You are being invited to take part in a study.  Before you decide it is important for you to understand why the study is being done and what participation will involve.  Please take time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with others if you wish.  Ask us if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.  Take time to decide whether or not you wish to take part.  Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Study Team—Individuals conducting the study are below:

Principal Investigator: Jake Tkaczyk, PhD Student
Contact Info: jakedtkaczyk@gmail.com
780-678-4158
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Advisor—School/Faculty within LJMU: Dr. Nicholas Phillips
Contact Info: N.L.Phillips@ljmu.ac.uk

Advisor—Collaborating Institutions:  Transart Institute
Faculty:  Dr. Elena Marchevska
Contact Info:  e.marchevska@lsbu.ac.uk

1.     What is the purpose of the study?
The fundamental aim and objective of this research is to examine an aesthetic of awe and pleasure in social action creation and performance using models of non-duality. The study will provide a vehicle to observe how working from a place of awe and pleasure leads to a greater sense of meaning and purpose for artist and audience.

Along with the use of awe, we will experiment with crafting meaning without being literal and devise new work from a place of pleasure.

This study hopes to answer the following questions:

• How can grounding a practice in awe and pleasure: create decolonial ways of working and updating theatre and performance pedagogy;

• aid the artist in tackling sensitive subject matter while creating community between audience and artist and between audience and audience;

• develop transformative theatrical practices that support different kinds of devising processes that de-centre plot as the principal element; and

• innovate the way in which audiences are conceptualized within theatrical discourses and practices.

2.     Why have I been invited to participate?
You have been invited because you:

• Identify as an artist seeking to create new work in an ensemble;

• Wish to explore creative writing methods in performance;

• Have an openness and ability to articulate performance and experiences verbally, physically, textually, or any other way, artistically;

• An ability to create and discover image, gesture, and text; and

• Have internet access, and a device, with headphones with microphone capabilities.

The exclusion / inclusion criteria are:

• Not available to attend rehearsals or workshops;

• Not comfortable in working collaboratively;

• Not comfortable with virtual Zoom rehearsals;

• Not comfortable with attending rehearsals in-person should the public health guidelines allow, given the state of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

3.     Do I have to take part?
No. You have full permission to deny participation. If you do decide to take part you will be given this information sheet to keep and be asked to sign a consent form. You can withdraw at any time by informing the investigators without giving a reason and without it affecting your rights/any future treatment/service you receive.

4.     What will happen to me if I take part?
Your level of participation in this study will be up to you. If you are participating in educational workshops as a participant you may participate for up to five (5) days sequentially for a maximum of six (6) hours per day. If you wish to participate in a performance, your may be asked to participate for a minimum of six (6) weeks to a maximum of 12 weeks, no more than six (6) days sequentially per week for a maximum of eight (8) hours per day.

 Participant involvement in this research will occur anywhere between from April 2021 - January 2023. When participants meet face to face for rehearsals the Primary Investigator and participants will adhere to the current public health guidelines and AHS requirements regarding COVID-19. Participants will have access to hand sanitizer, and masks, provided by the Primary Investigator along with any other PPE or requests by participants to ensure comfort and safety of all involved. When in person rehearsals are not possible, the study will take place virtually in Zoom sessions. 

5.      Will I be recorded and how will the recorded media be used?
You are free to decline to be audio/video recorded. It is important that you feel safe and comfortable with the recording process and you are free to stop the recording at any time. The audio and/or video recordings of your activities made during this study will be used only for analysis.  No other use will be made of them without your explicit prior written permission/consent.

Interviews will be audio recorded on a password protected audio recording device and as soon as possible the recording will be transferred to secure storage and deleted from the recording device.

6.     What should I consider?
Conditions which may exclude individuals from participation:
Inability to commit or work out mutually agreed to times for participation.

7.     Are there any possible disadvantages or risks from taking part?

There are some minimal risks you might experience from being in this study. These are:

• Muscle soreness, and minor injury that are common in any low-impact cardio training. You will not be exposed to any more risk than normal in theatre practice or exercise;

• Loss of privacy via performing for audience; and

• Possible exposure to COVID-19.

To lower the risks, you will:

• Walk through a hazard assessment of each performance space;

• Have daily check-ins and check-outs regarding physical and mental health and comfort;

• Be given breaks as needed and allowed rest and water to drink; and

• Wear a mask while you are not dancing and exercising.

 8.     What are the possible benefits of taking part?

The benefits of taking part are:

• Connecting and collaborating with a performing arts community;

• Socialization with others in a creative setting;

• This research gives new ways to create theatre and performance;

• Exploration of awe and pleasure as it relates to semiotics and meaning-making; and

• The research has potential to bring forward a level of performance pedagogy/techniques.

9.     What will happen to my tissue samples?   N/A

10.  Will my General Practitioner/family doctor (GP) be informed of my participation?  N/A

11.  What will happen to the data provided and how will my taking part in this project be kept confidential?
The information you provide as part of the study is the study data.  Any study data from which you can be identified (e.g. from identifiers such as your name, date of birth, audio recording etc.), is known as personal data. This includes more sensitive categories of personal data (sensitive data) such as your race; ethnic origin; politics; religion; trade union membership; genetics; biometrics (where used for ID purposes); health; sex life; or sexual orientation.

Your participation in this study will involve the collection of personal data.

