Performance in the Twenty-First Century: Theatres of Engagement

Performance in the Twenty-First Century: Theatres of Engagement addresses the reshaping of theatre and performance after postmodernism. Andy Lavender argues provocatively that after the ‘classic’ postmodern tropes of detachment, irony, and contingency, performance in the twenty-first century engages more overtly with meaning, politics and society. It involves a newly pronounced form of personal experience, often implicating the body and/or one’s sense of self. This volume examines a range of performance events, including work by both emergent and internationally significant companies and artists such as Rimini Protokoll, Blast Theory, dreamthinkspeak, Zecora Ura, Punchdrunk, Ontroerend Goed, Kris Verdonck, Dries Verhoeven, Rabih Mroué, Derren Brown and David Blaine. It also considers a wider range of cultural phenomena such as online social networking, sports events, installations, games-based work and theme parks, where principles of performance are in play. Performance in the Twenty-First Century is a compelling and provocative resource for anybody interested in discovering how performance theory can be applied to cutting-edge culture, and indeed the world around them.

Table of Contents:
CONTENTS Figures Acknowledgements SCENES OF ENGAGEMENT 0 Introduction 1 Theatres of Engagement: performance after postmodernism ON MEDIATING PERFORMANCE 2 The Visible Voice (or, the Word made Flesh): political presence and performative utterance in the public sphere 3 In the Mix: intermedial theatre and hybridity 4 Feeling the Event: from mise en scène to mise en sensibilité ON (NOT) BEING AN ACTOR 5 Sincerely yours: from the actor to the persona 6 Me Singing and Dancing: YouTube’s performing bodies ON (NOT) BEING A SPECTATOR 7 Viewing and Acting (and points in between): the trouble with spectating after Rancière 8 Audiences and Affects: theatres of engagement in the experience economy THEATRE BEYOND THEATRE 9 Performance Engagements across Culture Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Andy Lavender is a Professor of Theatre and Performance and Head of the School of Arts at the University of Surrey.