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133419

The Space Aesthetics of In-Yer-Face Theatre in Phyllis Nagy's The Strip

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

British theatre of the 1990s has witnessed the rise of a new angry young generation whose works have been labeled provocative, speculative, confrontational, sensational, shocking, taboo-breaking, brutal, bleak, gloomy and dark. These writers have a contemporary voice and pursue the aesthetics of 'In-yer-face' experiential theatre which launches rebellion against the classic well-made play, and against more recent literary traditions. Of those writers, contributing to (a)political drama in the 1990s, Phyllis Nagy emerged as one of the most influential figures, providing an experiential theatre with deeply shocking images. This paper is an attempt to explore the in-yer-face aesthetics in Nagy's The Strip by examining her manipulation of space and non-linear plot structures. Nagy creates isolated characters within oppressive worlds, and in the face of this seemingly undefeatable oppression, her characters share a bond that cannot be contained by traditional notions of space and time. Nagy bent the rules of physical space to give the audience a new and alienated perspective on traditional character relationships. In doing this, she makes it very difficult for an audience member to understand why the things on stage are happening. The Strip instead leaves audience members with a few clear impressions about life and society. Thus, this paper is an attempt to explore Phyllis Nagy's The Strip, and prove that she creates oppressive worlds onstage through unfamiliar, non-linear plot structures and that she connects the isolated characters through the distortion of onstage fictional space.

DOI

10.21608/ttaip.2020.133419

Keywords

Fictional space, In-yer-face theatre, Phyllis Nagy, Presentational space, The Strip

Authors

First Name

Amany

Last Name

El-Sawy

MiddleName

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Affiliation

Department of English Language and literature, Faculty of Education, Alexandria University, Egypt.

Email

amany-elsawy@alexu.edu.eg

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Orcid

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Volume

2

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

19909

Issue Date

2020-12-01

Receive Date

2020-05-01

Publish Date

2020-12-01

Page Start

101

Page End

115

Print ISSN

2636-4069

Online ISSN

2735-3451

Link

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/article_133419.html

Detail API

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=133419

Order

6

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,357

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Textual Turnings: An International Peer-Reviewed Journal in English Studies

Publication Link

https://ttaip.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The Space Aesthetics of In-Yer-Face Theatre in Phyllis Nagy's The Strip

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Jan 2023