ABSTRACT
Introducing this extract from Elaine Aston's article, “Agitating for Change, Theatre and A Feminist Network of Resistance” (2016), I trace the start of her research career back to the beginnings of “doing” feminist theatre criticism in the 1980s and of the “theory explosion” which transformed the field. At the same time, I point to the concern for context(s) that characterizes her methodology and its rootedness in theatre practice as “embodied knowledge.” In conclusion, I suggest that the style of theatre criticism she champions in “Agitating for Change” stems from an understanding of feminism and theatre as diverse and complex social and culturally situated material practices, derived from over thirty years of passionate commitment to the field, represented by an extensive and influential body of research.
