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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Manchester : a modern morality play in three acts Smith, Adrienne
Abstract
This is a play about the city of Manchester in 1842, just a few short months before the Plug Riots, and a few years before an important strike by the region's miners. While it deals with working class political activism, the play is informed by performance theory and is about the performative nature of identity, rather than being strictly an intervention into the 'condition of the working class1 literature. It interrogates, rather than celebrates. The play is prefaced by some programatic programme notes which orient the play in theory. The play is modelled on medieval morality plays and follows the misadventures of a character called Everyman as he is led astray and then finds his way, more or less, back to the "correct" path. It also follows Manchester on the same journey. However the play is a modern morality play, and that means none of the loose threads are tied up at the end. The city of Manchester is more than just a neutral setting where the action unfolds; it is an active staging, which makes possible the various staged performances for the actors, and for ourselves. The play explores issues around the performative, and urges the audience members to move past their experience as spectators and to take the play's radical notion of the performative out of the theatre and into the world.
Item Metadata
Title |
Manchester : a modern morality play in three acts
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
2005
|
Description |
This is a play about the city of Manchester in 1842, just a few short
months before the Plug Riots, and a few years before an important strike by
the region's miners. While it deals with working class political activism, the play
is informed by performance theory and is about the performative nature of
identity, rather than being strictly an intervention into the 'condition of the
working class1 literature. It interrogates, rather than celebrates. The play is
prefaced by some programatic programme notes which orient the play in
theory.
The play is modelled on medieval morality plays and follows the
misadventures of a character called Everyman as he is led astray and then
finds his way, more or less, back to the "correct" path. It also follows
Manchester on the same journey. However the play is a modern morality play,
and that means none of the loose threads are tied up at the end.
The city of Manchester is more than just a neutral setting where the
action unfolds; it is an active staging, which makes possible the various staged
performances for the actors, and for ourselves. The play explores issues
around the performative, and urges the audience members to move past their
experience as spectators and to take the play's radical notion of the
performative out of the theatre and into the world.
|
Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-12-15
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0092170
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
2005-11
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.