In my PhD work I'm looking forward to exploring the possibilities and the extremities of audience interaction. How I as an actor can co-create with the audience collective memories of conflict.
My goal is to explore the possibilities of a theatrical meeting between the audience and the actor in an agonistic debate centered around the emotions around climate change.
Though performance meetings in the public space I will explore the role theatre can play as an democratic agonistic training ground and space for non-antagonistic conflict.
I also want to reflect on the prosses of an actor working alone, and the processual changes from actor-actor to actor-director and actor-playwright. How they interlink and overlap.
Ulrik Waarli Grimstad (b. 1986) is an actor, director, social facilitator in the performing arts field. He is currently a PhD candidate in artistic research at the University of Agder, Norway.
The working title of the research project is "Crisis-Cake-party - to facilitate agonistic negotiations in interactive theatre as an actor"
His work as an actor has spanned a large part of the theatre field. From more established theatre institutions, touring theatre at schools (DKS), performances in public space, social art and teaching.
His own work has has consistently focused on audience relations and ways to make social theatrical meeting spaces, both through his work as a member of the art collective "JAM PUBLIC" and his own theatre productions (https://www.jampublic.no/) (https://kkt-teater.com/).
He holds a BA in Acting from The Danish National School of Performing Arts in 2015.