 22, 2018.
100: UnEarth was co-commissioned by The
Lost Gardens of Heligan and 14-18 NOW: WW1
Centenary Art Commissions, with support
from the National Lottery through Arts Council
England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and from
the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and
Sport.

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http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/may/15/ http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2006/may/15/ https://www.kneehigh.co.uk/cookbook/designing-tristan-yseult/ https://www.kneehigh.co.uk/cookbook/designing-tristan-yseult/ https://www.kneehigh.co.uk/cookbook/interview-bill-mitchell/ https://www.kneehigh.co.uk/cookbook/interview-bill-mitchell/ http://www.Feastcornwall.org https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/Apr18/bill-mitchell-obituary https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/Apr18/bill-mitchell-obituary https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/Apr18/bill-mitchell-obituary

Theatre Design & Technology - Winter 2021

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