CPR RESOURCE CENTRE - INTRODUCTION

THE CENTRE FOR PERFORMANCE RESEARCH RESOURCE CENTRE IS HOUSED IN NEW PURPOSE BUILT FACILITIES, THE SPACIOUS LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE BOAST:

- the entire CPR catalogue available in one purpose-built room
- several study tables for both individual and group work
- AU networked and public access PCs
- laser printer and photocopier
- six televisions with combined DVD and VHS playback
- comfortable seating areas for reading

THE RESOURCE CENTRE CONTENT

The CPR Resource Centre is an internationally recognised reference library and archive of books, journals, CDs, videos and photographs focusing on theatre and performance from around the world - contemporary and traditional, global and local - emphasizing the physical, visual and interactive aspects of theatre rather than approaching it from a literary perspective. It promotes a dynamic exchange between scholarship and practice in the expanding field of performance. It is interdisciplinary and international in scope and aims to be an active and contributive resource for contemporary theatre research, practice and scholarship.

The Printed Collection specializes in contemporary visual and experimental performance; the traditional, ‘classical’ and folk culture of Asia, Africa and the Americas (especially India, China, Japan and Indonesia) as well as twentieth century theatre, dance, Live Art and performance (particularly from Europe, the Americas and Australasia but also including Asia and Africa).

The Audio-Visual Collection has a wide range of instrumental and vocal music from world cultures and documents the work of contemporary theatre groups and practitioners that emphasize the performer and their physical abilities, and the traditional and codified forms of theatre from around the world that place the performer (actor/dancer/singer) at the centre of their work. Its importance is based on the range of material from other cultures, continually added to both by the work of CPR (conferences, workshops, festivals, performances and lectures) and by gifts and purchases.

The Video Archive of the Resource Centre is substantial: over the last thirty five years CPR has tracked the techniques, training, processes and thinking that inform performance practice across a wide range of contemporary and traditional forms, both in this country and abroad. In addition to videos collected globally, there are some 500 audio-visual tapes, generated at source, documenting the proceedings of the many seminal festivals, workshops, lectures and conferences organized by the CPR, such as international conferences - Past Masters, Points of Contact, Performance Studies International and Towards Tomorrow; international festivals – Restless Gravity; Giving Voice and our international summer school - The Summer Shift.

We are a reference only library therefore users are not permitted to borrow any of the material from the Centre, nor copy any audio visual footage.