Providing one of the first critically sustained engagements with the new forms of verbatim and testimonial theatre that emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, this book examines what distinguishes verbatim theatre from the more established documentary theatre traditions developed initially by Peter Weiss, Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator. Examining a wide range of verbatim and testimonial plays from around the world, this book looks beyond the discourses of the real that have tended to dominate scholarship in this area and instead argues that this kind of theatre engages in acts of truth telling. Through its analysis of a range of international plays from UK, Germany, America, Australia and South Africa, the book explores theatre's dramaturgical interrogation of testimony and how the act of witnessing itself is reconfigured when relocated outside of the psychoanalytic frame and positioned as contributing to a decolonisation of testimony.

About the Author
Amanda Stuart Fisher is Reader of Contemporary Theatre and Performance at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

Reviews

'This book makes important contributions in developing understandings about the dramaturgy of truth claims and testimonial theatre.' Rand Hazou, Research in Drama Education

'Performing the testimonial is not only an innovative work of performance philosophy regarding truthfulness in verbatim and testimonial theatre, it is a must read for anyone interested in contemporary discussions of epistemic and testimonial injustice as such.' Maurice Hamington, Professor of Philosophy at Portland State University

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Book Information
ISBN 9781526174475
Author Amanda Stuart Fisher
Format Paperback
Page Count 216
Imprint Manchester University Press
Publisher Manchester University Press
Weight(grams) 254g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 138mm * 11mm