Invisible Dublin: Working-class theatre and performance in times of economic crisis 2008-2024

This dissertation contributes new perspectives and understandings to the field of Irish theatre studies, performance studies, and historiography by addressing the representation of class in contemporary theatre and performance. Using theatre in Dublin as a case study, the project’s main argument is that the body of working-class performance produced from 2008-2024, represents a reaction against an inherited tradition in how the working-class has been represented historically, and within contemporary neoliberal forms of class-making. To contextualise this argument, I firstly examine how the legacy of Seán O’Casey has permitted the circulation of dominant forms and tropes when the working class is represented on stage. Such hegemonic depictions can be seen as reinforcing the status quo by privileging cultural stereotypes that insulate and generalise people and their life experiences. However, this dissertation is mainly concerned with counter-hegemonic performances that challenge and/or resist the hegemonic order through processes of undermining, reforming, or replacing canonised standards in terms of form, representation, and story. Of particular interest is the work of Veronica Dyas, Fiona Whelan, Emmet Kirwan, and Pat Kinevane. Specific productions by Brokentalkers, THEATREclub and Multi-Story are also central to this research. As such, the principle argument of this thesis is that (a) performances of working-class identity can affirm or resist dominant discourses of social class in Ireland, (b) such resistances can be seen as counter-cultural interventions, and (c) such interventions can be argued as particularly significant in the context of late capitalism where poor-blaming and shaming have become an inherent features of neoliberal ideology. The performances examined in this dissertation can be seen as making visible what I have termed “invisible Dublin”, a part of working-class Dublin identity that is often overlooked or ignored within dominant hegemonic portrayals. Consequently, this thesis demonstrates how reading the performances and performativity of working-class Dublin identity makes visible the ways in which hegemonic representations and neoliberal forms of class-making can be contested. By reading class as a performance and a practice, rather than an inherent or innate part of identity, this study expands understandings of class and culture as a collective process, and challenges rigid understandings of Irish working-class identity.

Funder

Irish Research Council

Publisher

University of Galway

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

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Collections

University of Galway Theses (PhD Theses)