Turner, J., 2007.

Acts of Creative Vandalism? Plane Performance Deconstruct the Canon

<jats:p>In this article Jane Turner explores the trilogy of works titled <jats:italic>Re-placing Texts</jats:italic>, together with <jats:italic>Epilogue</jats:italic>, devised and performed by the innovative group Plane Performance, now in its tenth year. The trilogy - <jats:italic>Three Degrees of Frost, SET</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>Round-about</jats:italic> - are rewritings of Chekhov's <jats:italic>The Cherry Orchard</jats:italic>, David Lean's film <jats:italic>Brief Encounter</jats:italic>, and Rogers and Hammerstein's film musical, <jats:italic>Carousel</jats:italic>. The article examines the strategies adopted by the company as acts of 'creative vandalism', both in terms of current understandings of theatre practice and in terms of their treatment of the original texts. Jane Turner argues that the dramatic texts have become ossified by cultural usage and that the radical stance taken by the company allows for a counter-cultural position to re-emerge. The author is a Principal Lecturer in Contemporary Arts at Manchester Metropolitan University. She has recently published work on Eugenio Barba and applied theatre practice.</jats:p>