‘In Comes I’ explores performance and land, biography and locality, memory and place. The book reflects on performances past and present, taking the form of a series of excursions into the agricultural landscape of eastern England, and drawing from archaeology, geomorphology, folklore, and local and family history.

In Comes I explores performance and land, biography and locality, memory and place. The book reflects on performances past and present, taking the form of a series of excursions into the agricultural landscape of eastern England, and drawing from archaeology, geomorphology, folklore, and local and family history.

Mike Pearson, a leading theatre artist and solo-performer, returns to the landscape of his childhood – off the beaten track in Lincolnshire – and uses it as a mnemonic to reflect widely upon performance theory and practice. Rather than focusing on author, period and genre as is conventional in the study of drama, the book takes region as its optic, acknowledging the affective ties between people and place.

Offering new approaches to the study of performance, he integrates intensely personal narrative with analytical reflection, juxtaposing anecdote with theoretical insight, dramatic text with interdisciplinary perception. The performances, ranging from folk drama to contemporary site-specific work, are seen in the light of their relationship to their cultural and physical environment.

List of Illustrations

Preface

Map of the book

Introduction

VILLAGE:

Preamble

Performance: Bubbling Tom

Excursion: Hibaldstow

Project: White House Yard

NEIGHBOURHOOD:

Preamble

Performance: Hibaldstow Plough Play

Excursion: Hibaldstow, Redbourne and Kirton in Lindsey

Project: Gainsthorpe

REGION:

Preamble

Performance: Haxey Hood

Excursion: North Lincolnshire

Project: Ousefleet

Afterword: Performance and landscape

Bibliography

Index