Food and Theatre on the World Stage

<p>Putting food and theatre into direct conversation this volume focuses on how food and theatre have operated for centuries as partners in the performative symbolic and literary making of meaning. Through case studies literary analyses and performance critiques contributors examine theatrical work from China Japan India Greece Italy France Germany England the United States Chile Argentina and Zimbabwe addressing work from classical popular and contemporary theatre practices. The investigation of uses of food across media and artistic genres is a burgeoning area of scholarly investigation yet regarding representation and symbolism literature and film have received more attention than theatre while performance studies scholars have taken the lead in examining the performative aspects of food events. This collection looks across dramatic genres historical periods and cultural contexts and at food in all of its socio-political material complexity to examine the particular problems and potentials of invoking and using food in live theatre. The volume considers food as a transhistorical global phenomenon across theatre genres addressing the explosion of food studies at the end of the twentieth century that has shown how food is a crucial aspect of cultural identity.</p>