The Arts

Queer exceptions

Solo performance in neoliberal times

by Stephen Greer

Description

Queer exceptions is a study of contemporary solo performance in the UK and Western Europe that explores the contentious relationship between identity, individuality and neoliberalism. With diverse case studies featuring the work of La Ribot, David Hoyle, Oreet Ashery, Bridget Christie, Tanja Ostojic, Adrian Howells and Nassim Soleimanpour, the book examines the role of singular or 'exceptional' subjects in constructing and challenging assumed notions of communal sociability and togetherness, while drawing fresh insight from the fields of sociology, gender studies and political philosophy to reconsider theatre's attachment to singular lives and experiences. Framed by a detailed exploration of arts festivals as encapsulating the material, entrepreneurial circumstances of contemporary performance-making, this is the first major critical study of solo work since the millennium.

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Reviews

This book is a study of post-millennial solo performance in the UK and Western Europe that explores the contentious relationship between identity, individuality and neoliberalism. Featuring artists as varied as La Ribot, David Hoyle, Neil Bartlett, Bridget Christie, Rosana Cade and Tanja Ostojic, it provides an essential account of the diverse practices which characterise contemporary solo performance, and their significance to debates concerning equality, community and social participation. By moving between the practices and traditions of theatrical monologue, stand-up comedy, cabaret and live art, it identifies vulnerability, complicity and optimism as key responses to neoliberalism's preference - if not demand - for self-made subjects. Beginning in a study of the arts festivals which characterise the economies in which solo performance circulates, each chapter animates a different cultural trope - including the martyr, the killjoy, the invalid and the stranger - to explore the significance of 'exceptional' subjects whose precarious social status challenges assumed notions of communal sociability. These figures invite us to re-examine theatre's attachment to singular lives and experiences, and provide a new account of the 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 - and located at the intersection of queer and performance studies - this interdisciplinary text offers an incisive analysis of the cultural significance of solo performance for students and scholars across the fields of theatre studies, sociology, gender studies and political philosophy.

Author Biography

Stephen Greer is Senior Lecturer in Theatre Practices at the University of Glasgow

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Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press

Manchester University Press is a leading UK publisher known for excellent research in the humanities and social sciences.

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date March 2021
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526113702 / 1526113708
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatPrint PDF
  • Pages264
  • ReadershipGeneral/trade; College/higher education; Professional and scholarly
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions216 X 138 mm
  • Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 4353
  • SeriesTheatre: Theory – Practice – Performance
  • Reference Code8772

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