5 - Transported Actors

Summary

Over the twenty-five years of his activities, Bandmann transported approximately 2,000 performers around the world on his circuit. This chapter examines what it meant to be a performer on the Bandmann Circuit. In addition to the material questions such as working conditions, pay and social interaction (love and marriage), it also looks at the function of the performers and other employees (advance and venue managers, musical directors) as parts of the theatrical network. In this chapter, the main approach is actor-network theory. The analysis examined how the travelling actor ‘connected’ with the different cultures and countries. These connections took many forms, the most important being economical (labour and income), physical (mainly health) and affective (marriage).