When you agree to take part in a study, we will use your personal data in the ways needed to conduct and analyse the study and if necessary, to verify and defend, when required, the process and outcomes of the study. Personal data will be accessible to the study team. In addition, responsible members of Liverpool John Moores University may be given access to personal data for monitoring and/or audit of the study to ensure that the study is complying with applicable regulations.

When we do not need to use personal data, it will be deleted or identifiers will be removed. Personal data does not include data that cannot be identified to an individual (e.g. data collected anonymously or where identifiers have been removed). However, your consent form, contact details, audio recordings etc. will be retained for 3 years.

 We will not tell anyone that you have taken part in the focus group, although there is of course a possibility that another member of the group might recognise you. We will also not name you in any of our reports or publications. In addition, all participants in the focus group will be asked to respect the confidentiality of their fellow participants.

You will not be identifiable in any ensuing reports or publications.

We will use pseudonyms in transcripts and reports to help protect the identity of individuals and organisations unless you tell us that you would like to be attributed to information/direct quotes etc.

De-identified data might be used for additional or subsequent studies and we might share de-identified data with other investigators running other studies in this organisation and in other organisations. These organisations may be universities, NHS organisations or private companies in this country or abroad). All personal information that could identify you will be removed or changed before information is shared or results are made public. This information will not be combined with other information in a way that could identify you.

When you agree to take part in a study, the information collected may be provided to investigators running other studies in this organisation and in other organisations. These organisations may be universities, NHS organisations or private companies in this country or abroad. Your information could be used for research and could be combined with information about you from other sources held by investigators, the NHS or government.  Where this information could identify you, the information will be held securely with strict arrangements about who can access the information. The information may be used to contact you about future opportunities to participate in studies. It will not be used to make decisions about future services available to you, such as insurance. Where there is a risk that you can be identified your data will only be used in studies that has been independently reviewed by an ethics committee.

12.  Limits to confidentiality
Please note that confidentiality may not be guaranteed; for example, due to the limited size of the participant sample, the position of the participant or information included in reports, participants might be indirectly identifiable in transcripts and reports. If you choose to participate in the performance, the audience will be able to witness you during the live event. The investigator will work with the participant in an attempt to minimise and manage the potential for indirect identification of participants.

The Investigator will keep confidential anything they learn or observe related to illegal activity unless related to the abuse of children or vulnerable adults, money laundering, or acts of terrorism.

In certain exceptional circumstances where you or others may be at significant risk of harm, the investigator may need to report this to an appropriate authority. This would usually be discussed with you first. Examples of those exceptional circumstances when confidential information may have to be disclosed are:

o   The investigator believes you are at serious risk of harm, either from yourself or others

o   The investigator suspects a child may be at risk of harm

o   You pose a serious risk of harm to, or threaten or abuse others

o   As a statutory requirement e.g. reporting certain infectious diseases

o   Under a court order requiring the University to divulge information

o   We are passed information relating to an act of terrorism

13.   Use of Deception
Study designs often require that the full intent of the study not be explained prior to participation. Although we have described the general nature of the tasks that you will be asked to perform, the full intent of the study will not be explained to you until after the completion of the study (at which point you may withdraw your data from the study).

14.  What will happen to the results of the study?
The investigator intends to complete a dissertation to satisfy their degree programme / publish the results in a PhD thesis / use study in future journal article.

15.  What if we find something unexpected?  N/A

16.  Who is organising and funding/commissioning the study?  N/A

17.  Who has reviewed this study?
This study has been reviewed by, and received ethics clearance through, the Liverpool John Moores University Research Ethics Committee (Reference number: xxx).

18.  What if something goes wrong?
If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, please contact the relevant investigator who will do their best to answer your query. The investigator should acknowledge your concern within 10 working days and give you an indication of how they intend to deal with it. If you wish to make a complaint, please contact the chair of the Liverpool John Moores University Research Ethics Committee (researchethics@ljmu.ac.uk) and your communication will be re-directed to an independent person as appropriate.

If you experience harm or injury as a result of taking part in this study, you will be eligible to claim compensation. This does not affect your legal rights to seek compensation.

If you are harmed due to someone's negligence then you may have grounds for legal action for compensation against [NHS Trust, Private Clinic] and/or LJMU but you may have to pay your legal costs.

19.  Data Protection Notice
Liverpool John Moores University is the sponsor for this study based in the United Kingdom. We will be using information from you in order to undertake this study and will act as the data controller for this study. This means that we are responsible for looking after your information and using it properly. Liverpool John Moores University will process your personal data for the purpose of research.  Research is a task that we perform in the public interest. Liverpool John Moores University will keep identifiable information about you for 3 years after the study has finished.

Your rights to access, change or move your information are limited, as we need to manage your information in specific ways in order for the study to be reliable and accurate. If you withdraw from the study, we will keep the information about you that we have already obtained. To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally-identifiable information possible.

You can find out more about how we use your information by contacting secretariat@ljmu.ac.uk.

If you are concerned about how your personal data is being processed, please contact LJMU in the first instance at secretariat@ljmu.ac.uk. If you remain unsatisfied, you may wish to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Contact details, and details of data subject rights, are available on the ICO website at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/overview-of-the-gdpr/individuals-rights/

20.  Contact for further information
Jake Tkaczyk
780-678-4158
jakedtkaczyk@gmail.com

Thank you for reading this information sheet and for considering to take part in this study.

Note: A copy of the participant information sheet should be retained by the participant with a copy of the signed consent form.