Performing Southeast Asia

This book is about the critical examination and discussions of theatre and performance in twenty-first century Southeast Asia. It investigates political and/or social action theatres of the recent decade and the works that have been produced to engage with the socio-politics of countries in Southeast Asia, and as a region - with its plurality and diversity contained within geo-political identities. The book examines theatre and performance in, primarily, urban centres of Southeast Asia for it is in these socio-economic and political epicentres that the contemporary is most present and made evident in performance. The volume delineates the 'contemporary' in Southeast Asia and the ways theatre and performance have negotiated, engaged and effected change in the political and social spheres of individual Southeast Asian countries and also the region. In doing so, it engages with three broad themes: the performance of (post)identity politics in Southeast Asia from the turn of the century; theatre and performance's engagement with current issues of social and political justice; and the consideration of neoliberal practices and the impact on cultural practice, policy and performance in individual Southeast Asian countries and the region.