Welcome

Welcome to the ‘new and improved’ Routledge Performance Archive (RPA 2.0). We have a sophisticated new platform, a fresh new design and an expanding team of academics and practitioners on board to provide a new breadth and depth of coverage of all aspects of performance. The Routledge Performance Archive is now situated within the Routledge Research Encyclopedia family to create a dynamic online audio-visual resource, with enhanced user-friendly access and content.

The RPA is both an archive and a developing online resource, bringing together artists, materials and academic specialists on theatre and performance in an easily searchable, cross-referenced format that can be accessed directly in both the classroom and the individual study space. Our digital archive covers historical and contemporary practices across the globe, and ranges from full-scale performances to rehearsals, workshops and masterclasses, interviews and filmed training sessions. Many of our materials are unique to the RPA and unavailable elsewhere.

The accompanying commentaries are authored by experts in the field and provide biographical information and a critical framing for the audio-visual materials, as well as suggesting useful avenues for further investigation. The archive is divided into distinct groupings such as ‘Theatre Making and Processes’, ‘Live Art and Performance’, and ‘Acting and Actor Training’ to facilitate broad-ranging exploration, and is also fully keyword searchable so users can locate material related to specific individuals, companies or practices.

The Routledge Performance Archive is a vital resource for students and academics to place performance work within an active context. We will continue to add new content from a wide cross-section of performance practices, and work to create a go-to source for practitioners who want to archive their practice among the work of other practitioners and reach out to audiences beyond their immediate location. We are reaching out to an expanding group of educational institutions around the world and offer a sliding scale of prices to allow for different institutional budgets. The Routledge Performance Archive brings the world of performance to your classroom, your rehearsal hall and your desktop and digital device, reaching new audiences through technology that mirrors the active engagement of performance itself.