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All Outputs (18)

What can we learn from play? A comparative analysis of creative play and ‘playing along’ in dementia care environments (2023)
Journal Article
McCormick, S. (2023). What can we learn from play? A comparative analysis of creative play and ‘playing along’ in dementia care environments. Applied Theatre Research, 11(2), 103-117. https://doi.org/10.1386/atr_00079_1

In this article, I explore play in dementia care settings, specifically two types: creative play (play that engages creativity and imagination) and ‘playing along’. Acknowledging debates on truth-telling in dementia care, I consider how engagement-fo... Read More about What can we learn from play? A comparative analysis of creative play and ‘playing along’ in dementia care environments.

Conversations on death and dying: exploring performance as a prompt. (2023)
Journal Article
McCormick, S. (2023). Conversations on death and dying: exploring performance as a prompt. Palliative Care and Social Practice, 17, 26323524231209059. https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524231209059

BackgroundDeath is inevitable, yet for some, conversations around death remain difficult. The stigmatisation of death amongst some cultures has a negative impact with studies showing societies least likely to discuss end of life openly remain the low... Read More about Conversations on death and dying: exploring performance as a prompt..

Documentary Theatre in Britain and Ireland, 2000-2010: and overview (2023)
Presentation / Conference
McCormick, S. (2023, June). Documentary Theatre in Britain and Ireland, 2000-2010: and overview

Theatre often takes an oppositional stance when there is a need to confront directly the political circumstances occurring at the time of production. Facts and information are at a premium at times of upheaval and, as a result, documentary forms tend... Read More about Documentary Theatre in Britain and Ireland, 2000-2010: and overview.

2022: Can We Talk About Death? Autobiography and Connection: A study of the adaptation of socially engaged practice for a public audiences (2023)
Presentation / Conference
McCormick, S. (2023, January). 2022: Can We Talk About Death? Autobiography and Connection: A study of the adaptation of socially engaged practice for a public audiences

Applied Theatre practice often balances successful engagement with evidence of impact, particularly in a research and funding landscape where impact is considered (by such bodies as the UK Research Excellence Framework and Knowledge Exchange Framewor... Read More about 2022: Can We Talk About Death? Autobiography and Connection: A study of the adaptation of socially engaged practice for a public audiences.

Applied theatre : creative ageing (2017)
Book
McCormick, S. (2017). M. Balfour, & S. Preston (Eds.), Applied theatre : creative ageing. Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Applied Theatre: Creative Ageing examines the complex social, political and cultural needs of a diverse group in our society and asks how contemporary applied theatre responds to those needs. For the first time, this publication allows an examination... Read More about Applied theatre : creative ageing.

Panel discussion : WIT: making art out of illness (2016)
Presentation / Conference
McCormick, S. (2016, February). Panel discussion : WIT: making art out of illness. Presented at Panel Discussion: WIT: Making Art out of Illness, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Illness not as a metaphor : simplicity and kindness in Margaret Edson’s WIT Programme Note, WIT By Margaret Edson, Directed by Raz Shaw. Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. 21 January 2016 - 13 February 2016 (2016)
Other
in Margaret Edson’s WIT Programme Note, WIT By Margaret Edson, Directed by Raz Shaw. Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. 21 January 2016 - 13 February 2016

WIT is a play outstanding in its exploration of the human condition and the possibility for enlightenment. In her play, Edson introduces Professor Vivian Bearing, distinguished scholar of 17th-century English poetry. Through the course of the play... Read More about Illness not as a metaphor : simplicity and kindness in Margaret Edson’s WIT Programme Note, WIT By Margaret Edson, Directed by Raz Shaw. Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. 21 January 2016 - 13 February 2016.

Choosing make believe : pretence or re-orientatation in the care of individuals living with dementia? (2015)
Presentation / Conference
McCormick, S. (2015, January). Choosing make believe : pretence or re-orientatation in the care of individuals living with dementia?. Presented at Representing Dementia: a symposium exploring representations of dementia within the arts and popular imagination, Royal Holloway, London

‘The stage presents things that are make-believe; presumably real life presents things that are real and sometimes not well-rehearsed’ (Goffman, E. 1959, preface). As a student nurse, one quickly learns two strategies when caring for individuals... Read More about Choosing make believe : pretence or re-orientatation in the care of individuals living with dementia?.

