Performance as Possibility: Finding Joy and Hope at the Theatre

“Performance as Possibility: Finding Joy and Hope at the Theatre” takes as its starting place the notion that theatre offers an important place of live encounter. At an historical moment in which screens and remote interactions dominate social discourse, how does theatre, with its insistence on co-presence, on sustained attention, and on the immediacy of the spectator’s intellectual and emotional response provide a place to rehearse other engagements of citizenship? What can theatre model about the joy and hopefulness of being together with strangers, witnessing the narrative, aesthetic, and emotional possibilities of performance? How can theatre help us practice social encounters based on joy and hope?

Please join us for this wonderful opportunity to engage with Prof Dolan's work. The following day we will host an open seminar on feminist criticism in the north, details here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/criticism-in-precarious-contexts-tickets-1013650855997.

This event is coordinated by Trish McTighe (QUB), Ciara McAllister (QUB), Caoileann Curry-Thompson, Claire Murphy (QUB) and Kristýna Ilek (QUB). For queries about the event please email .

We are grateful to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences’ Global Reputation Fund and the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen’s University Belfast for supporting this event.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Brian Friel Theatre, 20 University Square, Belfast, United Kingdom