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  • © 2018

Intermedial Performance and Politics in the Public Sphere

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Presents case studies from across an intercultural spectrum, including East European, Asian, and Middle Eastern performances
  • Contributes to a lively, dynamic discussion across several disciplines, including theatre and performance studies, political and social sciences and media studies
  • Includes interviews with internationally acclaimed intermedial artists and companies such as BERLIN, Rimini Protokoll, Dries Verhoeven, and Kris Verdonck

Part of the book series: Avant-Gardes in Performance (AGP)

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
  2. Introduction: In and Out: Intermedial Practices in the New Public Sphere

    • Katia Arfara, Aneta Mancewicz, Ralf Remshardt
    Pages 1-14
  3. Intermedial Performance as a Public Sphere

    • Aneta Mancewicz
    Pages 27-42
  4. Mirrors of Public Space: An Interview with Dries Verhoeven

    • Liesbeth Groot Nibbelink
    Pages 43-60
  5. ‘Reality is the Best Scenario’: An Interview with BERLIN

    • Kurt Vanhoutte, Charlotte De Somviele
    Pages 245-257
  6. Back Matter

    Pages 259-267

About this book

This volume is a collection of scholarly articles and interviews with intermedial artists working with the concepts of public sphere at the intersection of aesthetics and politics. It explores the response of socially-engaged artistic practices to the current crisis in politics and media. It also critically examines urgent issues such as rampant nationalism and populism, expanding neoliberalism, the refugee crisis, growing inosculations of corporate and cyber culture, and the ongoing geopolitical changes in the Middle East. Can intermedial performances reflect the present artistic and political dilemmas in Europe and beyond?


The collection provides theoretical frameworks that interrogate the role that spectators as citizens can play in our mediatized world while focusing on the functions of immersion, participation, and civic engagement in contemporary performance and society. The collection provides analyses by international scholars from Europe, Asia, and the USA, covering global performance created in the twenty-first century. It also introduces interviews with internationally acclaimed intermedial artists and companies such as BERLIN, Rimini Protokoll, Dries Verhoeven, Akira Takayama, and Kris Verdonck.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Onassis Cultural Center, Athens, Greece

    Katia Arfara

  • University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Aneta Mancewicz

  • School of Theatre & Dance, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Ralf Remshardt

About the editors

Katia Arfara is Theatre and Dance Artistic Director of the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens, Greece, and founder of the Fast Forward Festival. She is the author of the book Théâtralités contemporaines and the editor of the special issue ‘Scènes en transition-Balkans et Grèce’ for Théâtre/Public (2016).


Aneta Mancewicz is Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her articles on Shakespearean performance, intermediality, and European theatre have appeared in many journals. She is the author of Intermedial Shakespeares on European Stages and Biedny Hamlet [Poor Hamlet].

Ralf Remshardt is Professor of Theatre and interim Director in the School of Theatre and Dance, University of Florida, USA. He has worked in professional and university theatres as a director, translator, and dramaturg. He is author of Staging the Savage God: The Grotesque in Performance. He also co-produced a documentary film about New York Hispanic theatre in 2015.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access