Flirting with the postmodern: moments of change in contemporary Irish theatre, performance and culture

Abstract

This essay theorises a collage of theatrical, ideological and political moments reflecting notable shifts in thinking, theatre, and social practice pervading Celtic Tiger and post-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Recent years have witnessed a radicalisation of theatre practices resulting in a greater focus and emphasis directed at the live receptive experience; the “audience”/“spectator”/“participant”. At the same time, seismic changes in the socio-cultural and political sphere such as the digitalisation of society, a collapse of mass faith in organised religion, a faltering of established community values, the neoliberalism of state policies and work cultures, and the cynicism of an increasingly postmodern society and culture, are renegotiating the habits of everyday living practices and social experience. In performance, on stage and off, these shifts signal both a deconstruction and reinscription of the body, ideologically, politically and culturally. Hence, the objectives and scope of this essay; to review and examine this shifting cultural consciousness in contemporary Ireland, whereby engagement with (but not domination from) postmodern culture and society informs the making of contemporary theatre and performance, with increasing focus on the receptive experience as a political encounter.