Globalization is transforming theatre everywhere. As writers seek to exploit new opportunities to produce their work internationally, audiences are seeing the world and the stage differently. This groundbreaking study explores these developments, placing them in the context of the transformation of Ireland since the early 1990s.
Winner of the 2008 Theatre Book Prize, awarded by the Society for Theatre Research
Shortlisted for the ESSE Book Prize 2010
'A remarkable study of Irish theatre overwhelming to read.' Steven Berkoff
'Deftly adapting Walter Benjamin's The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Patrick Lonergan identifies commodification and branding as the determining agents in the creation and circulation of modern theatre and, blending textual analysis with globalisation theory, provides the paradigm for a new phase of Irish theatre criticism.' - Professor Shaun Richards, Staffordshire University
'Simply the best and most thought-provoking analysis we've had of a central tension in Irish theatre (and indeed in the wider Irish culture) over the last 15 years.' - Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times
'This is an intelligent book and one with a mission statement it's a clarion call for Irish theatre makers to resist the global homogenisation of culture.' - Emilie Pine, Irish Theatre Magazine
'...not just an excellent academic resource, but a thoroughly enjoyable read.' - Emer O'Toole, Platform
'...a widely readable but informed account of the ways in which the powers of globalisation and international exchange impact on how theatre is created and received.' - Carmen Szabo, Irish Studies Review
'This is a book written by someone in love with the theatre, with theatre-going, who is eager to win his audience...to his argument about recent Irish theatre and globalization.' - Richard Rankin Russell, Irish University Review
'...a rare book in the best sense of the word.' - Ondrej Pilny, Litteraria Pragensia
'...this landmark work provides a strong challenge to the future of Irish theatre criticism...It is essential for any student or enthusiast of Irish drama, as well as for those working on the impact of globalization on theatre and dramatic form.' - Charlotte McIvor, Theatre Journal
'Lonergan's book is an important contribution to the growing body of research on contemporary Irish theatre. The study asks timely questions about what Irish theatre means in a global context, and how globalization shapes the production and reception of Irish theatre. This has ramifications for other national theatres too. Written in a clear, persuasive style, the book concludes by challenging the national theatre in particular to consider itself as a creative industry, and to rise to the challenge of addressing audiences in civic rather than essentially national terms.' - Contemporary Theatre Review
