Ecocriticism in Theatre and Performance Studies: A Working Critical Bibliography (1991-2014)

Complied by Theresa May, with Lisa Woynarski, Karen O’Brien, Arden Thomas, Downing Cless and members of ASTR performance and/in ecology working group. January 27^th, 2015

Note: This list is by no means comprehensive, and suggestions for additions and/or corrections are welcome. The many essays that are part of an anthology or special journal issue on ecological theatre are not included in the list of stand-alone articles. See the table of contents of those volumes and journals for additional and important sources.

Monographs and Collaborative Editions:

Bottoms, Stephen. Small Acts of Repair: Performance, Ecology and Goat Island. London: Routledge, 2007.

Boehrer, Bruce Thomas. Environmental Degradation in Jacobean Drama. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Chauhuri, Una and Shonni Enelow. Research Theatre, Climate Change, and the Ecocide Project. New York: Palgrave, 2014.

Chaudhuri, Una. Staging Place: The Geography of Modern Drama. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1995.

Chaudhuri, Una and Holly Hughes. Animal Acts: Performing Species Today. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2014.

Cless, Downing. Ecology and Environment in European Drama. New York: Routledge, 2011.

Egan, Gabriel. Green Shakespeare: From Ecopolitics to Ecocriticism. New York: Routledge, 2006.

Estok, Simon. Ecocriticism and Shakespeare: Reading Ecophobia. New York: Palgrave, 2011.

French, William W. Maryat Lee’s EcoTheater: A Theater for the Twenty-first Century. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 1998.

Fried, Larry and Theresa J. May. Greening Up Our Houses: A Guide to a More Ecologically Sound Theatre. New York: Drama Books, 1994.

Heinlein, Kurt Gerard. Green Theatre- Promoting Ecological Preservation and Advancing the Sustainability of Humanity and Nature. Saarbrüken, Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller, 2007.

Jones, Ellen. A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre. Waltham, Massachusetts: Focal Press, 2013.

Kershaw, Baz. Theatre Ecology: Environments and Performance Events. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2009).

Marranca, Bonnie. Ecologies of Theater: Essays at the Century Turning. New York: PAJ Books, 1996.

May, Theresa. Salmon Is Everything: Community-based Theatre in the Klamath Watershed. Corvallis: Oregon State U Press, 2014.

Osnes, Beth. Theatre for Women’s Participation in Sustainable Development, Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2013.

Sullivan, Garrett. The Drama of Landscape, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Witham, Barry. A Sustainable Theatre: Jasper Deeter at Hedgerow. New York: Palgrave, 2013.

Edited Volumes

Arons, Wendy, and Theresa J. May, eds.  Readings in Performance & Ecology. New York: Palgrave, 2012.

Besel, Richard D. and Jnan A. Blau, eds. Performance on Behalf of the Environment. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2014.

Chaudhuri, Una and Elinor Fuchs, eds.  Land/Scape/Theater, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002.

Cool, Guy and Pascal Gielen, eds. The Ethics of Art: Ecological Turns in the Performing Arts. Amsterdam: Valiz/Antennae, 2014.

Dawes, Birgit and Marc Maufort, eds. Enacting Nature: Ecocritical Perspectives on Indigenous Performance. Peter Lang, 2014.

Giannachi, Gabriella and Stewart Nigel, eds. Performing Nature:  Explorations in Ecology and the Arts. Berne: Peter Lang, 2005.

Margolies, Eleanor and Wallace Heim. Landing Stages. London: The Ashden Directory, 2014.

Szerszynski, Bronislaw, Wallace Heim and Claire Waterton, eds. Nature Performed: Environment, Culture and Performance. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.

Journal issues Dedicated to Ecocriticism in Theatre and Performance Studies:

Note: the articles in these journals are not part of stand-alone article list below.

Canadian Theatre Review 144 (Fall 2010). Special Issue: “Theatre in an Age of Eco Crisis.” Guest editors Nelson Gray and Shelia Rabillard.

Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 20.2 (Spring 2006). Special Section: Ecocriticism. John Gronbeck Tedesco, ed.

Performance Research: A Journal of Performing Arts 17.4 (2012). “On Ecology.”

Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance (Research in Drama Education) 17.2 (2012). On Environmentalism. Guest editors Sally Mackey and Dee Heddon.

TDR 51.1 (T193) (Spring 2007) Special issue on animals in/and performance. Guest editor Una Chaudhuri.

Theater 25:1 (Summer 1994). Erika Monk, ed. Guest editor Una Chaudhuri.

Theatre Topics 17.2 (Fall 2007) Special issue on Ecotheatre. Jonathan Chambers, ed. Guest editor Wendy Arons.

Stand-Alone Articles & Chapters:

Arons, Wendy. ”Beyond the Nature/Culture Divide.” Theatre Historiography: Critical Interventions. Henry Bial and Scott Magelssen, eds.  Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010. 148-161.

Arons, Wendy. “Queer Ecology/Contemporary Plays.” Theatre Journal 64.4 (December 2012): 565-582.

Arons, Wendy and Theresa J. May. “Ecodramaturgy in/of Contemporary Women Playwrights.” Contemporary Women Playwrights: into the Twenty-first Century. Ed. Penny Farfan and Lesley Ferris. New York: Palgrave, 2014: 181-198.

Chaudhuri, Una. “Animal Rites: Performing beyond the Human.” Critical Theory and Performance. Ed. Janelle G. Reinelt and Joseph R. Roach. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2007. 506-520.

Chaudhuri, Una. “Animal Acts for Changing Times.” American Theater (October 2004): 36.

