The Pike Theatre and Intercultural Ireland

Abstract

From the early 1950s, there is noticeable shift towards corporal expression and representation which challenges dramatic norms within Irish drama. On stages such as the Pike Theatre, post-colonial elements of formal and received expression and communication of identity were challenged through a range of multi-faceted performance styles. This was evident in particular within the physical presence of the actor, the embodied memory of colonial/post-colonial identity of cast members and performance reception. The Ireland of the mid-1950s portrayed at the Pike Theatre by directors Carolyn Swift and Alan Simpson was one of complex societal flux, blending European and American dramaturgical influences with innovative performance styles. It also reflected an Irish society that was changing in terms of its demographic composition and internationalisation afforded by cultural influences of imported popular culture growing intercultural tourism and exchange. This chapter presents a detailed study of the late-night Follies at the Pike Theatre and their intercultural commentary and critique upon modern Ireland. Through staging ‘Caribbean and Calypso Ceílís’ and through blending traditional Irish music, culture and artists with performers from the Caribbean and of the ‘Windrush Generation’ of Great Britain, these recovered performances reveal a neglected record of Irish theatrical and national memory and identity formation in performance.