Cumann Taighde Amharclannaíochta na hÉireann
The Irish Society for Theatre Research
Cumann Taighde Amharclannaíochta na hÉireann
The Irish Society for Theatre Research (ISTR) aims to facilitate research on Irish theatre in its national and international contexts in terms of an engagement with the full spectrum of Irish theatre from page to stage. The field of Irish Theatre Studies is being transformed by new approaches to the rich history of Irish theatre and by the remarkable diversity of contemporary theatrical practice. ISTR was founded in order to develop and promote new and challenging ways of thinking about Irish theatre which engage with diverse contemporary historiographical, theoretical, cultural and performance frameworks.
News on 2012 ISTR Conference
Perform, or Else!
New Perspectives on Theatre Studies
Irish Society for Theatre Research
National University of Ireland, Galway
26-28 October 2012
Keynote speakers:
Mark Phelan (QUB)
Rebecca Schneider (Brown)
'Performance' is how a neo-liberal service economy measures failure or success. And yet the term remains strangely under-theorised politically in the domain of theatre studies for which conceptions of 'performance' are also central; and this under-theorisation is most notably the case within Irish drama and theatre studies, as well as in its related fields of theatre history and theatre historiography. How then might the terms and conditions of the theatrical encounter as imagined by dramatists, directors and performers clarify and/or expand an understanding of social and political value? How does this value relate to ethical, environmental and economic conceptions of theatre's worth? And how might a revised theatre aesthetics open up our notion of political possibilities, of history and of agency? Is there a connection between a good performance in the theatre and a good performance within capitalism, between a 'poetics of failure' and acting up politically? What does it mean to act badly and can bad acting make a good theatre? How does thinking about performance affect our understanding of archiving and remembering the past?
The conference invites proposals (and ideas for panels) from all aspects of theatre research but with emphasis on the following:
· Aesthetics, Irish drama and/or Irish theatre history
· Capitalism and theatre performance
· Memory and Performances in Irish theatre
· Archives and performance
· Queer historiography and queer histories
Proposals on other topics in the field of Irish theatre (not just plays by Irish authors but the full range of performances that are produced in Ireland) are also welcome.
Please send a short (max 300 words) proposal to Patrick Lonergan (Patrick.lonergan@nuigalway.ie) and Lionel Pilkington (lionel.pilkington@nuigalway.ie) by 30th June 2012.
News and Events
Please find information on our News and Events page on our conference, Theatre Now! Symposium and The Dublin Dance Festival and The Dublin Dance Festival Symposium.
NEW SCHOLAR'S PRIZE
Check our Graduate Studies page for details about the New Scholar's Prize 2012
News on Conferences
Please check out our Conferences page for various Call for Papers including THE NORTH: Exile, Diaspora, Troubled Performance, University of Ulster, 8-9 June 2012