Experiencing Generosity: An Autoethnographic Sketch from the Process of Coordinating the Research on Theatrical Life in the Pandemic

The publication is the result of the autoethnographic research covering a year-long process of coordinating the implementation of seven sociological studies on theatrical life in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by two theatre pedagogists – a manager and an employee of the Department of Theatre Pedagogy of the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. The authors try to answer the following research question: What does the autoethnographic analysis of the experience of people responsible for project management bring to the cultural sector, and how? Thus, they attempt to strengthen the project management discourse with the perspective of those whose work is not visible. As a result of the analyses, they have identified and described two subconscious coordination strategies: playing the speed game and playing the sense game. In order to draw the attention of cultural workers to the influence of private life on professional life and to the value of support received from a co-worker, the authors introduce the details of the experience by describing collaboration in a duet. The answer to the research question is enriched with the reflection that the project coordination methodology adopted by the authors has its source in the values of theatre pedagogy. The text is divided into four parts. The first one is a description of the method of autoethnography. The second one presents the dynamics of actions in a changing reality of pandemic. The third one is focused on cooperation in a duet. Finally, the fourth one presents the authors’ conversation summarising their autoethnographic analyses and showing the influence of the authors’ roots in the theatre pedagogy on the project management.  

Experiencing Generosity: An Autoethnographic Sketch from the Process of Coordinating the Research on Theatrical Life in the Pandemic

The publication is the result of the autoethnographic research covering a year-long process of coordinating the implementation of seven sociological studies on theatrical life in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by two theatre pedagogists – a manager and an employee of the Department of Theatre Pedagogy of the Zbigniew Raszewski Theatre Institute. The authors try to answer the following research question: What does the autoethnographic analysis of the experience of people responsible for project management bring to the cultural sector, and how? Thus, they attempt to strengthen the project management discourse with the perspective of those whose work is not visible. As a result of the analyses, they have identified and described two subconscious coordination strategies: playing the speed game and playing the sense game. In order to draw the attention of cultural workers to the influence of private life on professional life and to the value of support received from a co-worker, the authors introduce the details of the experience by describing collaboration in a duet. The answer to the research question is enriched with the reflection that the project coordination methodology adopted by the authors has its source in the values of theatre pedagogy. The text is divided into four parts. The first one is a description of the method of autoethnography. The second one presents the dynamics of actions in a changing reality of pandemic. The third one is focused on cooperation in a duet. Finally, the fourth one presents the authors’ conversation summarising their autoethnographic analyses and showing the influence of the authors’ roots in the theatre pedagogy on the project management.