Performing Story on the Contemporary Stage

This book explores the way in which the contemporary proliferation of forms of storytelling practice in international theatre has created a distinctive set of performance practices. Texts and performers discussed include Split Britches, Billy Connolly, Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy, Spalding Gray, David Hare's Via Dolorosa

'Tom Maguire's Performing Story on the Contemporary Stage is a cutting-edge and enlightening analysis of new theatre practices documentary, stand-up comedy, biography and autobiography, monologue plays. It is groundbreaking in the range of contemporary performance it considers but also gains depth from a long-range historical emphasis on storytelling as the primal act of theatre.' - Anthony Roche, Professor of English, Drama and Film, University College Dublin, Ireland

Autorentext

Tom Maguire is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre studies at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. A specialist in contemporary British and Irish theatre, he has published books including Making Theatre in Northern Ireland (2006) and edited collections such as Theatre for Young Audiences in the UK, with Karian Schuitema (2013). He serves on the Editorial Board for About Performance and as Chair of the Board of Big Telly Theatre Company.

Inhalt

1. Introduction 2. Narrative Identity 3. Embodying Character in Storytelling 4. Performing Autobiography 5. Performing Time and Place 6. Monologism and Dialogism in Storytelling 7. The Spectator in Storytelling Performance 8. Storytelling and Society 9. Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index