Devised Performance in Irish Theatre : Histories and Contemporary Practice

Devised Performance in Irish Theatre: Histories and Contemporary Practice is the first collection to focus exclusively on devised theatre throughout the island of Ireland by bringing together a range of perspectives from both academics and practitioners. It situates the histories and contemporary practice of devised performance in the Irish theatre, responding to a decisive shift in the working approach of several prominent emerging companies including ANU Productions, Brokentalkers, THEATREclub, and THISISPOPBABY. This collection takes a historical approach that demonstrates how this contemporary surge of work builds on a physical and dance theatre movement in Irish theatre that began to coalesce in the 1990s through the work of companies like Barabbas, Macnas, Blue Raincoat, and Pan Pan which was in turn influenced by earlier community arts practice on the island of Ireland beginning in the late 1970s. Devised Performance in Irish Theatre makes visible a uniquely Irish body of work that will also further international understandings of devised performance as collaborative process and working methodology.

«Cogently written and combining academic and practioner-based contributions, this collection is an invaluable contribution to Irish theatre history and to the pressing need to reflect critically on contemporary theatre practice. It will be essential reading for students of drama and theatre studies in general and for a broader Irish public interested in developing a more inclusive model of theatre, and in challenging the often specious distinction between ‹amateur› and ‹professional›. O’Gorman and McIvor are two outstanding young scholars whose work is at the cutting edge of critical scholarship in this field, and this collection is a game-changer.» (Professor Lionel Pilkington, National University of Ireland, Galway)