Resisting stratification? : arts practice and older adults (2014)
Presentation / Conference
McCormick, S. (2014, August). Resisting stratification? : arts practice and older adults. Presented at IFTR Annual Conference, University of Warwick

According to recent government figures, 10 million people in the UK are over 65 years old. The latest projections are for 5½ million more elderly people in 20 years’ time and the number will have nearly doubled to around 19 million by 2050. These st... Read More about Resisting stratification? : arts practice and older adults.

Coffee, cake & culture : evaluation of an art for health programme for older people in the community (2014)
Journal Article
Roe, B., McCormick, S., Lucas, T., Gallagher, W., Winn, A., & Elkin, S. (2016). Coffee, cake & culture : evaluation of an art for health programme for older people in the community. Dementia, 15(4), 539-559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301214528927

Arts for health initiatives and networks are being developed in a number of countries and an international literature is emerging on the evidence of their benefits to people's health, wellbeing and quality of life. Engagement in cultural and creative... Read More about Coffee, cake & culture : evaluation of an art for health programme for older people in the community.

Heroes with Their Hands in the Air: Memory and Commemoration in Contemporary Documentary Theatre (2013)
Journal Article
McCormick, S. Heroes with Their Hands in the Air: Memory and Commemoration in Contemporary Documentary Theatre. Kritika, 21/22, 500-515. https://doi.org/10.13185/KK2013.02116

Documentary theatre has the capacity to confront and challenge its audience; however, there are occasions when examples from the genre avoid confrontation. These examples might not promote ideas consistent with the political status quo; neither, howe... Read More about Heroes with Their Hands in the Air: Memory and Commemoration in Contemporary Documentary Theatre.

The Darkest Corner: documenting institutional abuse and its consequences at the Abbey Theatre (2012)
Journal Article
McCormick, S. (2012). The Darkest Corner: documenting institutional abuse and its consequences at the Abbey Theatre. Irish Studies Review, 20(2), 179-191. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2012.679216

Documentary theatre, as a theatrical genre, has not maintained a continuous presence in Irish theatre. The Darkest Corner series, produced in 2010 by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Ireland's National Theatre is, therefore, one of the first examples of Ir... Read More about The Darkest Corner: documenting institutional abuse and its consequences at the Abbey Theatre.

Verbatim theatre and The Voice of Dissent (2012)
Book Chapter
McCormick, S. (2012). Verbatim theatre and The Voice of Dissent. In S. Brisset, & N. Doody (Eds.), Voicing Dissent: New Perspectives in Irish Criticism (61-69). Dublin: Irish Academic Press

Voicing Dissent is a collection of critical essays exploring the idea of dissent in contemporary Irish Studies. Prominent in these essays are radical points of view, alternative readings, contentious texts, and some unusual and innovative approaches... Read More about Verbatim theatre and The Voice of Dissent.

'And You Dinnay Want Tay Join The Army?' Friendship, Conflict and Kinship in Gregory Burke's Black Watch (2009)
Book Chapter
McCormick, S. (2009). 'And You Dinnay Want Tay Join The Army?' Friendship, Conflict and Kinship in Gregory Burke's Black Watch. In Friends and Foes Volume I: Friendship and Conflict in Philosophy and the Arts (67-76). Cambridge Scholars Publishing

This chapter examines the performance of kinship and friendship in the Black Watch regiment and its representation on stage in Burke’s play of the same name. Through a critical examination of performance and performativity, the chapter explores the c... Read More about 'And You Dinnay Want Tay Join The Army?' Friendship, Conflict and Kinship in Gregory Burke's Black Watch.

Can We Talk About Death?
Other
McCormick, S. (2023). Can We Talk About Death?. [Live performance]

Building on previous research in The Death Dinner Project: A study of the efficacy of autobiographical performance to provide a prompt for conversations on death and dying, this project explores the adaptation process undertaken to develop intimate... Read More about Can We Talk About Death?.

Performance, death and dinner : autobiography and commensality, prompts for conversations around death and dying
Presentation / Conference
McCormick, S. Performance, death and dinner : autobiography and commensality, prompts for conversations around death and dying. Presented at International Federation for Theatre Research Annual Conference 2021, National University of Ireland, Galway/Online

This paper explores the origins, development and outcomes of my 2019 Practice as Research project entitled Death, Dinner and Performance: A Study of the Efficacy of Performance to Enhance Conversations Around Death and Dying. The project brought toge... Read More about Performance, death and dinner : autobiography and commensality, prompts for conversations around death and dying.