1st Edition

The Radical in Performance Between Brecht and Baudrillard

By Baz Kershaw Copyright 1999
    268 Pages
    by Routledge

    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Radical in Performance investigates the crisis in contemporary theatre, and celebrates the subversive in performance. It is the first full-length study to explore the link between a western theatre which, says Kershaw, is largely outdated and the blossoming of postmodern performance, much of which has a genuinely radical edge. In staying focused on the period between Brecht and Baudrillard, modernity and postmodernism, Baz Kershaw identifies crucial resources for the revitalisation of the radical across a wide spectrum of cultural practices.
    This is a timely, necessary and rigorous book. It will be a compelling read for anyone searching for a critical catalyst for new ways of viewing and practising cultural politics.

    Prologue; Introduction; Part I Theatre and performance; Chapter 1 The limits of theatre; Chapter 2 The excesses of performance; Part II Performance, Part Icipation, power; Chapter 3 Fighting in the streets; Chapter 4 The shadow of oppression; Chapter 5 The death of nostalgia; Chapter 6 The sight of the blind; Epilogue;

    Biography

    Baz Kershaw is Professor of Drama at the Department of Drama, University of Bristol. He is the author of The Politics of Performance.

    'This book is a fascinating and successful attempt to reclaim the political in theatre and performance whilst acknowledging the collapse of the sustaining myths of modernism. It is radical in its scope, ambition and coverage.' - Jonathan Neelands, Research in Drama Education