An Overview

A wise friend once told me that “if you're lucky, five people will read your thesis — including your supervisor and the viva panel.” While there is probably more than a grain of truth in that, I hope this research might find a wider audience.

If you're interested in theatres of the left, activism in Ireland over the last decade, or the development of new work in performance, I invite you to explore the chapters shared here. I'll be uploading them over time and hope they prove informative, thought-provoking, or simply an enjoyable read.

The PhD journey was not without its challenges, but it was immensely rewarding and taught me a great deal. If anything you read raises questions or sparks a conversation, I'd be delighted to hear from you.

THE ARTIST AS ACTIVIST IN CONTEMPORARY THEATRE 

Abstract

At a time of significant social inequality, the theatre can make a crucial contribution to challenging oppressive hegemonic systems. Despite growing research on the effectiveness of past political theatre praxes, the playwright’s integration of such practices into the contemporary field has undergone limited investigation. Through this practice as research-led investigation, The Artist as Activist in Contemporary Theatre, past strategies are explored, including a detailed examination of specific past ‘theatres of the left’, to create and develop four contemporary plays and performances focusing on recent political and economic crises in Ireland. The plays are: Revolution!, which examines the effects of the economic crisis, the Great Recession, and austerity measures; A Pebble in the Shoe introduces the Ballyhea Says No! group’s campaign against the national bank bailout; Rise tells the story of Rowlagh Women’s Group against the backdrop of the ‘Right2Water’ grassroots campaign against water charges; and Pippi concentrates on the Repeal the Eighth movement, which campaigned for the legalisation of abortion in the Republic of Ireland. Through its focus on process – from intention to implementation – this thesis details the strategies used and their concrete application to create current political theatre texts. By illuminating the role of consciousness-raising, including class consciousness, and theatrical efficacy, methods and strategies from past political theatres are shown to be effective. Through the intersection with current issues, insights are gained on the artists’ intentions, the need for immersion in activism to write from within and the sustained invitation needed to create a community of values in the text. The discoveries and reflections are designed to be used in the field, offering practitioners and scholars tools for creating contemporary activist theatre. At the heart of the findings is the need to imagine future possibilities and to use theatre to play out and test radical hope for perilous times.