Theatre and Human Rights after 1945 Things Unspeakable

by Luckhurst, Mary; Morin, Emilie

• ISBN13: 9781137362292
• ISBN10: 1137362294
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-09-18
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This volume investigates the rise of human rights discourses manifested in the global spectrum of theatre and performance since 1945. The supposedly 'unspeakable things' of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have been consistently dissected by theatre practitioners seeking to challenge, educate and reform. Essays highlight the significant and unique role of theatre in challenging political, social and economic oppression; in recognizing trauma and taboo; acting as a protest and campaigning vehicle; and in raising awareness about life and death matters. Contributors create a passionate and provocative dialogue between the disciplines of theatre and performance, human rights, and trauma studies. Essays address topics such as disability, indigenous rights, discrimination, torture, gender violence, genocide and elder abuse, and contributors include world-leading experts Cathy Caruth and Catherine Cole. This is an indispensable book for students and academics committed to theatres of protest and political change.

Author Biography

Mary Luckhurst is Professor of Artistic Research and Creative Practice at the University of Melbourne, Australia. She co-founded the new Department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of York, UK, and is a pioneer in practice as research. She is a playwright, director and an authority on articulating the processes and practices of writing, acting and directing for theatre. She is the author/editor of many books including Dramaturgy: A Revolution in Theatre, Theatre and Celebrity, 1660-2000, On Acting, On Directing, Playing for Real and Caryl Churchill. The Higher Education Academy awarded her a National Teaching Fellowship and made her an International Scholar in 2013 in recognition of her outstanding international contribution to teaching and research in drama and performance.

Emilie Morin is Lecturer in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York, UK. She works on modern and contemporary British and Irish literature, theatre history, and European modernism. Her recent publications include Samuel Beckett and the Problem of Irishness and Theatre and Ghosts: Performance, Materiality and Modernity, co-edited with Mary Luckhurst.

Table of Contents

1.Introduction: Theatre and the Rise of Human Rights; Mary Luckhurst and Emilie Morin
Part I: COLONIAL LEGACIES AND THE UNSPEAKABLE
2.Unspeakable Tragedies: Censorship and the New Political Theatre of the Algerian War of Independence; Emilie Morin
3.Beyond Articulation: Brian Friel, Civil Rights, and the Northern Irish Conflict; Michael McAteer
Part II: UNSPEAKABILITY AND ETHNICITY
4.'Lapsing into Democracy': Magnet Theatre and the Drama of Unspeakability in the New South Africa; Mark Fleishman
5.The Great Australian Silence: Aboriginal Theatre and Human Rights; Maryrose Casey
Part III: RETURNING HISTORIES, LISTENING, AND TRAUMA
6.Disappearing History: Listening and Trauma in Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden; Cathy Caruth
7.Hungry Ghosts and Inalienable Remains: Performing Rights of Repatriation; Emma Cox
8. Representing Genocide at Home: Ishi, Again; Catherine M. Cole
Part IV: THEATRES OF ADVOCACY AND WESTERN LIBERALISM
9.The Politics of Telling and Workers' Rights: The Case of Mike Daisey; Carol Martin
10.Gender-based Violence and Human Rights: Participatory Theatre in Post-Genocide Rwanda; Ananda Breed
11.Jalila Baccar and Tunisian Theatre: 'We Will Not Be Silent'; Marvin Carlson
Part V: MILITANCY AND CONTEMPORARY INVISIBILITIES
12.Defixio: Disability and the Speakable Legacy of John Belluso; Michael M. Chemers
13.Theatre and Elder Abuse; Mary Luckhurst
Select Bibliography
Index