This book asks what, if any, public role drama might play under Project Austerity an intensification phase of contemporary liberal political economy. It investigates the erosion of public life in liberal democracies, and critiques the attention economy of deficit culture, by which austerity erodes life-in-common in favour of narcissistic performances of life-in-public. It argues for a social order committed to human flourishing and deliberative democracy, as a counterweight to the political economy of austerity. It demonstrates, using examples from England, Ireland, Italy, and the USA, that drama and the academy pursue shared humane concerns; the one, a critical art form, the other, a social enabler of critical thought and progressive ideas. A need for dialogue with emergent forms of collective consciousness, new democratic practices and institutions, shapes a manifesto for critical performance, which invites universities and cultural workers to join other social actors in imaginingand enabling ethical lives-in-common.

Takes a transnational approach that brings in performance and critical perspectives under-represented in theatre scholarship Challenges received readings of classical and radical scripts and performances Argues for social science to take account of readings of performance tropes and conventions developed by performance theorists

Autorentext
Victor Merriman is Professor of Critical Performance Studies at Edge Hill University, UK. He is author of Because We Are Poor: Irish Theatre in the 1990s (2011). He was a member of An Chomhairle Ealaíon/Arts Council of Ireland (1993-1998), and chaired the council's Review of Theatre in Ireland (1995-1996).

Inhalt
Part I Neo-liberalism's Political and Moral Economic Project: The End of Public Life?.- 1. Introduction: Austerity and Drama's Public Role.- 2. The Public World: an idea under pressure.- 3. Drama in Public Worlds. -Part II Performance, the Academy, and the Politics of Austerity.- 4. Drama Worlds As Public Worlds.- 5. Confronting Corporate Neo-liberalism in Jim Nolan's Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye (2016).- 6. (Re)Public Worlds: Drama as Ethical Encounter.- 7. Beyond Deficit Culture: Conceptualising Collectives.- 8. Beyond Repair: A Critical Performance Manifesto.