Skip to Main Content

Queer exceptions: Solo performance in neoliberal times

Online ISBN:
9781526141941
Print ISBN:
9781526113696
Publisher:
Manchester University Press
Book

Queer exceptions: Solo performance in neoliberal times

Stephen Greer
Stephen Greer
Lecturer in Theatre Practices at the University of Glasgow
Find on
Published online:
23 May 2019
Published in print:
1 February 2019
Online ISBN:
9781526141941
Print ISBN:
9781526113696
Publisher:
Manchester University Press

Abstract

This book is a study of solo performance in the UK and western Europe since the turn of millennium that explores the contentious relationship between identity, individuality and the demands of neoliberalism. With case studies drawn from across theatre, cabaret, comedy and live art – and featuring artists, playwrights and performers as varied as La Ribot, David Hoyle, Neil Bartlett, Bridget Christie and Tanja Ostojić – it provides an essential account of the diverse practices which characterize contemporary solo performance, and their significance to contemporary debates concerning subjectivity, equality and social participation. Beginning in a study of the arts festivals which characterize the economies in which solo performance is made, each chapter animates a different cultural trope – including the martyr, the killjoy, the misfit and the stranger – to explore the significance of ‘exceptional’ subjects whose uncertain social status challenges assumed notions of communal sociability. These figures invite us to re-examine theatre’s attachment to singular lives and experiences, as well as the evolving role of autobiographical performance and the explicit body in negotiating the relationship between the personal and the political. Informed by the work of scholars including Sara Ahmed, Zygmunt Bauman and Giorgio Agamben, this interdisciplinary text offers an incisive analysis of the cultural significance of solo performance for students and scholars across the fields of theatre and performance studies, sociology, gender studies and political philosophy.

Contents
Close
This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

Close

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

View Article Abstract & Purchase Options

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Close