Mimesis in Crisis: Narration and Diegesis in Contemporary Anglophone Theatre and Drama

Abstract

The main objective of my article is to investigate the ways in which contemporary Anglophone drama and theatre actively employ diegetic and narrative forms, setting them in conflict with the mimetic action. The mode of telling seems to be at odds with the conviction not only about the mimetic nature of performance and theatre but also about the growing visuality of contemporary theatre. Many contemporary performances and dramatic texts expose the tensions between the reduction of visual representations and the expansion of the narrative space. This space offers various possibilities of exploring the distance between the performers and spectators, tensions between narrative time and place and the present time of performance, the real and the imagined/inauthentic/fake, traumatic memory and imagination. The active foregrounding of the diegetic elements of performance will be exemplified with reference to several contemporary plays and performances: my focus will be on the uses of epic forms in what can be called post-epic theatre, illustrated by Kieran Hurley’s Rantin (2013); the foregrounding of the diegetic and the undecidability of the fictional and the real, instantiated by Forced Entertainment’s performances (Showtime, 1996) and Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman (2003); and the narrative density and traumatic aporia of Pornography (2007) by Simon Stephens.