Populating the Irish Stage - Questioning the Identity of Contemporary Irish Theatre (1990s-2014) - 26/06/14-28/06/14

With the participation of:
Frank McGuinness
Patrick Mason
Louise Lowe
Ailís Ní Ríain
Pat Kiernan

‘We write plays, I feel, in order to populate the stage’. (Thomas Kilroy)

The conference will explore the identities of Irish theatre from the Celtic Tiger era to the current economic crisis. It will also offer a fitting opportunity to engage a dialogue between artists and academics, through a roundtable with established and emerging artists as well as the participation of theatre practitioners, and theatre events.
Critical mythology has associated the birth of a national Irish theatre with the foundation of the Abbey Theatre. It was not only a response to an aesthetic quest but also an attempt to define the Irish nation at the turn of the 20th century. Without elaborating on Irish theatrical historiography, one may observe that theatre does strongly contribute to the identity of a country and its people. In the current climate, insularity has its limits; contemporary global society questions traditions and identity, while transformations in technology, practice and ideology rearrange creative hierarchies.
It appears timely to gauge the impact of these transmutations on the status of the theatrical text, and question how creative collaborators approach it in contemporary Ireland. How do these changes affect writing, directing, staging, producing and touring? Insofar as theatrical activities are related to space and constitute a cultural identity, it is pertinent to investigate where and how they populate Ireland at the turn of the 21st century.

For the conference programme, click here

Contacts:
Dr. Anne Etienne, School of English, University College Cork (Ireland),
Professor Susan Blattès, RADAC (groupe de Recherche sur les Arts Dramatiques Anglophones Contemporains), University Stendhal Grenoble 3 (France)
Professor Thierry Dubost, ERIBIA/GREI, University of Caen Basse-Normandie (France),

Accommodation:
Please contact Michelle Devaney, UCC Campus Accommodation if you require accommodation at Victoria Lodge apartments. Email:

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