Morning Huddle
Start your day with thought-provoking discussions in our one-hour morning huddle with James Thompson, Professor of Applied Theatre at the University of Manchester and co-director of The Care Lab.
With years of experience running art programs in prisons and documenting arts projects in conflict and disaster sites, Thompson has focused his research on the aesthetics of care.
Over a series of three sessions, he will offer insights from his own work, raise questions about the relationship between art and care, and prompt you to consider how care can inform and enrich your practice.
From prison theatre, theatre and war to the art of care?
13 June 2025
10 – 11am
This talk will trace the evolution of James’s practice, from creating theatre in prisons to documenting arts in conflict zones and now, exploring the relation between art and care. James will examine various practices applied to different communities, highlighting key problems and dilemmas. He will consider the difference between focusing on the “effect” versus the “affect” of a project, and explore the tensions between advocating for and critiquing community arts, between community arts as passion and profession. This session will raise questions and discussions to be further explored in the upcoming sessions.
What’s care got to do with it?
14 June 2025
10 – 11am
Building on James’s evolving interest in art and care, this session will explore what it means to practice “careful art” and “artful care”. He will share examples from both the healthcare and arts sectors, encouraging participants to reflect on how practices of care can apply to their work. James will discuss several questions: How has care or the lack of care impacted your work? In a world often seen as lacking care, what is the role of artists in creating more careful processes and outcomes? After the global crisis of COVID, how can artists help foster more caring communities?
With a care in your world?
15 June 2025
10 – 11am
In this final morning huddle, James will guide you to think about how your practice can respond to the growing demand for more care and how you can create experiences of careful art. James will wrap up his series by introducing key discussion points and practical exercises, encouraging you to imagine arts projects or approaches that build more caring communities and a more compassionate future.
About the Speaker
James Thompson is Professor of Applied Theatre at the University of Manchester and co-Director of The Care Lab. He co-founded the TiPP Centre and was also the founder and former director of In Place of War, a global organisation that develops arts programmes in conflict zones. He was Editor of RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance (2019–24) and has written extensively on Applied Theatre and socially-engaged arts. His recent books include Performance Affects (2009), Humanitarian Performance (2014), Performing Care (2020, with Amanda Stuart Fisher) and Care Aesthetics (2022).