Staging Trauma Bodies in Shadow [Hardcover]

This book investigates contemporary British and Irish performances that stage traumatic narratives, histories, acts and encounters. It includes a range of case studies that consider the performative, cultural and political contexts for the staging and reception of sexual violence, terminal illness, environmental damage, institutionalisation and asylum. In particular, it focuses on 'bodies in shadow' in twenty-first century performance: those who are largely written out of or marginalised in dominant twentieth-century patriarchal canons of theatre and history. This volume speaks to students, scholars and artists working within contemporary theatre and performance, Irish and British studies, memory and trauma studies, feminisms, performance studies, affect and reception studies, as well as the medical humanities.Contemporary Irish, Northern Irish and British theatre is increasingly staging performances driven by traumatic experiences and events, both individual and collective. Often, these traumas are foregrounded through corporeal and psychic experiences, and relate to sexuality, abuse, racial/ethnic discriminations, mental illnesses and death. This new book analyses how contemporary theatre and performance in Ireland and the UK (including work by Anu Productions, Marina Carr, Sarah Kane, Laura Wade and Theatre of Witness) is addressing, and intervening, in experiences of private and public trauma.1. Introduction: Staging the Unknowable, the Unspeakable, the Unrepresentable.