ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses creative agency in performing arts. It departs from three theatre productions all produced in different contexts. When exploring new formats with artists from many different art fields, the question of creative agency becomes pivotal: artistic dilemmas can´t be solved by any one artist alone—joint efforts are needed to find solutions on how to blend different modes of representation. An understanding that the artistic process is not a single continuum, but a process made up of different phases allows for a more detailed understanding of how creative agency is distributed and enacted by the artists involved in the artistic process. A more nuanced understanding of the artistic process creates space for creative agency among participating artists and other professionals working in theatre. Artists and other artistic personnel join during different stages of the process, but they still contribute to the artistic outcome to a high degree; reconciling this fact gives credit to these achievements. Changing the ways that we work also allows new formats to emerge within the performing arts field. Opening and democratising the processes enables the consideration of more perspectives. This means that the performance will be filtered through a manifold of voices rather than through an individual artistic subject. The democratising of creative agency could therefore add aesthetic value for the audience.
