Overview

How has the media since the First Gulf War altered political analysis and how has this alteration has in turn affected socially-critical art? Colleran examines more than forty plays, many written in direct response to the 1991 war in Iraq as well as to the 9/11 attacks and the retaliatory actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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9781137006295

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Reviews

<p> Faced with rising tensions in the Middle East and other consequences of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Jeanne Colleran's book could not be more timely or important. Her engaged and eloquent contribution to media and performance studies traces the impact of technological developments on the way wars have been waged, experienced, and understood by Western audiences since the First Gulf War in 1991. Fully acknowledging spectatorial complicity in the disastrous events of the last two decades, Theatre and War ably demonstrates the uniquely transformative potential of live political theatre for audiences today. - Jenny Spencer, associate professor of English, University of Massachusetts, Amherst<p><p> Jeanne Colleran's book constitutes a superb examination of both the theatres of war and terrorism, which contextualize and historicize the specificity of each situation, and the diverse powerful theatricalizations of these scenarios as she investigates the political dilemmas and horrific ramifications for nations, soldiers, and civilians. Exploring a trajectory from the Persian Gulf War in 1991 through 9/11 to the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, this timely and thought-provoking study employs thorough research and cogent theoretical and theatrical insights that critique the complexities of the issues and inspire the reader to focus on ethical questions that are often concealed by mediatization. - Marcia Blumberg, associate professor of English, York University

<p> This is a meaty, informed study of how and why a certain canon of plays matters . . . This excellent book could serve as the basis for an entire topics class; introductory chapters and any one other could be a freestanding unit in an advanced undergraduate seminar. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. - CHOICE

Author Information

Jeanne Colleran is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of English at John Carroll University, USA.

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