Deirdre Heddon is professor of contemporary performance practice at the University of Glasgow and the author of numerous books, including Autobiography and Performance. She is also one of the editors of It's All Allowed: The Performances of Adrian Howells, which is part of the Intellect Live series published in collaboration with the Live Arts Development Agency (LADA).
Dominic Johnson is a senior lecturer in the Department of Drama at Queen Mary University of London and the editor of Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey and It's All Allowed: The Performances of Adrian Howells.
'The judges felt that the collection was an intimate response to
Howells’s work, but one that is also a profound meditation on the
potential effects of performance itself. Carefully curated with a
significant eye to detail, the volume draws together essays written
by a diverse selection of contributors who have used a range of
forms (critical, impressionistic, interview, etc), but nevertheless
sustains a consistency of argument, message, and voice, supported
by an introduction which weaves together the different
contributions that comprise the volume with new material and
extensive references. This labour of love is a critical volume that
will be useful to readers; it is also a beautiful object in its own
right'.
*Dee Heddon and Dominc Johnson win the TaPRA prize for Editing
2017*
'The publication is a not just equally fascinating and important;
for those wanting to engage in acts of intimate performance, it’s
possibly the most comprehensive reference book available.'
*Jo Verrent, The Huffington Post*
'It is not just a celebration of an extraordinary body of work but
also a handbook for those working in the tricky, ethically fraught
area of intimate performance.'
*Lyn Gardner, The Guardian*
'This is an informative and engaging introduction and a thorough
survey of the life and work of this important British performer and
artist, who was one of the leading, internationally-recognised
figures in one-to-one performance practice. While this is a
significant contribution to the field of theatre and performance
studies due to the accomplished documentation of this most
ephemeral and fleeting performance practice, it is also an
invaluable resource for practitioners, researchers, and students
interested in performance art, Live Art, intimate and immersive
theatre, autobiographical performance, and socially engaged and
participatory art. The book offers fascinating new insights into
Howells’s creative working practices and artistic processes and is
thus particularly interesting for those seeking expert knowledge on
the particular methodologies, pedagogies, and issues surrounding
one-to-one work. It is therefore both a legacy project and a
comprehensive handbook for anyone interested in creating intimate
performance, and will be equally attractive to readers familiar
with Howells’s work and those who are encountering it for the first
time.'
*Antje Hildebrandt, Contemporary Theatre Review*
'Copiously illustrated with colour photographs, the book is
leavened with personal accounts and tributes to Howells, my
favourite being that of Marcia Farquhar, whose pyjamas were turned
into a muddy-coloured mess during a performance of Adrienne’s Dirty
Laundry Experience (2005). Johnson and Heddon also include
scholarly articles that address the structure and psychological
impact of one-to-one performances (Heddon, Helen Iball and Rachel
Zerihan), the documentation of the intimate encounter (Jon
Cairnes), the implications of Howells’s affective labour in a
neo-liberal economy (Stephen Greer), and a compelling discussion of
the medieval and Christological history of the foot/sole in
Howells’s best-known performance, Footwashing for the Sole
(Kathleen Gough). The entire book is framed by an excellent
introduction that situates Howells’s work in relationship with
relational aesthetics, immersive performance, dialogical aesthetics
and the politics of feminine/queer labour. Mindful of the audience
that would not be familiar with Howells’s work, the editors
included a biographical survey of Howells’s oeuvre that spanned his
beginning in high school to his final performance, Lifeguard.'
*Jennie Klein, Theatre Research International*
'This sumptuous book more than fulfils its editors’ aspirations for
it to be ‘filled with textures, colours, emotions, and aesthetics’.
It gathers a huge body of writing by and about performer Adrain
Howells who made a professional journey from early training and
working in traditional professional theatre to later more
exploratory performance work that pushed boundaries and made huge
demands on the artist who created it. '
*Alison Jeffers, New Theatre Quarterly*
'It’s All Allowed is an intensely personal selection of
recollections, observations, and heartfelt attempts to introduce a
new audience to Howells and his work and to offer a collective
memorialization for those who knew him. For readers outside of
performance studies and visual art, there are several points of
entry that offer enough universality in terms of the potential for
shared experiences to make it accessible. For artists who use
one-to-one performance in their own work, this book is an excellent
reference for what to consider when constructing new forms of
intimate engagement with the public, as well as the potential risks
and rewards for creators and their audiences.'
*Lisa Newman, CAA Reviews*
'It’s All Allowed: The Performances of Adrian Howells aims to be
the definitive book on Howells—not just for scholars, but for
artists and arts patrons, too. It bursts with color photographs of
Howells and with anecdotes about him, but it also features a
thorough bibliography, a good-enough index, and many scanned
documents from his personal archive at the University of
Glasgow.'
*Christopher Grobe*
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