The Limen on the Northern Irish stage in a period of transition.

Abstract

Northern Ireland is experiencing a cultural moment, a shift which can be seen as transitional. Subsequent to the Belfast Agreement of 1998 a number of regeneration initiatives were put in place to move away from the past of ‘the Troubles’ and create a new, more productive future. These initiatives are now coming to fruition. Regeneration has taken place throughout the cities with the addition of new businesses, facilities, architecture, theatres and redeveloped housing areas. The aim of this thesis is to produce a reading of theatre productions in Northern Ireland between 2006 and 2009 which reflects this moment and explores a multidisciplinary and rooted methodology based on the study of the stage space.

The study looks at how this snapshot moment in Northern Ireland maps itself onto the stage and is concerned with the possible reception of threshold images and space on stage in the Northern Irish context. Semiotics is combined with architectural phenomenology in an analysis of the stage. The combination is well suited to a fluid study of the use of space in performance and can lead us to identify how the threshold is experienced, while a semiotic reading is able to associate our point of experience with a theatricalinterpretation.

In conclusion, the thesis argues that this combined reading creates a way of looking at stage space and threshold using a method which has hitherto not been explored in theatre. The thesis argues that this cultural moment allows for the phenomenological reading oftransitory limens in light of that moment and enables us to read productions on the Northern Irish stage through this interdisciplinary lens. The result is new readings ofestablished plays and a greater knowledge of threshold structures on stage.

Date of Award	May 2011
Original language	English
Sponsors	Department for Employment and Learning (DEL)
Supervisor	Lisa Fitzpatrick (Supervisor) & CAROLE-ANNE UPTON (Supervisor)