Overview
The first book to document grass roots popular theatres which developed
from within the working class Republican and Loyalist communities of
Belfast and Derry during the latest phase of the four hundred year
conflict between Ireland and Britain. Theatres of the Troubles explores
the history of one of the most important periods of political theatre
activity in post-war Europe. This significant study seeks to convey how
the moment to moment unfolding of the conflict determined organisation,
'texts', performance contexts and reception, and how the theatres
operated within Republican and Loyalist communities. All chapters draw
upon previously unpublished primary sources, including texts, interviews
and letters, shared workshops and witnessed performance. In examining
not only how these theatres related to each other, but also their
relationship to European traditions of radical theatre and to the
liberation models which were developing in neo- and post-colonial
contexts in the South, Theatres of the Troubles represents a key
addition to our understanding of the critical relationship between
historical conditions and the development of radical theatre forms.