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(2013) The theatre of Naomi Wallace, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Let the right one in
on resistance, hospitality and new writing for the American stage
Naomi Wallace
pp. 257-264
All writing for the theatre is in some sense an act of violation. By this I mean that when we enter into the lives of others and try to imagine a perspective that is not our own, we have to push through what we know, what we are sure of, what we value—push into the very skin of another life and vision. Sure, that's common sense for a writer, but mainstream theatre does not generally enter into the lives and bodies of those we consider 'strangers"; more often than not it bounces off the barriers, contenting itself with the safe and recycled materials of stereotype (albeit refreshed for the present moment), cliché, and hearsay. Writing that does not actually violate boundaries, that does not enter into the process of trespass, is often a writing that is safe, consumable, and shallow. A theatre that does not challenge its own assumptions, its own ignorance, with curiosity and humility is a contracted theatre. a diminished theatre.
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Full citation:
Wallace, N. (2013)., Let the right one in: on resistance, hospitality and new writing for the American stage, in S. T. Cummings & E. Stevens Abbitt (eds.), The theatre of Naomi Wallace, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 257-264.
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