The play’s only part of the thing: audience response to pastiche historical drama

Responding to the view that pastiche is an empty and inert practice, this project explores whether pastiche historical dialogue can elicit reflective and affective responses. Besieged, a pastiche of a typical play of the 1640s, chronicles the historical events of the Siege of Portsmouth in 1642. It was performed in Portsmouth’s Square Tower, itself part of the historical action, and a questionnaire was used to gauge audience reaction to the dialogue, plot, characters and historical setting. The practice research methodology was influenced by the work of Robin Nelson as demonstrated in the dialogue created between the play as artefact, the audience response and theoretical debates. The nature of the pastiche is discussed, and the view developed that it must have agency given that the context of its use must always make it more than a copy of the referent. The history play and audience response theory are explored, and the audience feedback is analysed, revealing a wealth of imaginative responses to the language, style and themes of the play. The questionnaire provoked a range of positive and negative reactions, and the conclusion suggests that pastiche can have agency when it is balanced carefully with accessibility.