Spelrum gatan : Strategier, gränser och motsättningar i spelhändelser genomförda på 2010-talets Södermalm i Stockholm

Sammanfattning: The aim of the thesis is to shed light on the processes produced when collective performances, here conceptualized as playing events, are performed in urban space in a specific city area, Södermalm in Stockholm between 2012 and 2017. By analyzing urban space as a changing and contradictory space, the study shows how playing events transform everyday space into a playing space. The transformation is decoded through the observation of playing strategies, embodied in the visual and auditory markings of the participating bodies. The study proposes the use of terms based on the verb playing. The term playing event is used in the thesis to refer to collective performances outside a regular theatre context. The use of the term broadens the understanding of what can be included in the concept of theatre. A theoretical pillar is formed by the theatre scholar Willmar Sauter's theory of the theatrical event, developed in the thesis through the concept of playing event. The second framework is provided by sociologist Henri Lefebvre's theories of social space and the right to the city. The study discusses the question of intervention, legality and civil disobedience and how embodied collectivity can emerge as an alternative to the gentrified lifestyle, which is growing strong, in terms of individualization and commodification, in Södermalm in the 21st century. The material of the thesis consists of four mobile playing events: The Supporter´s March, which is a football supporter´s event, secondly, a Catholic procession called Lord of the Miracles of Nazarenas, thirdly, the bicycle manifestation Critical Mass and finally The Pride Parade, a well-known street parade celebrating the hbtqi-community. These four events occupy the urban street with different strategies, thereby producing a variety of border crossings and contradictions. The thesis decodes communication processes between players and spectators and uncovers the dynamic processes between everyday life and playfulness that is produced during performances. The study is the first in the Swedish language to consistently use designations based on the verb playing for collective performances. It is the first study in the Swedish language to analyze, from a perspective of theatre studies, strategies, boundaries and contradictions in urban space when playing events are performed.