THEATRE & GLOBALIZATION

Rebellato, Dan. Theatre & Globalization. Theatre&.  Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2009.

globalization.jpg

This book begins by defining globalization from a range of competing definitions. It suggests a number of ways that we might understand theatre’s relation with globalization, from the standardized products of McTheatre to forms of theatre that are resistant to the global, like community theatre and site-specific work. It argues that we should distinguish cosmopolitanism from globalization and understand them as two related but opposed processes and that the theatre has a distinctive role in promoting a set of cosmopolitan perspectives.

‘Theatre &’ is a series of short, pocket-size books written by leading academics in the field, providing punchy introductions to interdisciplinary theatre topics. Each book is a distinctive and original contribution to the field designed to be read by the general reader in a single sitting.

A brief extract was published on the Daily Telegraph website in May 2010 and you can read that here:


➤ Are we in an age of globalised theatre?


It’s been translated into a couple of languages: Romanian and Arabic, I believe.

I recently rediscovered an alternative version of the cover that Palgrave were considering. The prominent paper texture makes it look a little more old-fashioned to my eyes and separating the ampersand from the background probably limits the design opportunities, nonetheless it’s interesting to see. Note also the optimistic fake Stoppard quote on the back. Also, I pushed for the spelling to be -ization, not -isation, because it felt like a predominantly US project, although one that the whole global North and much of the global South participates with varying degrees of willingness and enthusiasm. Here it’s the original copyedited spelling…