"Silence shoutin the loudest": intersectionality and the "poetics of failure" in the theatre of debbie tucker green

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Almefawaz, AN, 2022. "Silence shoutin the loudest": intersectionality and the "poetics of failure" in the theatre of debbie tucker green. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

In this thesis I seek to demonstrate the pertinence of theories of intersectionality to the writing of the black British woman playwright debbie tucker green. I draw on some of the core arguments developed in this field of social theory, especially those put forward by its key proponents, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Patricia Hill Collins, with special focus on the intersection of race and gender and the complex form of patriarchal and white supremacist oppression on black women that it constitutes. Concentrating on five of tucker green’s plays—random (2008), generations (2005), dirty butterfly (2003), nut (2013) and born bad (2003)—I argue that her work is of particular relevance to the discourse of the intersectional positionality of black women not only in Britain but across the globe. This is principally on account of tucker green’s foregrounding of black women’s subjectivities, which are presented emotively and phenomenologically first and foremost, with minimal explication regarding plot and social context. tucker green’s experimental approach to drama often presents the blurred and often confused subjectivity of intersectionality in spatial terms—thus obliquely reflecting Crenshaw’s metaphor of the road junction embodied in its name—as it manifests in the psyche, body and space, calling for innovative performative strategies which invite the spectator to share the psychological experiences of the characters. Much of this experience involves their struggle to apprehend and articulate the traumas that they suffer, which tucker green conveys through what Sara Jane Bailes refers to as the “poetics of failure” rather than social realist explication. Although the social contexts of tucker green’s plays are not talked about explicitly by the characters in the plays, they are often identifiable. Fundamental to the thesis are the interviews I have conducted with theatre practitioners, upon which I draw to gain an understanding of the performance strategies that tucker green’s drama encourages, and how they are employed to explore these contexts. This thesis considers intersectionality within these particular contexts, which include: British gang violence; the notion of the safe space; HIV/AIDS in South Africa; marital rape and legacies of slavery; incest and the figure of the black patriarch.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Almefawaz, A.N.
Date:	March 2022
Rights:	This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner(s) of the Intellectual Property Rights.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Arts and Humanities
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	24 Jan 2023 11:27
Last Modified:	24 Jan 2023 11:27
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/48054