300 Word Statement : Can We Talk About Death?

McCormick, Sheila

Abstract

The Can We Talk About Death? Adaptation of Autobiographical Performance and Participant
Response in the Development of Performance to Enhance Conversations Around Death and
Dying project happened in 2023 at the University of Salford with a test performance (Can We
Talk About Death?) taking place in the May of that year. The project built on an earlier Practice
as Research (2019) entitled The Death, Dinner, and Performance: A Study of the Efficacy of
Performance to Enhance Conversations Around Death and Dying project. While that project
aimed to look at autobiographical performance as a prompt for difficult conversations in an
intimate setting, the Can We Talk About Death? project looked to adapt the earlier practice into
a public performance for an audience and in doing so, to explore that adaptation strategies
used in the process.

• Online Publication Date: May 2, 2025
• Publication Date: May 2, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 2, 2025
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17866/rd.salford.28918634
• Collection Date: May 2, 2025