This is the first book to explore the relationship between experimental theatre and performance making in France. Reflecting the recent return to aesthetics and politics in French theory, it focuses on how a variety of theatre and performance practitioners use their art work to contest reality as it is currently configured in France.

ELAINE ASTON Professor of Contemporary Performance, Lancaster University, UK DAVID BRADBY Emeritus Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London, UKROBERT CANTARELLA independent scholar, FranceAUGUSTO CORRIERI independent scholar, UKMICHEL CORVIN Emeritus Professor of Theatre Studies, Université Paris-III Sorbonne nouvelle, FranceLAURA CULL Lecturer in Performing Arts, Northumbria University, UK BOJANA CVEJIC Lecturer in Contemporary Dance and Performance in the Department for Media and Culture Studies, Utrecht University, NetherlandsCHLOÉ DÉCHERY independent scholar, France SUSAN HAEDICKE Associate Professor in the School of Theatre, Performance, and Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick, UKBÉRENICE HAMIDI-KIM Lecturer, Université de Lyon 2, FranceGERALDINE HARRIS Professor in Theatre Studies, Lancaster University, UKCÉLINE HERSANT Lecturer, Université Paris-III Sorbonne nouvelle, FranceJEAN-PIERRE HAN Director of the Syndicat Professionnel de la Critique, FranceNIGEL STEWARY Senior Lecturer in the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, UKÉRIC VAUTRIN Maître de Conférences, Université de Caen, Basse-Normandie, France

List of illustrations Acknowledgements Notes on contributors Introduction; C.Finburgh& C.Lavery PART I: CONTEMPORARY FRENCH THEATRE From Mise en Scène of Texte to Performance of 'Textual Material'; D.Bradby The Spirit of a Place: Place in Contemporary French Performance; M.Corvin The Landscaped Narratives of Philippe Minyana and Noëlle; C.Hersant The Politics of Dramaturgy in France; C.Finburgh An Unlikely Scene: French Theatre in the New Liberal Economy; J-P.Han The Construction and Production of Performance; R.Cantarella Performing Presence, Affirming Difference: Deleuze and the Minor Theatres of Georges Lavaudant and Carmelo Bene; L.Cull Théatre du Grabuge: Ethics, Politics and Community; B.Hamidi Amateurism and the 'DIY' Aesthetic: Grand Magasin and Philippe Quesne; C.Déchery PART II: CONTEMPORARY FRENCH PERFORMANCE From Orlan to Bernhardt: Recycling French Feminism, Theatre and Performance; E.Aston Performance and Poetry: Crossed Destinies; É.Vautrin Breaking Down the Walls: Interventionist Performance Strategies in French Street Theatre; S.Haedicke Montage and Détournement in Contemporary Moving Image Performance; C.Lavery Xavier Le Roy: The Dissenting Choreography of One Frenchman Less; B.Cvejic A Theological Turn? French Postmodern Dance and Herman Diephuis'  D'Après J C ; N.Stewart How to Collaborate With Someone you may Never Meet; A.Corrieri Après Toutes Ces Elles/After All This Else: 'New' French Feminisms Translated to the British Scene; G.Harris Index