Performative Arts & Pedagogy: An Irish Perspective

Abstract

In terms of size of population Ireland is the smallest of the countries represented in the Performative Pedagogy Glossary project (see population estimates below): Whenever reference to infrastructure is made in our discussions it needs to be borne in mind that the countries represented in this project differ (significantly) in terms of historical developments, cultural traditions, institutions, economic performance etc. Even though Ireland might be very ambitious, it is to be expected that economically stronger countries have a more solid infrastructure in a number of areas, including the arts and education. As within our project frequent reference will be made to theatre as an art form, it is noteworthy that Austria founded its first national theatre in 1741 (‘Burgtheater’, from 1776 referred to as ‘Teutsches Nationaltheater’), in Germany the ‘Hamburger Nationaltheater’ was founded in Hamburg in 1767, the Berlin ‘Königliches Nationaltheater’ in 1786. Ireland’s first and only National Theatre, the ‘Abbey Theatre’ was founded in 1904. Despite the rich theatre tradition in the UK (for example, Shakespeare’s Globe) it seems that the first National Theatre building opened in London in 1976/77, in Switzerland the Zurich Schauspielhaus (beginnings date back to 1892) would be considered the nation’s main theatre. The question ...