Theatres of Immanence ― Deleuze and the Ethics of Performance

Theatres of Immanence: Deleuze and the Ethics of Performance, now available in paperback, is the first monograph to provide an in-depth study of the implications of Gilles Deleuze's philosophy for theatre and performance. Engaging with a wide range of interdisciplinary practitioners including Goat Island, Butoh, Artaud, John Cage, the Living Theatre, Robert Wilson and Allan Kaprow, as well as with the philosophies of Deleuze and Guattari, Henri Bergson and Francois Laruelle, the book conceives performance as a way of thinking 'immanence': the open and endlessly creative whole of which all things are a part.

Theatres of Immanence builds upon Deleuze's emphasis on immanence, affect, change and movement to provide new approaches to five key topics in theatre and performance: 1) authorship and collaboration, 2) voice and language, 3) animals in performance, 4) audience participation and 5) time or duration. The book provides an accessible introduction to Deleuze's ideas and draws attention to the ethical dimensions of performance, asking: 'what good is theatre, and particularly immanent theatre, anyway?

Laura Cull O Maoilearca is Head of the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Surrey, UK. Her most recent books are Theatres of Immanence: Deleuze and the Ethics of Performance (2012; 2015) and Encounters in Performance Philosophy (2014) co-edited with Alice Lagaay. Her other publications include Deleuze and Performance (2009) and Manifesto Now! Instructions for Performance, Philosophy, Politics (2013) co-edited with Will Daddario. She is core convener of Performance Philosophy and joint series editor of the Performance Philosophy book series with Palgrave Macmillan.