Regionalisation and Globalization in Irish Drama since 1990

Abstract

The impact of globalisation on Irish theatre since the early 1990s has been considerable. A study of four recent Irish plays, all produced by "regional" theatre companies, suggests that contemporary Irish theatre is dominated by two impulses, both of which arise from globalisation but which tend towards opposite outcomes : theatre companies are attempting to respond to globalisation by producing theatre with a regionalized perspective, works that may nonetheless travel freely across national and international bounders. This approach to "theatre-making" has led to a number of clashes between theatre companies and their local audiences: Patrick Lonergan describes these clashes, as well as certain attempts to resolve them.