ABSTRACT
Dramaturgy of Sex on Stage in Contemporary Theatre explores the dramaturgy of sex in contemporary works for the stage in the social, cultural and historical context of the time and place during which they were written and performed.
Comprising chapters by writers from across North America and Europe, the book covers an expansive range of plays, musicals and dance performances, from Broadway to the Fringe, from post-AIDS epidemic to post-COVID-19 pandemic. Analysing these intimate moments—both textually and as staged—through an intersectional and critical lens illuminates the way power structures are maintained and codified, and how they can be queered and dismantled onstage and off. This examination of depictions of sex on stage attempts to understand from a dramaturgical and sociological perspective how these depictions have developed over time, and how the rise of intimacy directors has responded to the changes within the contemporary theatrical landscape and in the world at large.
This is an essential companion for any scholar or practitioner looking to stage, discuss or understand intimacy in performance.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|30 pages
Depicting Sexual Discovery and Identity
chapter 2|8 pages
Respectable Queer Sex
part II|28 pages
Depicting Stylized Sex
chapter 6|6 pages
Dancing on a Knife's Edge
chapter 7|7 pages
A Dramaturgy of Precariousness
chapter 8|7 pages
Mette Ingvartsen's “The Red Pieces” Series
part III|16 pages
Depicting Transactional Sex
part IV|16 pages
Depicting Female Desire
chapter 12|7 pages
Monstrous Desires
part V|32 pages
Depicting Sexual Violence