Overview
Performance in the Twenty-First Century: Theatres of Engagement
addresses the reshaping of theatre and performance after postmodernism.
Andy Lavender argues provocatively that after the 'classic' postmodern
tropes of detachment, irony, and contingency, performance in the
twenty-first century engages more overtly with meaning, politics and
society. It involves a newly pronounced form of personal experience,
often implicating the body and/or one's sense of self. This volume
examines a range of performance events, including work by both emergent
and internationally significant companies and artists such as Rimini
Protokoll, Blast Theory, dreamthinkspeak, Zecora Ura, Punchdrunk,
Ontroerend Goed, Kris Verdonck, Dries Verhoeven, Rabih Mroue, Derren
Brown and David Blaine. It also considers a wider range of cultural
phenomena such as online social networking, sports events,
installations, games-based work and theme parks, where principles of
performance are in play. Performance in the Twenty-First Century is a
compelling and provocative resource for anybody interested in
discovering how performance theory can be applied to cutting-edge
culture, and indeed the world around them.