From self-care to shared care: performing touch as care in participatory theatre practice

This multimodal and praxical contribution combines performative, workshop and video components within a critical framework on touch as caring method in theatre practice. It invites active participation and witnessing of self-caring touch not as self-centred or selfish act, but as an embodied practice that can advance shared caring. The contribution draws from the in-person performance-workshops ‘Are We Still In Touch?’ that took place at several locations within and outside London between November 2022 and July 2023. These Practice-as-Research activities, part of the wider COVID-responsive project ‘From Haptic Deprivation to Haptic Possibilities’, look at how self-directed touch and one’s own physical contact with the environment can be a source of care, wellbeing and creativity. ‘Are We Still In Touch?’ as creative methodology combines the formats of a group workshop and a participatory performance, inspired by 1:1 Zoom sessions with research participants from Europe and North America during the pandemic (January to March 2021). Among others, participants in the performance-workshops shared new understandings around the importance and the ethics of touch and the potential for self-directed touch as a health and wellbeing tool. They specifically noted a re-appreciation for the role of touch in fostering empathy and intimacy with others. Filtering these findings through the feminist concept of inter-embodiment that advocates for the significance of distantiation and difference in interrelational negotiations, this contribution suggests that care-fully guided self-directed touch in theatre practice can prompt ethical renegotiations between self and other and a stronger awareness of what shared care can be.