Michel Foucault's work is immensely influential in theatre and
performance studies. This volume is the first to offer a critical
appraisal of this groundbreaking thinker from the perspective of
contemporary theatre and performance scholarship. It will be of vital
interest to scholars and students concerned with the way Foucault's work
enables us to examine the multiple intersections of theory, philosophy,
politics, power, history and aesthetics in relation to theatre. It also
offers dynamic new readings of Foucault's work of interest to Foucault
scholars in other fields. With cutting edge studies by established and
emerging writers in areas such as dramaturgy, film, music, cultural
history and journalism, the volume aims to be accessible for advanced
students encountering Foucault's work for the first time. The
introduction sets out a thorough and informative assessment of
Foucault's relevance to theatre and performance studies and to our
present cultural moment. Indeed, while Foucault's work has long been
celebrated for incisively critiquing structures of power and discipline,
gender and discourse, a new body of work published over the last decade
has shed considerable new light on the complexities and, importantly for
this volume, the theatricality inherent to his thought. Unique to this
volume, is the discovery of this 'theatrical' Foucault - the profound
affinity his thinking has methodologically with questions of
performativity. This discovery makes accessible the 'performance turn'
to readers of Foucault and, in doing so, opens up ways of reading
Foucault's philosophy 'theatrically'.