Chaudhuri, Una. “Zoo Stories: ‘Boundary-Work’ in Theatre History.” Redefining Theatre History. Ed. W.B. Worthen and Peter Holland. New York: Palgrave, 2004.

Chaudhuri, Una. “Animal Geographies: Zooësis and the Space of Modern Drama.” Modern Drama 46.4 (Winter 2003): 646-662.

Chaudhuri, Una.  “AWK!” Extremity, Animality and the Aesthetic of Awkwardness.” The Undiscovered Country: The Later Plays of Tennessee Williams. Ed. Philip Kolin. New York: Peter Lang, 2002. 54-67.

Chaudhuri, Una.  “Sniff Art.” Review of “On the Scent.” TDR 48.2 (T182) (Summer 2004): 76-79.

Cless, Downing.  “Ecology vs. Economy in Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle.” The Journal of American Drama and Theatre 8:2 (Spring, 1996): 59-72.

Cless, Downing.“Eco-Theatre, USA: The Grassroots Is Greener.” TDR 40:2 (Summer 1996): 79-102.

Gray, Nelson. “The Murmuring-In-Between: Eco-centric Politics of The Girl Who Swam Forever.” Theatre Research in Canada 31:2 (2010): 193-207.

Fancy, David. “Geoperformativity Immanence, Performance and the Earth.” Performance Research 16: 4 (2011): 62-72.

Harpin, Anna. “Land of Hope and Glory: Jez Butterworth’s Tragic Landscape.” Studies in Theatre and Performance 31.1 (2011): 61-73.

Harrison, Jan. “Singing in Animal Tongues.” PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art 33.97 (January 2011): 28.

Lynn Jacobson. “Confessions of an Eco Reporter: Green Theater.” American Theatre 8.11 (Feb 1992): 16-25, 55.

Kershaw, Baz. “Ecoactivist Performance: The Environment As Partner in Protest?” TDR 46:1 (T173) (2002): 118-130.

Mackey, Sally. “Performance, Place and Allotments: Feast or Famine?” Contemporary Theatre Review 17:2 (2007): 181-191.

May, Theresa J. “‘Consequences Unforeseen . . .’ in Raisin in the Sun and Caroline, or Change.” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 20.2 (Spring 2006): 127.

May, Theresa J. “Greening the Theatre: Taking Ecocriticism from Page to Stage.” Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory 7.1 (Fall 2005): 84-103.

May, Theresa J. “The Ecology of Willy Loman.” New England Theatre Journal 15 (2004): 63-76.

May, Theresa J. ““Bahktin on Site: Chronotopes in Theatre in the Wild’s Dragon Island.” On-Stage Studies 22 (1999):19-38.

May, Theresa J. “Frontiers: Environmental History, Ecocriticism and The Kentucky Cycle.” Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 14:1 (Spring 1999): 159-178.

May, Theresa J. “Taking the Cage Out of the Gaze: Perception, Wilderness and the New Zoo.” Theatre Insight 10:2 (1999).

Parameswaran, Ameet. “Zooësis and ‘Becoming with’ in India: The ‘Figure’ of Elephant in Sahyande Makan: The Elephant Project.” Theatre Research International 39:1 (March 2014): 5-19.

Ryan, Courtney. “Playing with Plants.” Theatre Journal 65.3 (October 2013): 335-353.

Sarco-Thomas, M. “Improvising in Ruyang: Community Art as Ecological Practice,” Journal of Arts and Communities 1.1 (2009): 45–68

O’Brien, Karen. “A Symbiotic Relationship: The Works of Martin McDonagh and Ecocriticism.” The Theatre and Films of Martin McDonagh. Ed. Patrick Lonergan. London: Methuen, 2012. 179-192.

O’Brien, Karen. “Collaborative Ecology in Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmaan.” Out of the Earth: Ecocritical Readings of Irish Texts. Ed. Christine L. Cusick. Cork: Cork University Press, 2010. 189-204, 242-244.

Standing, Sarah.  “From the Redwood Forest.” American Theater 2.65 (February 2005): 65.

Sweeting, Adam and Thomas C. Crochunis. “Performing the Wild: Rethinking Wilderness and Theater Spaces.” Beyond Nature Writing: Expanding the Boundaries of Ecocriticism. Ed. Karla Armbruster and Kathleen R. Wallace. 325-340.

Blogs and Websites

Jeremy Pickard, “On Eco-theatre,” TCG Blog: http://www.tcgcircle.org/2013/06/on-eco-theater/

Slagle, Dillon. “The Aesthetic Evolution of Eco Theater,” HowlRound Blog: http://www.howlround.com/the-aesthetic-evolution-of-eco-theater

Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts: http://www.sustainablepractice.org/

Earth Matters on Stage Ecodrama Festival: http://www.earthmattersonstage.org/

Green Theatre Choices Toolkit: Mo’ello Theatre, San Diego, CA. 2009.

The Ashden Directory: http://www.ashdendirectory.org.uk/default.asp &

http://www.ashdendirectory.org.uk/featuresView.asp?pageIdentifier=2009521_19735354

Ashdenizen blog: http://ashdenizen.blogspot.com/

Site, Performance, and Environmental Change: http://performancefootprint.co.uk

Multi-Story Water: http://multi-story-Shipley.co.uk

Hydrocitizenship: www.Hydrocitizenship.com

Facebook pages:

Artists and Climate Change (managed by Chantal Bilodeau)

Theatre Makers Against Climate Change (managed by Alison Carey)

(The blogs and sites above also have Facebook pages)