Irish theatre in the 21st century: traumatic histories, feminist interventions

In recent years, #MeToo became a point of identification for all women regarding their embodied experience in public space, specifically, articulating collectively that embodied female experience is very often subject to sexual harassment, violence and abuse. This movement demonstrated that, as a woman, it is more likely that you will suffer from sexual harassment, violence and abuse in your lifetime, than not. This is traumatic, it is extraordinary, and yet, this is the everyday reality for women. While #MeToo trended on social media globally in 2017, this identification and articulation of embodied female experience as regularly subject to abuse can be traced via scholarship and the arts centuries previous. What is most striking today is that there is mainstream public attention engaging with these narratives, where traditionally there was only silence, dismissal and denial. The identification of #MeToo is not new, but perhaps the mass public engagement with it is. In this essay, I will explore those historical contexts with regard to contemporary Irish theatre. Through analysis of two case studies, Marina Carrs On Rafterys Hill (2000) co-produced by Druid and the Royal Court, and ANU Productions Laundry (2011) directed by Louise Lowe, this essay will consider how contemporary Irish theatre engages with traumatic histories utilising a feminist consciousness.