Performing Modernity - (Cultural Histories of Theatre and Performance) by Elaine Sisson (Hardcover)

About the Book

An exploration of modernism's influence on the bohemian and counter-cultural movements in theatre, popular culture and design in the post-independent Irish Free State (1922-1937).

Book Synopsis

This book is an exploration of metropolitan bohemian and counter-cultural movements in theatre, design and popular culture in the Irish Free State.

Were there flappers in Ireland? Was there really a Cabaret Club in Dublin in 1926? Using photographs, theatre and costume designs, letters, newspaper accounts, novels and other historical sources, Performing Modernity?offers a wholly new perspective on metropolitan life in the Irish Free State where people listen to jazz and go dancing, watch German Expressionist theatre, are interested in Soviet design, and attend pageants, cabarets and fancy dress balls.

The early years of Irish independence are often characterised as isolated and conservative as the country recovered from the effects of the Civil War. This book argues that there was also ambition and optimism among the citizens of the new State as they embraced the promise of modernity in theatre, film and popular culture during the 1920s and 1930s.

Review Quotes

Elaine Sisson has written a superb book about the cultural history of Ireland from independence to the 'Emergency' period. It will have a major effect on the study of Irish theatre by fully integrating sources such as costume and set design, by drawing on the influence of other forms of visual and popular culture including music and fashion, and by narrating a story that been neglected for far too long. It foregrounds the contributions of women, many of them never before properly written about, and it makes a vital contribution to the understanding of race and racism, social class, and many other previously neglected elements of the cultural history of early 20th-century Ireland. This is a book that I know I will be returning to many times in the future.
Patrick Lonergan, University of Galway, Ireland

About the Author

Elaine Sisson is Senior Lecturer in Visual Culture in the Faculty of Film, Art and Creative Technologies at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dublin, Ireland. Her publications include Ireland, Design and Visual Culture: Negotiating Modernity 1922-1992, edited with L. King (2007) and Pearse's Patriots: The Cult of Boyhood at St. Enda's (2005).