Rebecca Hesketh-Prichard

Political Writing for Theatre in the Supermodern Age

Drawing from ‘Non-Places: Introduction to An Anthropology of Supermodernity’ my thesis poses questions about the supermodern context of play development and production in London and its impact on the political efficacy of plays in performance in the super-modern age. I use Augé’s conceptual model to identify the broader cultural trends of super-modern culture, examine the ways supermodernity shapes the current ecology of new writing in London and investigate how this environment influences material and discursive practices within contemporary theatre culture. Applying Augé’s theoretical framework; his concepts of ‘non-place’, museum culture, an excess of time, excess of space and excess of subjectivity along with the co-constitution of the modern and postmodern –  I will consider and develop ideas about how his theories inflect supermodern dramaturgies, how political plays operate in performance in a theatre of ‘non-place’ and how plays themselves can operate as ‘non-places’ in our supermodern context.

Key terms: politics, theatre, supermodernity, dramaturgy, playwriting.


Researcher Bio

Rebecca Prichard is a playwright, teacher and university tutor whose plays have been performed at The Royal Court Theatre, The Almeida Theatre, Theatre 503, The Edinburgh Festival, Chichester Festival, The Lakeside Theatre, The Tricycle, Latitude Festival and Greenbelt.  Her published works include Essex Girls (1995 published in the collection Coming on Strong) Fair Game (published by Faber in 1997) and Yard Gal (published by Faber in 1998) and Dream Pill (published by Nick Hern in the collection Charged) Rebecca has also written for radio and television. She has taught in a range of community settings including youth clubs, schools, rehabilitation centres and prisons. She was and AHRC Creative Fellow at Lancaster University 2007-2010 and a fellow at Yale University in 2014-2015. She is currently under commission to The Royal Court Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company.


Contact Info and Links

rhesketh@student.unimelb.edu.au


ORCID number:  0000-0002-1923-2632